Git & Github
Git
Git is a version control system for documents. The way that a version control system works is by tracking changes to documents over time and archiving those changes. This allows the author to “roll back” to a previous version of the work if needed.
Another feature of a version control system is called “branching”. This means that alternate competing version of a document can exist at the same time. This feature allows authors to try new ideas and experiment without fear of irreversibly damaging existing work.
These features also allow multiple authors to work on documents at the same time by tracking each author independently and evaluating the differences between the changes that they are making to documents. If two authors change the same document, the Git will warn them and allow one of the competing changes to be committed over the other.
A couple very useful links:
GitHub
GitHub is a website that connects to local Git repositories and allows authors to “push” changes to their local documents up to a remote server for external storage of data. GitHub also acts as the access point for other authors to access your code and contribute to it.
Photoshop
Photoshop is image editing software published by Adobe. This software is very powerful and flexible. It is used by many different industries for a wide range of applications. In the web design field, Photoshop is used to edit static images and to create “Mockups”.
Mockups are static pictures of what a website will look like once it is live on the web. Mockups can be useful for explaining complex ideas or visual solutions co-workers and clients, especially those co-workers and clients that don’t have a design background.
Illustrator
Illustrator is a vector editing program published by Adobe. It is a sister software to Photoshop and is used to create and edit letterforms, logos, icons and artwork. It is a powerful software for creating resolution independent assets.
SublimeText 2
SublimeText 2 is a robust text editor tailored to the needs of programmers and writers. It has built in support for a wide range of programming languages and has a plugin architecture so that it can be easily extended and augmented. It also includes a number of features to help make writing code easier. These features include but aren’t limited to: multiple cursors, text expansion, key macros, code folding, etc.
These features can take some getting used to, but once learned can drastically increase coding speed.
FTP Client
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a common method for transferring website files to a server. The FTP Client is a piece of software that enables that transfer to be made. FTP usually requires a username and password to the server and creates an open bridge between your local computer and the remote server. This is very useful for updating sites and publishing them when they are ready.
On of my favorite FTP Clients is Transmit. Its easy to use and easy on the eyes. One downside is that it isn’t free. Using this piece of software will set you back about $35.
A free (and popular) FTP Client is Filezilla. I’ve used it in the past and had no problems. The interface is somewhat confusing and takes a little getting used to, but other than that, I don’t see any problems with it.