My Top 20 Development Apps For Mac

Howdy, here are some of my favorite apps to do my work:

(Oh yeah, it's actually just 14 apps, but it's the thought that counts..)

MAMP

If you're a web developer like me, you cannot live without the Apache webserver. MAMP brings you Apache, PHP and MySQL in one nifty, easy to install package. Of course, you could download all these applications separately and install them manually, but hey, this is dead easy and fast as hell. You can also download a cool MAMP widget for your dashboard to configure your servers and start- and stop them.

http://www.mamp.info/en/index.php

Eclipse

If you're willing to put up with some functionality you will never use or understand; Eclipse is the IDE to get. It's really good, open-source and you can download thousands of plugins to make it "yours". I've used it for a couple years now, and it works flawlessly. Good PHP support (see next item on the list), javascript support and SVN support. Greatsch!

http://www.eclipse.org/

Eclipse PHP plugin

If you write a lot of PHP code, and use Eclipse, this one is for you.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/phpeclipse/

Smultron

If you use a text editor every once in a while, you really should check out Smultron, the free text editor for mac, it's great, although it's not an integral IDE as Eclipse is. Lightweight, fast and pretty good.

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Word-Processing/Smultron.shtml

Tomcat

For deploying SOAP services on your local machine, install Tomcat. There are some Tomcat widgets out there, but I don't think they're very good at all. So, stick to your terminal!

http://tomcat.apache.org/download-55.cgi

Firefox Developer Toolbar

Almost superfluous to mention, but if you're a web developer / designer, you should install this baby in your FireFox browser.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/60

FireBug

Same here, if you're a developer / designer, you need this.

http://www.getfirebug.com/

FireFTP

A great free plugin for FireFox, doesn't support secure connections, but a fly FTP tool nonetheless.

http://fireftp.mozdev.org/

CyberDuck

If you need a free FTP client that DOES support secure transactions, you should try this. I've had it crash on me numerous times, but hey! It's free.

http://cyberduck.ch/

MySQL GUI Tools

If you're the kind of person who doesn't like browser based PhpMyAdmin, you should give these MySQL GUI tools a try, the same familiar apps that are also available for the PC.

http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/gui-tools/5.0.html

Acorn

A nifty, cool looking little image editor, unfortunately not free, but free for a trial period. Otherwise, consider GIMP or dive deep into your wallet for a copy of PhotoShop.

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Graphics/Acorn.shtml

Parallels

Sometimes you wish you still had Windows. No, just kidding. Sometimes you need to test stuff on Windows, and on Internet Explorer. You could us the free mac solution "bootcamp" or use Parallels, which anables you to run Windows in a window while using OSX. Great virtualisation software, although it sometimes crashes my entire machine..

http://www.parallels.com/

Webkit

The developer version of Safari! Haven't used it much, but it makes it possible to develop entirely in your own warm, cosy little mac-only world. I don't particularly like it, but haven't tried it thoroughly either.

http://webkit.org/

Remote Desktop Connection

Need to control a Windows machine from a distance? Remote Desktop Connection makes it possible. Works exactly the same as the PC variant. You could however choose to go for VNC, but I've never seen that work flawlessly. Major drawback: you CANNOT copy files to and fro' using Remote Desktop Connection. I find this a major shortcoming.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/networking_security/remotedesktopconnectionclient.html

Ok, ONE more.. Pimp Your Terminal

If you're fed up with your boring looking terminal, it might just pay to check out the preferences pane. One truly cool feature is changing the color. On the "window" tab, click "color". Besides choosing your favorite color, you can adjust the transparency of the window! this looks very cool, and will have your co-workers in awe in no time at all.

That's it for now folks! Hope you found it useful, if you have any comments, additions or errata, please let me know. Happy computing!