What tools do you use?

Julian’s recent post about Javascript Debugging in IE got me thinking, there are a ton of tools out there that are either free or very cheap and I’m constantly finding new ones. So in the spirit of wanting to find cool new tools to play with I thought I’d share the list of software which I use all the time and see if you have any recommendations you’d like to share…

– Firebug is without question the best web development tool around, it lets you see everything about an internet page, the speed it loads at, the files which make it up, internet headers, CSS structure and so on. It’s free, if you haven’t got it already, get it now.
– The IE Developer Toolbar is a similar tool which offers some of the same functionality, it’s not as good as Firebug but until something better comes along it’s still worth having.
– For pure CSS editing in Windows I’ve still not found anything better than Topstyle. It’s not free but has more than paid for itself over the years.
– Of course the Mac offers CSSEdit which would blow Topstyle out of the water if it were available for Windows. It allows you to edit style sheets “live” to see the impact of changes you’re making. Again it costs, but it’s a joy to use.
– For actual programming I’m a real MyEclipse addict, I use it for writing Java and Javascript, in conjunction with a simple CVS server for source control you’ve got a full, professional development environment for $50. Completely unbeatable in my opinion.
– For text editing in Windows I’ve used Textpad for years, it has all the functions I need, is stable and is cheap! For the Mac I’ve settled on SubEthaEdit, which to be frank isn’t as good as Textpad but is the closest match I’ve found.
– And then we have Altova XMLSpy. Now this is properly expensive, and I’ve never actually paid for it, but when I’ve used copies at client sites it’s hugely impressive, why can’t their pricing model match MyEclipse?

Of course we have the venerable Domino Designer client for Lotusscript etc, but again there are things which can improve your life in there…
– The TeamStudio suite of products is pricey, but worth persuading your boss to buy. If you have to get just one, I’d got with CIAO! which does a good job of version controlling your development environment so that you don’t lose changes over time which is always a risk for multi-developer projects.
– TeamStudio also give away the excellent Script Browser which is a plugin class browser for your LotusScript classes which does a nice job until we get Domino Designer in Eclipse.
– I’ve heard a lot of people swear by the Ytria tools, I’ve not used them myself (whenever I try and install them they crash my Notes client!) but they are probably worth checking out.

So this is the list of things which I use, what’s missing, what would you add or remove from the list?