Adobe Suite contains creative software that needs no introduction. While there are new layout tools coming out into the market, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are still staples in every website developer and designer’s toolbag and has been a trusted program of mine since the early Netscape days.

Navicat is a modern and premium solution to MySQL administration and is a great alternative to phpMyAdmin which can be slow and clunky. Viewing data and modifying table structures are accomplished elegantly and powerfully through queries directly into database. Full backups and restores are as simple as a click of the mouse and transferring entire databases from one server to another is just a drag and drop away. Navicat makes working with MySQL and MariaDB a breeze.

Developing in an environment that is as close to the production setup as possible prevents compatibility issues and improves launch time. Which is why I enjoy developing with VirtualBox because it allows me to turn on custom server stacks that run on top of my development machine similar to a private cloud server. This hybrid operating system approach lets me use all of my Windows tools and see website changes instantly in its native environment through the use of virtual paths to the development directory. Agencies and clients that I work with also appreciate the option to view changes and updates in real-time with preview links that are online accessible and globally available.