Your web development is limited just as much by the tools you use, as by your expertize. Imagine trying to build a house with just your bare hands?
It is very possible to do web development with just notepad.exe, and an ftp client. But doing so seriously handicaps you. Here are a few tips to get you going.
Open Source Web Development Tools
Firefox
If are using Internet Explorer as your browser, please switch to Firefox. Firefox has many extensions developed by Web Developers or Web Developers. The most indispensable one to date is Firebug.
Firebug
Firebug is all around the best client side web based development tool. It allows you to view and edit the source of your HTML, JavaScript and CSS directly on the web page, in real time. It has a JavaScript debugger, DOM viewer, HTTP Request/Response viewer and a lot of other nifty features.
You may also want to look at the other web development extensions provided for Firefox.
Aptana
Aptana is an open source IDE (code editor) built upon Eclipse. It supports Ruby on Rails, Adobe Air, IPhone among other development platforms. Up till now, I haven't found a better Open Source IDE for web developers.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is a drop in replacement for the default notepad.exe on Windows OS. It is also a syntax highlighter for many programming languages and has a built in file manager. This tool offers quick editing of your HTML, CSS, XML etc. if you don't want to waste time loading a full IDE.
WAMP Server
Apache, MySQL, PHP on Windows. If you're still doing your web development over FTP, its about time you worked on a local version of your web server. WAMP allows you to easily install an Apache Server, with PHP and MySQL pre-installed.
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