30 Bad Programmers Are No Match for a Good Tool

From time to time we hear people say that we need more programmers. Kids should learn programming in school. Programming should be treated like writing essays.

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I don't agree with this view

In every field, there are some people who reach the top of the pyramid and become authorities in this industry, while more people can only be called excellent. Of course, even more people are at the average level, mediocre, and some are struggling like drowning people.

Let's face it, not everyone is suited to every job. Just as most programmers can't be salespeople, actors, doctors, or lawyers, most lawyers, actors, and salespeople can't be programmers. Geniuses who can do everything are rare.

If you force more people into a profession, the only people who will move are the mediocre or even lower-level people, but this will only lower the average skill level of the profession.

Now, we also have a global problem that products are increasingly dependent on software, so we need to meet the increasing demand for software development.

Therefore, having more programmers will not help. And the more programmers (below average), the lower the quality of the software. Many people have experienced this. So, really don't make things worse.

What we need is better tools

Almost everyone would agree that tools have gotten better over time. Is that really the case?

I started programming when I was 14, which is over 30 years ago. My first computer had a 4MHz CPU and 16KB of RAM. I had never written code before and no one taught me how. I only had the documentation that came with the computer and the tools that came with the documentation. This meant that I only had a built-in BASIC interpreter. However, I managed to write my first (very simple) game in a few hours.

Imagine if this happened today. Give a 14 year old who has never used a computer a computer in its box and see how long it would take him to write his first program. My guess is it would take him a few weeks or not at all.

Because while we've made a lot of progress over the past few decades in making computers easier to use, they've also become more complicated. You don't just unbox it, plug it in, and turn it on. You have to create a user account, fill out a registration form, download all the latest security updates, find and download development tools, and then read and understand some super complicated documentation to choose the right programming language for you.

Just look at the size of today's APIs and libraries. Such a large scale may have prevented many people from exploring further. Many things are forgotten after they are learned.

We need some tools that are easy to learn and suitable for beginners.

We need tools that allow us to easily switch from Windows programming to Mac programming, Linux programming, and Web programming.

We need tools that can assist with our daily work.

We need tools that allow us to focus on the actual task.

This is the way to solve the problem. It doesn’t matter if you have a lot of programmers, it matters if you have good tools.

#p#

Recommended tools for programmers to work efficiently (essential tools)

1. Xshell Xftp

Free software Xshell and Xftp are both excellent network management and secure transmission tools produced by NetSarang. Xshell is a free secure terminal emulator that can be used as a terminal emulation for SSH, TELNET or RLOGIN, and can securely connect to Linux servers from Windows platforms. Xftp is a secure transmission client that supports FTP and SFTP protocols, and both support tabbed session windows. If your project is deployed under Liunx, such tools are indispensable.

2. Axure RP Pro

This is more commonly used in product development, but programmers also need to draw their own pictures. Axure RP Pro is a must-have interactive prototyping tool for product managers. It can efficiently create product prototypes and quickly draw wireframes, flow charts, website architecture diagrams, schematics, HTML templates, etc.

FastStone Capture

This is the best screenshot tool I think, bar none. FastStone Capture is an extremely useful image browsing, editing and screenshot tool, supporting mainstream image formats including BMP, JPG, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA. Its unique smoothing and burr processing technology makes the image clearer, and provides zooming, rotating, cutting and color adjustment functions.

4. Lingoes

Built-in basic English-Chinese dictionary, Haici online dictionary, Juku bilingual examples, interactive encyclopedia, Google online definitions, instant translation. Others include vocabulary with frequency classification from level 1 to level 5, vocabulary for college syllabus for level 4 and level 6, vocabulary for junior high school entrance examination, college entrance examination, junior college, undergraduate, and study abroad, the latest TOEFL vocabulary, the latest GRE vocabulary, the latest IELTS vocabulary, MBA joint examination syllabus, postgraduate English entrance examination syllabus, commonly used spoken vocabulary and other commonly used basic words and phrases.

