javascript power tools

The amount of javascript development I do has greatly incrased over the last several months…between simple javascript interface enhancements, to true ajax applications. The amount of code I’ve learned is immense, though, I still find myself googling various javascript references to check up to see what’s kosher and whats not…simply because I’m not a guru of the language quite yet. One thing that I’ve desired for longer than I can describe, and have pined for even harder since doing more javascript development, is a GOOD javascript IDE. To be fair, there are a few IDEs out there…but they all fall short in one way or another. Bottom line…i was stuck in whatever text editor i chose, and left to debug using something like firebug (which is, in its own right, an incredible tool…especially for ajax debugging!).

However, my longing has finally come to an end…enter Aptana!

This screenshot, from the Aptana screenshots page, gives a great view of all of the features I’ve been looking for.
In the top left, you have a code assist profile. All htm/html files you load into it automatically pull associated JS files into the profile. Once js files are in the same profile, the IDE associates functions from all of them so when you’re in one JS file, methods from another are available and all code-assist features apply to it. Also, full javascript documentation is built in (as you can see from the yellow window next to the option listing). This also doesnt just support standard javascript functions, but many common functions from librarys like prototype, mochikit, dojo, etc. Pretty incredible if you ask me.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning. It’s cross platform. Built on java, Aptana runs beautifully on my Mac, and while performance is still to be determined, It will run on my PC at work as well.

Oh and ANOTHER another thing. It’s free. Not as in beer…really, totally free. Even support is free. There appears to be thorough documentation, a forum, and a developers blog. Quite a bit of information for a product thats in beta.

Don’t forget, it also supports the same features for (x)HTML, and CSS.

All in all, I’m sure this product will end up helping out ALOT in turning my learning curve into a flat line. While it may fall short at some point, in the mean time, its a hell of a lot better than anything I’ve used so far. I’ll be reporting back with good and bad over the next week, since I have a ton of JS development to do. Please feel free to comment on your experiences as well. Find a power-trick? Please, share!

Edit: 7:49am, 7/27/06
One minor annoyance, and I should have seen this coming:
Application performance is pretty hokey on PC…thanks to the Java platform being…well…the java platform. Oh well…once you’re in a screen, the lag goes away, but moving from dialog box to dialog box definately has some noticable lag. Bah.