As a beginner in the programming world, you might feel a little overwhelmed by the thousands of coding tools and resources out there. Some will make your life much easier, while some are not especially useful, and others might actually slow you down. Finding the right tools can boost your productivity, and make your learning curve as a beginner coder more manageable.
Here are a few recommendations for the best coding tools to get you started:
Text Editors
A text editor is an essential coding tool. It’s a programme that types simple text, without the formatting of a word processor programme. With no margins or line breaks, these editors are ideal for typing up clean lines of code in a variety of programming languages.
Sublime Text is a cross-platform text editor that works for Mac, Windows and Linux. It’s a great first-time text editor for new coders, allowing for an easy transition from ordinary word processor programmes.
Notepad++ is an open-source code editor for Windows, which can support several coding languages. It includes lots of helpful features for newbies, including a built-in FTP plugin that lets you open and edit your files directly on your web server.
Brackets will appeal to Adobe fans; it’s created by Adobe and designed for seamless integration with the other products in their suite. It has minimal design but powerful features, such as a live preview functionality, and a tool that allows you to extract data directly from your PSD files. Brackets also runs across Windows, Mac and Linux.
Atom, developed by GitHub, is another text editor that comes highly recommended for beginner coders. It’s an intuitive cross-platform editor, and includes various open-source packages for easy customisation (much like WordPress themes).
Chrome Extensions
Google Chrome is the biggest web browser, and there are many extensions available for developers working in Chrome. An extension is a small software programme that you can install to customise Chrome functionality to suit your needs.
Web Developer is an extension especially for developers and designers; it adds a toolbar button to the browser, with a number of handy day-to-day development tools. With Web Developer, you can write and edit HTML and CSS, disable and enable cookies, mark links as visited or unvisited, and display important image attributes. The extension also makes it easy to outline objects on a web page.
Window Resizer for Developer allows you to resize your browser to various sizes, which is great for creating responsive designs that must run over multiple platforms (including mobile).
Lorem Ipsum Generator allows you to add dummy text to your website layout, quickly and easily.
WhatFont helps you to identify which fonts have been used on a website, by simply hovering over them.
ColorZilla allows you to copy exact colours from a website, straight onto your clipboard.
General Learning
To develop solid coding skills and fast-track your entrance into the world of development, sign up for an online coding bootcamp with HyperionDev. You can upskill with a short course in just three months, and learn an in-demand coding language like Python, Java, C# or C++.
Mentoring also plays a big role in your growth as a developer. One-on-one time with an experienced mentor is an invaluable coding tool for those finding their feet. HyperionDev provides mentoring and on-demand code review as part of the learning experience.
Career Preparation
When it’s time to market your skills to prospective employers, there are some great tools specifically designed to guide you through the application and interview process in the tech space.
Interview Cake is a website that gives you the chance to practice answering programming language-specific interview questions. It also gives you a guide to the typical interview formats used by today’s major tech firms.
Break Into Tech gives job-seekers some expert advice on creating a résumé and cover letter, as well as how to ace tech industry interviews. The system was created by a former LinkedIn and Apple employee, who also offers individual coaching calls and application reviews.
Coding tools, expertly designed courses and interview preparation resources like this give you a better chance of getting ahead in an increasingly competitive industry.
