tools overview

[Mystagogue]

What are the primary brand-name tools for web design?

I'm a fairly competent ASP.NET developer who already has Visual Studio.NET - but VS.NET is intended for enterprise web development...it doesn't make pretty web pages. From what I can see, Macromedia Studio MX 2004 has a good suite of everything I'd need (and its only $299), BUT I want to know what the competition or alternatives are. And if Studio MX 2004 doesn't have Corel-draw type ability to create 2D art (for jpegs), then I'd like to know what web developers use for that purpose (perhaps they do in fact use Corel-draw).

Finally, I pointedly want to make sure I get my hands on a tool that helps me use tables for formatting my content and graphics. I've done that by hand (www.ariasamp.net) and its a royal pain. Does Studio MX 2004 include that ability? I will use structured HTML and CSS as much as possible, but when I need a table to hold graphics and content - I want help generating the HTML (which I will subsequently paste into my aspx pages).

[PeOfEo]

I myself use dreamweaver mx (not 04) but I have no problems doing whatever I want with that. I hard code everything, the css, html, and server side scripts. I can output tables and do from time to time for tablular data in a asp.net data grid, but I find myself using the repeater control more because It is more hands on, I get more control over exactly what I am doing IMHO.

[Mystagogue]

I certainly respect folks who hands-on directly code their web ideas ("hard-code" I guess you called). That is basically how I got the "look" of ariasamp.net working. Its very time-intensive. However, what if you had to invent a new look every single day?

Also, I noticed you mentioned the use of the asp.net repeater control in lieu of tables, but when I spoke of tables I meant for purposes like this:

http://www.wheeloftime.com/main.html

...certainly you would not use a repeater control to accomplish that. And of course all the tables in that link are invisible, but it sure makes for a very cool look! So what do you do, or what tools do you use, to help yourself create that kind of artistic stuff? I'd love a tool that helped me tame the HTML tables and jpegs to produce that look (or any other look)...and do it QUICKLY!!!

By the way, who are the biggest competitors of Macromedia for web design tools?

[PeOfEo]

I use css, I come up with the layout in one browser then hack it for the others. I NEVER USE A WYSIWYG, that will do one thing fast, and that is wreck your site. They produce nonfluid non accessable code, even dreamweaver does this with its wysiwyg editing abilities. If you want it done right you have to be hands on, and it is not too time consumeing because I can get a whole layout done in maybe 8 hours, hacked and tested on several browsers (graphics might be done but that is cutting it close) if I stay on task and only take a lunch break and do not go off on a forum tangent or something. It is not a butt load of work if you know what you are doing to hard code, infact it is less work to do it by hand then to do it with a wysiwyg because you do not have to go back and redo your code right if you do it right the first time. Macromedia dreamweaver v. microsoft frontpage 2003. Those are the biggies.

[Mystagogue]

You say that you use Dreamweaver, but on the other hand you say you never use a WYSIWYG tool. But isn't that essentially what Dreamweaver is - a WYSIWYG tool? I can't say myself, since I've not used Dreamweaver. Could you clarify? Thanks.