[BetaWar]

Background information
All over the internet forums have had similar conversations to the one below
“Dreamweaver is so much better than notepad!”
“Why?”
“Because you can’t accomplish everything in notepad that you can in Dreamweaver.”

In this article I will be going over what Dreamweaver is capable of creating, when it comes to websites and web pages, that Notepad is simply incapable of doing.

Warming up
I fundamentally have problem with the above statement, especially when people are saying it in the sense of webpage creation. What can Dreamweaver accomplish that Notepad is incapable of doing? They both generate an HTML document don’t they? Both programs’ output is displayed in a web browser isn’t it?

If they both create an HTML document and you open it in a web browser what can Dreamweaver accomplish that Notepad is incapable of?
The most simplified answer to this is “Nothing,” after all, it is just HTML.

Why then do people support this insane idea?
This gets to be a bit more difficult to answer, but I would suggest starting at adobe’s Dreamweaver page. On the main page they don’t go overboard with saying that it is the be-all-end-all for web design and development software, they simple state that they are the leading software in the field. I may not be a normal person when it comes to this type of thing, but that doesn’t in any way tell me they can create things that Notepad is incapable of. Upon investigation in their features page nothing else stands out. They have “live preview”, which is really about the same as saving a file and opening it in web browser (but in practice – with a computer containing 4 GB RAM, it leads to the program lagging). Personally, I will stick to having to press Ctrl+F5 (PC).

Given that Adobe isn’t touting their software can create things that nothing else can, it must be coming from elsewhere… but where?

After running a quick google search or two, I found that a lot of people say they only use Dreamweaver for its code view. That really doesn’t go much into how it can create anything that Notepad can’t but instead shows that people will use programs that cost loads of money for a few features they could have got for free (Notepad++ for example…). Though, I did find a few quotes like so “you don't get a good-looking, professionally designed template-based cms system looking like that using notepad...” and while I find is annoying that people are spouting this type of thing I am far more annoyed on how people just take it as fact and go on to ask questions like so “How can I make my own website? I know I need dreamweaver…”

Why is it that people know they need Dreamweaver?

People really need to realize, and make it known to all the would-be web programmers out there that Dreamweaver is NOT a requirement for creating a website. In fact, when starting out it may actually help to bury any future you have in the web programming industry as it will do everything for you and you will have no reason to learn HTML, CSS, Javascript and the like. You can’t expect to be chosen for a job when you don’t know the fundamentals of what is required for it.

Wrapping up
Now, I haven’t (by a long shot) seen all the pages on the internet, but I am going to say this anyways. Any site out there with an HTML front end can be created in a program as simple as Notepad by a person who knows what they are doing. It isn’t that difficult to learn HTML and CSS to the point you can create some fairly spectacular websites.

As always, this is meant to be a discussion, so feel free to add your opinion to mine and carry on. With any luck we can get a nice dialogue going on people’s pros and cons to programs and creating things in Dreamweaver or Notepad. The entire idea here is to get people talking, so please feel free to chat your head off.

All Dreamweaver facts taken from http://www.adobe.com, research conducted through http://www.google.com.

[firebolt]

Thats a nice write up, BetaWar.

I know of many who say that they do not ever touch the Design View and only use the Code View, but I use both, for the reason that its easier to check for design errors through the Design View. You may find an error/mistake in your design when viewing the design, but if you have a long piece of coding, it may take some time to locate it. Using the Design View, you can select the image/text and it will locate the code for you. That is very useful for beginners, but also for experienced users.

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Notepad is a useful tool for creating text documents, including HTML files, Perl files, and normal text files. And for that reason, you have complete control over layout and the HTML code that goes into your document. However, unless you're experienced in the field for which you are creating a document for, you're better off not using Notepad. Notepad does not include HTML tags or syntax help so you will need to be certain of the language, just to make a good looking site.

Dreamweaver/WYSIWYG is easy to use as it includes the Design editor. Unlike Notepad, a user is basically editing a Word or other text processing software with ease and the ability to place in webpage elements like images, forms and links. However, a user who takes advantage of WYSIWYG software may come up with unpleasing HTML syntax or tags which will end up in the user never understanding HTML.

