IDE's - half the tools of your trade!

When it comes to writing code you can literally write it in notepad/preview/VIM, etc. As long as it's saved with the right file extension and in the right character code (ie UTF-8, etc - don't worry about this too much just now) it'll work. I'd recommend that ocassionally you test your skills and write simple pieces of code by hand; when I interviewed at LBi one of the first tests was to write html, css & js by hand ON PAPER!! (no computer in sight...). In web development we plan for the lowest form of technology; you should do the same for your skillset!

Trouble is, though, that when you type it our by hand it's:

1. Long and laborious
2. You're prone to make tiny typos that will break your code

Fortunately there's an easy way around all this: IDEs (Integrated Development Environments).

IDE's often come with some great features that'll really help you and speed up production, such as:

1. Code highlighting (This colours your code so you can instantly see what things are and if there's a fault)
2. Code Hinting (This indicates errors to you with red underlines or exclamation marks, etc)
3. AutoComplete (As you type it gives you options which you can navigate and accept, so if you type '<i' it will show you '<input', so 3 keystrokes instead of 6)
4. Validation: NOT a substitute for real validation, but helpful nonetheless...
5. Code commenting/uncommenting
6. Find & replace - VERY USEFUL/VERY POWERFUL/VERY DANGEROUS.
7. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) functionality. This allows you to put files up to a server and get them down.
8. SVN functionalities - in a word "don't". Use tortoise SVN instead.
9. Code tidying. (there are prolly better online versions but these are ok.)

List of some popular IDE's:

1. Komodo: Free and pay versions (pay has things like FTP, etc). I'm just starting to use this IDE - TBH, I think you should too, even though I don't think it's as amazing as people make out (but for a free product it's hard to beat!).
2. notepad++ Free and light. Works ok, in windows.
3. Textmate. Not free and I've never used, so...
4. WebStorm. Apparently very good for JS. (Has a sibling phpstorm, which is recommended)
5. Dreamweaver (part of the creative suite). Costs a lot. Hated by developers because designers used to use the design mode to create web pages that could be technically described as 'boll*cks'. There are even companies that will not interview you if you state that you can use this software on your CV!! Having said that; If you CAN code, I found it ok and indeed have spent most of my junior development life using it - stands by for incoming fire...

For now, I'd recommend you use Komodo (with zencode and jslint addons [works like firefox for addons])...

PS. If anybody has any more info, suggestions, etc please feel free to comment. :)