5. Youdao Cloud Notes

Youdao Cloud Notes uses incremental synchronization technology, which means that only the modified content is synchronized each time instead of the entire note. The "three-backup storage" technology backs up and stores user data on three servers, so that even if 1-2 machines fail, the security and stability of user data can be effectively guaranteed. This technology also facilitates the expansion of system storage scale and the improvement of data processing capabilities in the future.

Youdao Cloud Notes provides users with up to 2G of initial free storage space. And as the online time increases, the storage space corresponding to the login account also increases synchronously. Youdao Cloud Notes supports a variety of attachment types, including pictures, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. Also launched is the web clipping function, which uses a JavaScript code in the favorites to capture the information on the web page and save it to Youdao Notes with one click, and the saved web page can be edited again.

6. Mindjet MindManager

Mindjet MindManager is an excellent mind mapping and knowledge management software that can help you record your ideas and inspirations in the form of clear mind maps, which is very helpful for organizing work plans and planning, and is widely used in research, organization, problem solving and decision-making. MindManager can quickly and easily create elegant and beautiful mind maps, effectively capture, analyze and reuse information, and can also be integrated with Microsoft Office to import and export information charts, and innovate and share knowledge.

7. Notepad++

Notepad++ is a very unique free software plain text editor (license: GPL), with a complete Chinese interface and support for multi-language writing (UTF8 technology). Its functions are more powerful than Notepad in Windows. In addition to being used to create general plain text description files, it is also very suitable as an editor for writing computer programs. Notepad++ not only has syntax highlighting, but also syntax folding function, and supports macros and plug-in modules to expand basic functions.
Notepad++ is a very distinctive editor, open source software, free to use. Supported languages: C, C++, Java, pascal, C#, XML, SQL, Ada, HTML, PHP, ASP, AutoIt, Assembly, DOS batch processing, Caml, COBOL, Cmake, CSS, D, Diff, ActionScript, Fortran, Gui4Cli, HTML, Haskell, INNO, JSP, KIXtart, LISP, Lua, Make processing (Makefile), Matlab, INI file, MS-DOS Style, NSIS, Normal text, Objective-C, Pascal, Python, Javascript, VerilogHaskellInnoSetupCMake,
VHDLAdaCaml, AutoItKiXtart, Matlab.

8. Beyond Compare 3 Chinese Version

We often encounter some files that need to be compared, especially some codes, texts, web pages or folders. We really need a tool that can clearly analyze all the differences between them to facilitate their modification or reference.

Beyond Compare is a classic, long-established, and excellent professional-level file comparison software. We often hear its name in the recommendations of some development experts and predecessors. It can be used to easily compare the differences between two folders or files (such as code/web pages/text files, etc.). It will mark each line or word with a color. Not only can you intuitively view and locate all the differences, but you can also modify them very conveniently...

Beyond Compare 3 officially provides a simplified Chinese version, which can support comparison and analysis of ordinary text, code, hexadecimal files, registry, mp3, pictures, version information, folders, compressed packages, entire drives, FTP sites, etc. For developers, you can use it to compare the changes of two codes; for text workers, you can use it to find out where the text has been modified; for most users, you can also use it to compare the differences between folders, you can merge files, register snapshots, or synchronize with FTP servers.

9. Source Code Pro

Every programmer has his or her favorite code editor and programming font. For example, we have previously recommended a "magic" code editor Sublime Text 2, and today we recommend a very good programming font - Source Code Pro!

Source Code Pro is an open source and completely free monospaced programming font released by the famous Adobe company. It is very suitable for reading code and supports operating systems such as Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. It can be used for both business and personal use for free, which is quite generous. This font, like Microsoft's Consolas, is positioned as a "programming font". As a developer who comes into contact with code every day, I believe you will definitely not miss this new choice...

