The other day I was working on a friend's machine, and since he didn't have the tools and programs I needed to commence my crazy development, I had to whip out my "stick". My USB stick that is. I plugged it in, and within minutes I was slicing, coding, and uploading. He asked me, "how'd you do that?". All I could reply was, "magic", but in fact you all might know by now, it's not magic. I have kept a USB with me for the last few years that has kept programs for mobile web development work. Today I will share with you the apps I have installed.

The USB

Before you can get started you'll have to get a USB flash drive (if you don't have one already). For the capacity, you'll want something 4 GB or more. The apps won't take up the whole 4 GB but having the extra space will be beneficial. As for the physical size, you'll want something easy to carry but hard to lose, so find something that you'll be comfortable carrying around all the time.

The Setup

First of all you'll want the launcher to organize everything on your USB. The launcher is a free software called PortableApps and can be found at: http://portableapps.com/apps.

The Apps

After you have installed the launcher you can get all the apps. Here's a list of all the apps I used. You can pick and choose as you may have your own preference.

HTML Editor – Notepad++
http://portableapps.com/apps/development/notepadpp_portable
The first and most important thing to have is a HTML editor. I vary between Dreamweaver and Notepad++ on my desktop so using Notepad++ on my USB was no surprise. Its light and has a nice color scheme.

Server – XAMPP
http://portableapps.com/apps/development/xampp
If you're coding with a database or using server-side scripting you'll need a server to do so. I'm used to WAMP but using XAMPP is not bad either. A great portable alternative.

Browser – FireFox
http://portableapps.com/news/2010-08-12_-_firefox_portable_4.0_beta_3
Should I explain more? This is Firefox, FIREFOX!

FTP – Filezilla
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/filezilla_portable
If you need to FTP your files there's the great Filezilla. I use Filezilla on my desktop already because its free and easy to use with constant updates. Its pretty much the same for the portable version.

FTP – Filezilla
http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/filezilla_portable
If you need to FTP your files there's the great Filezilla. I use Filezilla on my desktop already because its free and easy to use with constant updates. Its pretty much the same for the portable version.

Graphic – GIMP
http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/gimp_portable
Working from graphics to coding cannot be easier with the great Photoshop alternative, GIMP!

Optional Apps

Compression – 7 ZIP
http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/7-zip_portable
Zip and unzip files with ease on the go.

Tablet – On Screen Keyboard
http://portableapps.com/apps/accessibility/on-screen_keyboard_portable
If you're working on a tablet machine that doesn't have a native on screen keyboard, this is the right tool for you.

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Tags: apps, usb

This entry was posted on Friday, August 27th, 2010 at 5:43 pm and is filed under Tools, Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.