Tools needed to start a Web Site Design Business

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I have been wondering, outside of using the FreeCodeCamp sandbox for building sites, what other kinds of software or sites should I use to build sites. I would really like to start a business in this someday, but I am confused as to what online or offline software tools I should buy.

Thanks so much for the help!

Elmo

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editor (notepad, textpad, sublime, atom etc)
browser (whatever is loaded on your computer)

and that is it … that’s all … literally and figuratively …nothing else is required …

you can get everything else (images, code, etc) from the web … for FREE …

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this video will get you started with setting up those tools I listed -

by Stephen Mayeux, a fellow FCC camper, GREAT GUY …

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Ego,

Thanks so much man! I super appreciate your help on this. I will definitely watch this video that you hooked me up with.

God Bless, my friend!

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Go for atom editor that is good…You can develop cross platform application, even helps you to develop desktop application using html, css, js etc.

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Ashu,

Thanks so much for this killer information. I really appreciate it.

God Bless,

Elmo

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Hi @elmo033057,

I think the answers provided were a bit “light” if you plan to make a business of it.

If you want to create a static website, then “Yes” i would agree that a good editor + a good hosting env is all you need (i am now using VisualStudioCode for my projects and so far i have been liking it very much… recommend it!). I have used many editors in the past and honestly unless they are “really cr**” they will get the job done fine! (in my 9-to-5 I use notepadd++ and its fine for Java, C++, KSH, SQL).

If you want to create a “Web Application” and get all of that acquired JS knowledge to use then you are going to need “much much more”…

“What other kinds of software or sites should I use to build sites”

In my opinion it really depends on what you want/need in your site. Below is a quick list with a couple of examples focusing only on the tech-stack of FreeCodeCamp (MEAN-ish):

#What is the “business model” and how do you plan to monetize the app?

  • Adds: Google Adwords (tried this many years ago for Android apps i created, was OK at the time)
  • Payments: Stripe (no point in trying anything else… their API is very nice and commissions are pretty much standard)

#Where will the site be hosted? (ex: AWS, Azure, GoogleCloud, etc)

  • You need to decide based on the TechStack where to host the site. I recommend a PAAS service to allow you to focus on the functionality of your site and not the maintenance of it. (Personally I prefer AWS)

Hint: choose any of the “big 3” and take advantage of their massive CDN. Use it to store all of your static assets (massive perf boost).

Take a look at: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/gettingstarted/latest/swh/website-hosting-intro.html

I have my personal website hosted in AWS (http://sergiomgaspar.com … really old version done in about 1h, I need to clean it up :S ) for $0.60 / month (static only, currently NodeJS in ElasticBeanstalk but plan to move it back to S3 + CloudFront this weekend).

#Use Gulp (or Grunt)

I am still learning how to use it fully but the deployment/minification/etc it does without me loosing 1s is going to save you a loooot of time in deployments/bugs etc. That alone would be worth it, but with minimization along with a good CDN will make major perf improvements to your site.

You can check the last app i did for FCC where i listed all of the tech-stack i used to create it: https://smg-voting-app.herokuapp.com/about

I am not sure exactly what you plan to do (I may have gone a bit “off-topic”, sorry about that), but In my case I spend 5m worrying about the “editor / PC / setup” I use to code and spend hours just thinking “how am I going to store an image the user uploads?” or “what kind of routing should I implement”.

Good luck
SĂ©rgio

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Sergio,

Thanks so very much for your advice. Some of that was well over my head, but I did understand some of it. I’ve built sites before years ago, but I used HTML and Dreamweaver. I’ve been coding everyday but I’ve been taking it slow trying to remember most of what I’ve been learning. I use the editor on FreeCodeCamp to practice building code from scratch.

Anyway, I’ve got a long way to go and a million questions, so you’ll see me on here quite often.

Once again, Sergio, thanks so much for your help and advice.

God Bless,
Elmo

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No problem… glad to be of help.

Web dev has changed a lot since the “Dreamweaver times”… in my opinion for the better.

You have a lot of work ahead of you but I think FCC is a good fit for you since it has the tools and the people necessary to “get you up-to-speed” on the “new” Web dev :slight_smile:

Good luck
happy coding

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