Sometimes I get asked- “what should I use for X?” Here’s my current list of preferred tools and resources, although a few are only resources I’ve examined for others to use:
Trying out CSS/JS in the browser/learn some new CSS tricks/wireframe brainstorming sessions
Codepen – http://codepen.io
Data Visualizations:
Highcharts – http://highcharts.com
D3 – http://d3js.org
Keen – http://keen.io
Making your CSS Better:
CSS Comb – http://csscomb.com
CSS Lint – http://csslint.net
CSS Minifier – http://cssminifier.com/
CSS Tricks – http://css-tricks.com
Optimizing Images:
Tiny PNG – http://tinypng.com
Tiny JPG – http://tinyjpg.com
SVG Optimizer – https://github.com/svg/svgo
Online Learning Resources:
Lynda http://lynda.com
Treehouse – http://teamtreehouse.com
Udemy- http://udemy.com
HTML5 Video tutorial- http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/video/basics/
Scott Hanselman- http://www.hanselman.com/ (great for people working with .net)
Developer Challenge: Learning 30 Technologies in 30 Days – https://blog.openshift.com/learning-30-technologies-in-30-days-a-developer-challenge/
Chris Coyier’s blog post: Grunt for people who think things like Grunt are weird and hard
Magazines:
Web Designer
net Magazine
Books (my favorites)
– New Perspectives on Web Design, Smashing Magazine
– Digital Adaptation by Paul Boag (need to learn how to talk to stakeholders?)
– Digging into WordPress, by Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr (comes spiral bound)
– .htaccess made easy, by Jeff Starr (comes spiral bound)
– Building Web Apps with WordPress by Brian Messenlehner
– JavaScript: the Good Parts by Douglas Crockford
– JavaScript and JQuery by Jon Duckett (I had it spiral bound)
– You Don’t Know JS series by Kyle Simpson (when you’re ready to get really serious about JS)
– A book apart: Brief books for people who make websites: http://abookapart.com/ (series includes titles like “SASS for Web Designers, Responsibly Responsive, etc.)
– Web Form Design by Luke Wroblewski
– Getting Started with OpenShift by Steven Pousty and Kate Miller
– Interactive Data Visualization by Scott Murray
– Data Visualization with D3.js Cookbook, by Nick Qi Zhu
– Designing Evolvable APIs with ASP.NET by Glenn Block (also check out http://apigee.com for tutorials on writing your own APIs with Node.js)
I never have enough time:
Adobe Color: https://color.adobe.com/
Google Fonts. Typekit, Typography.com
Type Scale: http://type-scale.com/
Golden Ratio Calculator: http://www.pearsonified.com/typography/
Get Started Faster:
WordPress Starter Theme: Bones – http://themble.com/bones
WordPress Starter Theme: Roots – http://roots.io
WordPress Starter Theme: Underscores – http://underscores.me
Google Developer’s Web Starter Kit: https://developers.google.com/web/starter-kit/
CSS Frameworks:
– Bootstrap: http://getbootstrap.com
– Pure: http://purecss.io
– Foundation: http://foundation.zurb.com
– Gumby: http://gumbyframework.com
Optimize:
Font Loading: http://www.filamentgroup.com/lab/font-events.html
Page Speed Insights – will score you on both your page speeds and user experiences on all devices AND tell you how to fix broken issues: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
Test your knowledge:
A Baseline for Front-End Developers: http://rmurphey.com/blog/2012/04/12/a-baseline-for-front-end-developers/
Front-End Developer Interview Questions: https://github.com/h5bp/Front-end-Developer-Interview-Questions
Guide to Front End Developer Interview Questions: https://medium.com/@joshuatblack/front-end-development-7a5e0fb4b5ff
iPad games (code-related):
Cargo-Bot
Hopscotch
Rules!
Cato’s Hike
Lightbot
I need a server, now!
Open Shift by Red Hat
Carolina CloudApps (if on campus)
Digital Ocean
I need to laugh!
The Expert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg
Life of a Web Developer: http://lifeofadeveloper.tumblr.com/
CSS Puns: http://saijogeorge.com/css-puns/
HTML Email:
– MailChimp
– Mandrill – Transactional email from MailChimp
– Enterprise: iModules, SalesForce, ConstantContact