If you are an aspiring web-developer, which you probably are, then you obviously aren't using any verions of Internet Explorer. However, I think (and I would do anyway) that you should switch to Google Chrome if you haven't yet. Despite speed, functionality, design and all those generic arguments for the average person browsing the Internet, there are arguments specifically to convince the web-developer to make the change.
Extensions
Google Chrome supports many nifty and simple extensions specifically built for use in web-developing. Here are some of my favorites and most useful extensions for web-developers.
Resolution Test and Window Re-sizer are two extensions for web-designers to test how their layout will look to users browsing the page in other resolutions. In both how it works is that, as with all extensions, a little button with a logo on it appears beside the address bar. Clicking on that brings you up a pop-out detailing 13 different screen resolutions ranging from 640x480 to 1920x1200. If you check all or a couple to display, the extension opens up several windows of the website you want to display but in all different sizes. Although it is easy to check the resolutions just by rolling the window of the layout in and out, bigger and smaller, this is a more accurate measure.
Lorem Ipsum Generator. Come on, none of you can recite the "Lorem Ipsum" standard filler text from memory and having a little drop out generator right in your browser is far easier than opening up another new tab and searching Google for a generator. Just click the extension button and a new tab appears with generator!
Validity is an extension which checks whether the HTML on any online page is valid through an HTML validator. The two lacking things are that you cannot check the validility of local/offline pages that you are currently coding and that although it alerts you to how many errors you have on an online page, you cannot view the actual error reports in browser (new window/tab time!). However it's very unobtrusive and sits as a small icon inside the address bar at the far right. It's also very helpful for checking that newly online pages to your site are not disrupting the beautiful bounty of already valid coding.
The PHP Documentation extension is like having a PHP handbook right with you without having to check the long contents page or rummaging for a book-bound one. I wish there were the same for CSS/HTML as well. Would be helpful for times of lapse in memory which I occasionally have.
As well as extensions which perform a single, simple function like the above ones here are two (Pendule and Web Developer) which are a single extension that host a selection of different web-developer tools. If you were to download on of these "packs" you would only need that one web-developer extension as it makes all the single function extensions (on the whole) useless. Both extensions include color pickers/droppers (like in Photoshop, etc.), several validators (not just the one) and tools to allow you to reload, disable CSS, view Javascript as well as many others. The Web Developer toolbar also has the ability to re-size the windows to only two different screen resolutions, the two most popular (800x600 and 1024x768) so this doesn't necesscarily trump the Resolution Test or Window Resizer extensions.
Pendule is the one I am prefering to the "Web Developer" alternative. Although both are sleek looking enough for my beauty of a Google Chrome, Web Developer might just have too many features too it and browsing them is easy but at the same time, still takes more of my semi-valuable time. They both have the same core features: CSS stylesheets, viewing the source, validating, and showing/hiding images. Pendule has far less funtions like I said but it has the most useful features (although I don't think I need the "Forms" functions at all). So on a last note, between the two, I prefer Pendule over Web Developer (which is now being uninstalled).
Also a reminder about "Web Developer", it was originally created as a Firefox addon (another browser for web-freaks) so some of the features do not seem to work in Chrome which isn't a huge deal because there are a couple too many features for me anyway. If you're using Firefox, have a look at Web Developer. It isn't a half bad alternative to Pendule.
There are very many other extensions to fill your liking and if you don't want to go for the "blanket solution", i.e. downloading the huge pack found in Pendule and Web Developer, go pick out your most useful ones. ALL of them are very useful, however, I don't enjoy having too many extensions on my address bar so the three I've decided to download and keep are the Resolution Test, Pendule and Lorem Ipsum Generator.
The Design
Google Chrome is the web-designer's browser because of the way its skeleton was made. It has a slim tab alley (made that phrase up) and one line for all buttons plus Omnibox and Bookmarks bar on the command of Ctrl-B. It uses so little space up top so that the it can display the layout with most of the screen. Economical unlike Firefox and Internet Explorer which you are constantly in danger of adding far too many toolbars. Safari doesn't have the same problem because instead of a toolbar, both have two little buttons on the far right hand side which reveal dropdown menus with everything minus the gunk although it's still got a taller address bar area.
Back on track, the reason why this design is suitable for webdevelopers is because it browses the web almost as if you were reading a site in full-screen mode (which is mode which really annoys me because I can't figure out how to exit). You can still use the full screen (F11) obviously.
IT'S NOT INTERNET EXPLORER
As long as it's not IE, it's basically fit for web-designing. If you can view CSS3 in a browser, it's a good (enough) browser.
Developer Tools
Extensions are just that, they extend the already web-master targeted tools built-in to Google Chrome. Click the little page button and then under "Developer", you can obviously "View Source" but you can also click "Developer Tools" which opens up a pop-up showing a bunch of stuff about the website you're browsing. The metrics, the CSS in a nice isolated way, all coding is color-coded for ease of looking, what type of resource is taking the longest to load and what ever else you might find useful in understanding yours and or another's site.
This little thing is hugely exciting for a web-developer. It's hard to explain why but it lets me take a sneaky-peaky at all those little bits of code on any site.
In Conclusion
In conclusion, Google Chrome is a pretty beast web-browser for nerdy-types. Super in almost every aspect. Because Haily, doesn't want Firefox (his browser of choice) to not get a say, you *might* be reading another similar (but far less awesome) article in the near future (Haily time).
Queshki!
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Comments
I completely forgot about this article! I'm going to install a lot of these, as they'll help me check my layouts etc. in different screen resolutions! :)
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So I've just played around with Pendule a little - it seems so helpful! I definitely recommend getting it!
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I like Pendule a lot more then Web Dev. It's a lot more simple and it has what I need.
I like the last paragraph. ;)
Password is just like your underwear. You have to change it everyday and make sure not to let anyone see it and use it.
Haha.. Especially the Haily Time bit :)
We *should* write articles for the rest of the browsers.. to be *fair*
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My favorite would also have to be Pendule. I've been using it for a while, so I have at least some experience.
Web Developer just feels weird to me. I especially like the Lorem Ipsum text generator though. It's a lot better than googling it.
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I was gonna try them both, but considering how both of you don't like the other one, I decided to just stick with Pedule :) hehe
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Yeah.. Web developer is a bit... odd..
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Awesome! This one is BOOKMARKED! :)
Yay, Anna!
AnnaNeo