Here’s a list of WordPress development tools that I rely upon for my daily development work:
Hardware:
A custom-built PC with Windows 8 and 8Gb RAM. Gets the job done.
Development software:
What? No Sublime Text?
I took the time to set it up for the way I work, and I like how easy it is to use xdebug for live debugging my WordPress development.
Check out this post for more information on getting set up.
I also added a WordPress coding standards configuration that applies WordPress code standards best practices at the click of a mouse. A real time saver.
Thanks to @Rarst for that.
I tried XAMPP and running a ubuntu server from Virtualbox, before settling on Desktop Server, which makes it really easy to create new WordPress installs for development. And it comes preconfigured for running xdebug. (mentioned above)
Xdebug is like a secret weapon. Set a breakpoint in your code and you can run it line by line and view the variable values. It’s indispensable for serious coding. Also, it beats adding a bunch of var_dumps in the code.
Fire.app
This little app handles compiling my Sass files, very handy. There isn’t an app like Codekit for PC yet, so that will have to do for now.
Did I mention PhpStorm has a live preview feature for the browser that works with the Livereload chrome extension?
Spoon.net
Spoon.net allows me to test websites in a variety of browsers, and I can run IE8 alongside IE10. No support for IE9 on Windows 8 though.
Photoshop
This one is pretty obvious, when you’re converting designs to HTML/CSS.
CSS Hat
I just started using this. Seems like a handy tool to quickly get styles from Photoshop layers.
Filezilla
Git command line
Github: for my personal development projects and WordPress plugins still in development.
Virtualbox with MAC OS
Communication:
Gmail with Google Apps
Skype: for IM or voice calls.
Pidgin: great little app for IRC.
Productivity
Evernote: I suggest reading the Evernote Bible, if you’re not sure how to use Evernote. I grabbed it for free, but it’s available on Amazon for cheap. Basically, I use it for managing my projects, code snippets, screenshots, to save reference material, articles , tutorials,…
Toggl: to track time spent working on projects
Basecamp: I don’t have an account myself but several clients use it for their projects.
Listary : a nifty utility to quickly access folders from the open/save dialog.
Billing
I try to avoid recurring subscriptions and Pancake App is as good as any of those services, but it’s a one time payment and you install it on your own server. Own your data!
PancakeApp