10. Listary

Listary is small, fast, and won't slow you down. It has a Chinese interface, supports Chinese perfectly, and also provides a Chinese "teaching" function.
Listary is completely free for personal use, but some features such as Project (project search), FuzzyNavigation (search all files in the current folder), and the menu for calling files by pressing the right arrow key in the video are only available in the professional version.
Listary is an excellent Windows file browsing and search enhancement tool that can add a series of very practical and efficient functions to your Windows "File Browse Dialog Box", "Explorer", etc., such as very convenient file quick location, real-time full disk search, common folder collection, open history, quick switch to opened path, shortcut right-click menu, etc.

#p#

11. Everything

Everything is the fastest file search software. Its speed is shocking. A hard drive with hundreds of thousands of files can be indexed in a few seconds. The file name search will show the results instantly. It is small and free, supports Chinese, supports regular expressions, and can share search results via HTTP or FTP. If you are not satisfied with the search tool that comes with Windows, Total Commander's search, Google Desktop search or Baidu hard drive search, and if you are using or have given up Locate32, it is worth recommending this small, installation-free, free, and extremely fast (faster than Locate32) file search tool Everything!

If you have used the built-in search tool of Windows, Total Commander's search, Google Desktop search or Baidu hard disk search, and were not satisfied with them due to speed or other reasons; or if you were not satisfied (or satisfied) after using Locate32, we recommend this small, installation-free, free, and extremely fast (faster than Locate32) file search tool called Everything!

12. FileSearchy Pro

Although Listary, Everything and other tools can quickly search or locate files through folders, they are powerless if you want to search the contents of some text documents.

FileSearchy Pro is a practical full-text document search software that supports fast search of all the contents of a document. Compared with many similar software, it has a great advantage that it does not require indexing of documents in advance, and the direct search speed is not slow.

FileSearchy Pro supports searching for documents such as TXT, PDF, Word, Excel, html webpage files, code files, etc. You can also limit the folder location, modification time, file size, etc. The software also supports multiple tabs, which is very convenient for searching multiple results at the same time.

13. Stylify Me

When designing a web page, the most important thing is the color matching of the web page. The use of color plays a very critical role in web page production. Different websites have their own different styles and colors. Today I will introduce to you a tool for generating website color matching online - Stylify Me.

Stylify Me can help us get the color, font, size and other style information of a website. When you see a website and are very interested in its color, font and other style information, you only need to enter the URL to analyze all the colors used on the webpage, including background color, text color, font, font size and other styles. The generated results can also be downloaded and saved in PDF format, which is very convenient.

14. VPN Gate Client

Mainland netizens know that we cannot access websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. To browse these websites, you need to use a foreign proxy IP or VPN. Today, I will introduce a free VPN tool with unlimited traffic - VPN Gate.

VPN Gate is an academic research and experimental project of the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Its main purpose is to "promote knowledge of globally distributed public VPN relay servers." Simply put, the VPN Gate website lists the currently available public VPN relay servers, and users can freely choose the server to connect to without registration or payment. These VPNs are provided by volunteers from all over the world and will be continuously updated.

15. PotPlayer

PotPlayer is the new generation of work by Mr. Jiang Longxi (Korea), the original creator of KMPlayer, after he joined Daum. PotPlayer's advantage lies in its powerful built-in decoder; while KMPlayer's advantage lies in its powerful customization and personalization capabilities. PotPlayer is written in VC++, while KMPlayer is written in Delphi. PotPlayer is a network player of Daum, with its own independent copyright. It was not originally created by Mr. Jiang Longxi, and is currently being developed by Jiang Longxi, the original author of KMPlayer. Currently (versions after 1428) of KMPlayer are collectively developed by the PandoraTV team. At the request of PandoraTV, PotPlayer will not include some popular features in KMPlayer, but the author promised to add some similar features.

By the way, this is the video player with the best acceleration effect among all the players I have tested. It is very suitable for programmers to use it to speed up video playback when watching videos for self-study. The shortcut key for acceleration is C, the shortcut key for slowing down is X, the shortcut key for pause is space, and the shortcut key for full screen is Enter.

