The Appliweb project will involve lots of Javascript development.
I’m not really a fan of Javascript coding, because:
- I used to do some in 1997-1998, where it was impossible to write javascript compliant with I.E. and Netscape. Even between same versions of I.E. on different desktop you had a different behavior
- No debugger at that time, and very light ones years after.
I really code-as-you-think, so I really need a good debugger to see what’s going on.
I hope that now, years after my previous experiences, I will find some good ones. Here is a list I’ve found:
- FireBug: Waouw, seems to be a great tool, with html and css editor, maybe close to what I would like to do with Appliweb GUI editor. I will try that one first
- Venkman debugger: I used it in 2005 to fix some hard to find javascript bug in a web application developped in Java Server Faces. It has worked great, but the tool was not pleasant to use.
- Yaldex: Seems only working in Windows, as my development computer is Linux…. It has a free edition though….
- Netbeans: Yep, netbeans, the java IDE. Last version has support for javascript debugging. As a Java developper I know netbeans well, it’s free, and if the editor/ debugger is ok, maybe I’ll use it. It seems to support debugging under firefox and I.E. A Nice feature for crazy compatibilities issues between these two browsers.
- IntelliJ IDEA: My favourite Java IDE. It now supports javascript debugging too ! I’m sure they’ve done first class support for that, and I would be happy to use it, but it’s not free, and my current company don’t want to buy it…. Too bad really.
Here is a short roundup of the javascript debuggers I stumble upon. If you have any advice (I’m considering myself as a new guy in javascript development), please feel free to insert your remarks. I will test them and give the result in next post….
Bye.
GC.
