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WordPress Modern WordPress Workflow The Local Development Environment Text Editors and IDEs

Gerjan de Vries
Gerjan de Vries
5,625 Points

Why not using Dreamweaver?

Just wondering why you don't mention Dreamweaver. Should I stop using it?

6 Answers

There are probably hundreds of text-editors out there. If you feel comfortable with DW then keep using it. I'm sure there is no reason they didn't specifically mention DW.

In my opinion using a powerfull but simple IDE such as Sublimetext2 or Coda2 acelerates and lets you control every aspect of the code, but using programs such as dreamweaver use a lot of resources and trying to help the user create a website with a more intuitive set of tools tends to make a sloppy job.

Simon Chercka
Simon Chercka
23,809 Points

I don't know any developers who use Dreamweaver. I'm guessing because historically Dreamweaver has had the 100% WYSIWYG approach which took control away from the developer. I guess these days it's a much more comprehensive developing tool, but it has a (bad) reputation to overcome.

In my experience developers like to be in control of all aspects, and one way of achieving this is by using a handful of specific apps that are really good at just a few things each. Dreamweaver tries to be good at everything and there are bound to be details you prefer to do differently.

Jesse Petersen
STAFF
Jesse Petersen
Treehouse Guest Teacher

I specifically didn't mention Dreamweaver because in 6 years of theme development, I haven't known anyone to use Dreamweaver to develop themes. Not a single one. Dreamweaver had its day.

Today, developers use pure editors or IDEs like the ones mentioned - those are the real-world editors that the people who make your themes today are using.

is DW considered an IDE or text editor? I was under the impression that it was a full-fledged IDE?

Jesse Petersen
Jesse Petersen
Treehouse Guest Teacher

Neither is mentioned by Adobe. They see it as a website builder. I'll stress again, that out of 200-300+ WordPress developers that I personally know, not one of them uses Dreamweaver. Can it be done? Yes. Is it a recommended tool? No.

Daniel Crean
Daniel Crean
7,574 Points

Nothing wrong with using Dreamwaver itself. Just that it does not have the best reputation as it is seen as a WYSIWYG editor. There can also be issues on what OS you are using and also license requirements as well. There are loads of pure editors out there, that are aimed at different users and requirements, as well as being free, hench why Dreamweaver is not mentioned as much.

It depends on your actual needs and work If you feel comfortable using Dreamwaver in comparison to other editors and also it gets the work done in a very efficient way, then that is fine.

Dreamweaver also tends to be a lot slower than a dedicated text editor. Unless you're running a powerful computer, it's best to use something that doesn't put such a drain on your cpu and memory. The GUI is also a lot more complicated than it needs to be. The modern web design workflow just doesn't lend itself to all of that bloat. The simpler and faster the tools you use, the better. :-)