16. Start Menu X, a start button specifically for win8.X

StartMenuX (Win8 Start Menu) is a very good replacement tool for the Windows system start menu. It is more suitable for users who have installed more than one software and cannot quickly find the program they want using the system's own menu. StartMenuX can group programs one by one according to their purpose (office applications, image processing, etc.) without changing their location on the hard disk. You can also set different display styles for the menu. After trial, StartMenuX can perfectly support WinXP, Vista, 7 and the latest Win8 operating system.

17. VirtualBox

VirtualBox is an open source virtual machine software. VirtualBox was developed by Innotek of Germany and produced by Sun Microsystems. It was written in Qt and officially renamed Oracle VM VirtualBox after Sun was acquired by Oracle. Innotek released VirtualBox under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and provided binary and OSE versions of the code. Users can install and run Solaris, Windows, DOS, Linux, OS/2 Warp, BSD and other systems on VirtualBox as client operating systems.
VirtualBox is known as the most powerful free virtual machine software. It not only has rich features, but also excellent performance! It is easy to use, and can virtualize systems including Windows (from Windows 3.1 to Windows8, Windows Server 2012, all Windows systems are supported), Mac OS X (32bit and 64bit are supported), Linux (2.4 and 2.6), OpenBSD, Solaris, IBM OS2 and even Android 4.0 system! Users can install and run these operating systems on VirtualBox!
Compared with similar products such as VMware and Virtual PC, VirtualBox's unique features include support for Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), iSCSI, and USB. VirtualBox can already support USB 2.0 hardware devices on the client operating system, but the VirtualBox Extension Pack must be installed.

18. Git

Git is a free, open source distributed version control system that is used to handle any project, small or large, in an agile and efficient manner. [1] Git is pronounced /gɪt/.

Git is an open source distributed version control system that is used to efficiently and quickly manage versions of small to very large projects. [2] Git is an open source version control software developed by Linus Torvalds to help manage Linux kernel development.
Torvalds started developing Git as a transitional solution to BitKeeper, which had been the primary source code tool used by Linux kernel developers worldwide. Some people in the open source community felt that the BitKeeper license was not suitable for the work of the open source community, so Torvalds decided to work on a version control system with a more flexible license. Although Git was originally developed to assist the Linux kernel development process, we have found that Git is also used in many other free software projects. For example, recently migrated to Git, and many Freedesktop projects have also migrated to Git.

19. Go agent

GoAgent is a proxy tool based on Google Appengine, fully compatible with IE, FireFox, and Chrome. It is written in Python and Google App EngineSDK. The program can be used on Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, webOS, OpenWrt, and Maemo. It uses the IP segment of Google's data center in Mountain View, California, USA. To access YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc., just configure two Google apps, and there is no pressure at all, and the speed is very fast.

20. Clover

Clover is a free and practical enhancement software developed by the ejie team, a reader of Yidiyuan. It can add multiple tabs to your Windows Explorer, just as convenient and easy to use as Google Chrome. It is especially convenient when viewing and operating multiple folders with different paths at the same time, making the windows less and neater. It also supports shortcut keys and dragging in and out tabs. Once you are familiar with it, it will definitely greatly improve the efficiency of computer operation.

21. ITerm2

iTerm is a full-featured terminal emulation program written for Mac OS X. The goal is to provide users with the best command line experience under OS X. The letter i represents the native Apple look and feel of the program interface, and focuses on full international support. It is a merger of two projects, CTerminal and TerminalX, both of which are based on the JTerminal project. The software is very practical and easy to use.

22. VPN Gate Client

Mainland netizens know that we cannot access websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. To browse these websites, you need to use a foreign proxy IP or VPN. Today, I will introduce a free VPN tool with unlimited traffic - VPN Gate.

VPN Gate is an academic research and experimental project of the University of Tsukuba in Japan. Its main purpose is to "promote knowledge of globally distributed public VPN relay servers." Simply put, the VPN Gate website lists the currently available public VPN relay servers, and users can freely choose the server to connect to without registration or payment. These VPNs are provided by volunteers from all over the world and will be continuously updated.

Translation link: http://www.codeceo.com/article/we-dont-need-more-programmers.html
Original English text: We Don't Need More Programmers, We Need Better Tools