My Programmer's Toolbox
This is my list of the tools I think every programmer should consider. I purposely keep this list as short as possible because giving people a list of 40 tools is the same as no list - as it is too many to evaluate them all. My unofficial rule is no more than 5 per category.
| C# Programming | Java Programming |
| ReSharper - an AddOn to Visual Studio that adds tremendous productivity enhancements including live feedback of syntax errors and very powerful refactoring. | IntelliJ - by far the best Java IDE in existence. It is the only one you have to pay for and many many developers do pay for it because it is so superior. |
| NUnit - this is one of those programs that is just about perfect. Painless and simple unit test framework. | JUnit - this is one of those programs that is just about perfect. Painless and simple unit test framework. |
| NUnitAddIn - makes using nunit in Visual Studio a breeze. | iText - you only need this if you need PDF output but this is arguably the most full featured best supported open source project ever and so deserves listing. |
| MSDN - I don't think it's possible to develop under .NET without this. With this there is so much information plus you get support via the MS newsgroups. | - |
| - | - |
| C# Websites | Java Websites |
| - | - |
| General Programming | Miscellaneous |
| XML Spy - I think it is way overpriced but it sure does everything you ever need with XML. But if your needs are simple, there are much cheaper alternatives out there that do the job. | My blog - mostly short posts on how to accomplish a small programming task. Added as I have to implement methods that I couldn't find via a google search so the next person can find it. |
| Windward Reports - By far the easiest to use and most powerful reporting solution available. Both Java and .NET versions. | Cubicle War - what happens when two programmers have way too much free time at work. |
| WIX - The best system for creating Windows installers is Microsoft's first open source contribution. | - |
| Araxis Merge - This is a really powerful file (and directory) comparison tool that once I got it, I find myself using it a lot. | - |
XML Spy is a great tool but like you said, quite price, you could also look at liquid xml editor
Posted by: david | May 31, 2011 at 06:49 AM