Today’s lesson dealt with the sort of tools I’ll need to make my workspace more efficient, and of course the most important thing to start on is the computer/laptop I’ll be working using.
It seems that a laptop will be pretty essential for the designing process for more mobility reasons, while having a computer will provide a desktop to use for as a dual monitor, which will also help in efficiency.
Over the summer, I built my first PC and again I was a total “newb” at this, but I was able to pick up some basic knowledge of what parts were more important than others. CPU and GPU were my tow big spenders for my computer, but I didn’t really realize the importance of RAM, nor the difference between a Solid State Drive (SSD) or a Hard Disk Drive (HDD).
As far as the operating system, before today the last Windows I worked with was when Windows Vista came out. Since then I’ve been using a Mac, so I’m more familiar with the OS operating system then Windows 10 or 8.1.
The training video that I’m watching says use the system that you’re more comfortable with. Honestly, I feel it would be beneficial to have a basic working knowledge of both because there are many that will swear by Windows, just as there are many that will swear by Mac.
Something else that is really important for anybody who uses computers or laptops daily is storage. It is just as important to consider backup storage as it is my SSD or internal HDD. External HDD and flash drives are good to have for temporary backup storage or for on-the-go use.
Of course, another essential tool to have for web design is a code editor, and there are many considerations to think about when choosing one. First, for those who are just learning about web design and coding, like myself, is user friendly and basic. Another is speed. If it lags, it will interfere with work efficiency. And finally, what sort of features does it have. Something to remember is the more features it has the slower speed of the code editor.
Here are a list of some features that you might want to take into account:
After finding a good code editor and graphics editor (like Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver) you’ll need testing tools to test websites on multiple browsers and devices. Web browsers like Chrome, Firefox and Opera are easy to install, but Safari and Internet Explorer are specific to their operating systems like Mac and Windows (respectively).
For Internet Explorer, will be helpful to use Microsoft’s modern.ie website to help develop specifically for IE whether on a Mac or PC. Unfortunately, Safari doesn’t really have this.
Another thing to do is create a device lab to test websites on multiple mobile devices like iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, tablets and iPads. This could be expensive, so it may be better to use one iOS device and one Android device in both phones and tablets.
…And I though coding was going to be the most overwhelming thing I would need to know for web design. Regardless, I’m still committed to learn more about this, because these are all things that I’ve alway been interested to know how they work, and even how other web developers got their websites up and running on multiple devices. I’ve opened websites that you can immediately tell that they were not tested for mobile devices, which is frustrating. Using your phone or tablet for web browsing is just as common as browsing on the computer or laptop anymore, so being able to test websites for as many devices as possible will come in handy.
Leslie Nation 