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So really, the bottom line is, you need to understand how to use HTML before playing around with the Design Editor/View. That way, you will know how to use HTML, but also have the ability to quickly manage webpages with the Design View.

[CamoDeveloper]

I personally can't stand Dreamweaver, I rather write in Notepad. The only thing that I can see that Dreamweaver has that Notepad doesn't is a POS IDE. I guess people find it helpful when they are just starting out but that is what reference sheets are for.

I think that many people are just too lazy to use anything else since DW helps a little with syntax, but you shouldn't have to rely on a program fo that, rely on your brain.

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People really need to realize, and make it known to all the would-be web programmers out there that Dreamweaver is NOT a requirement for creating a website. In fact, when starting out it may actually help to bury any future you have in the web programming industry as it will do everything for you and you will have no reason to learn HTML, CSS, Javascript and the like. You can’t expect to be chosen for a job when you don’t know the fundamentals of what is required for it.

I totally agree with that, it's so true. When I first started working for my company, my boss quizzed me on the basics of HTML. I had to create a site he designed all in Notepad (It was easy )

I think it all depends on how lazy the person is and the willingness they have to learn. If they just want to throw things together and not pay attention to what they're doing then yeah, DW is for them. You can still learn with DW but it makes it harder since every time you hit a damn key a pop up loads (Which takes awhile sometimes) and has a list with EVERY single possibility to what you want based on ONE key.

Even though I have shot down DW during this whole post, I do have one Pro for it. It syncs with Microsoft Source Safe pretty decently, can take awhile for it to retrieve any new items or changes but it helps keep people from stepping on each other.

Also:

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I found that a lot of people say they only use Dreamweaver for its code view.

It's not hard to write code in Notepad either, you just need to know what you're doing

Thanks again BetaWar for another great discussion. I can't wait to see how this one turns out.

~Camo

[noorahmad]

i am fan of Dreamweaver by my self, because i can finish a website 80% faster and sooner then Notepad(++), i love Wizard tabs in dreamwearver, i have no knowledge of ASP.Net but i can create website in ASP with help of dreamweaver, and that is all i know about dreamweaver

This post has been edited by noorahmad: 07 August 2009 - 11:03 PM

[firebolt]

Neumann, on 8 Aug, 2009 - 03:54 PM, said:

Anything > Notepad

Maybe, but more explanation is needed, please.

[mocker]

If you are just doing straight up html pages, or visually designing templates, than sure, Dreamweaver can be a time saver.

For anyone that does any programming beyond plain html, using something like Notepad++ that is essentially Dreamweaver with only Code View, seems to make more sense.

If I was a team lead and someone was using Dreamweavers wysiwyg mode to create full sites.. they wouldn't last long. The way I see it, it is a graphic design tool to get something how you want to look, and then you edit the crap out of the code to make it something the programmers can work with.

[gregwhitworth]

Once again, am I the only one that completely disagrees with you Beta?

I mean come on - yes they both give you in the end an html document that can be viewed in your browser, but you did a great job at not looking at anything that DW has to offer besides what notepad has to offer and arguing against that.

For one, spell check? Multiple site management, Coloring coding, check in and check out control, FTP and database management, quick function menus, relative linking, syntax error, author information, snippet (code library) creation.

I would say, sure you don't need it, but hey you don't need tabs and spell checking, history, quick search bar in your browser to view the internet do you - but your browser would suck if it didn't huh?

I say screw design view, I would rather it ship without it personally as it does a CRAPPY, and I MEAN CRAPPY job of rendering the site, so I just have a browser open and refresh, much in the same manner that you mentioned but with so much more!

I'm sorry, for the rant but you guys are way off base. I completely agree that the design view sucks and that the users should learn code and not use the IDE for writing the code. But that doesn't mean that the software doesn't make life easier by having everything self contained.

Trust me, speeds things up immensely.

--

Greg

[kewlkreator]

Well put BetaWar. My theory is that a more complex program like Dreamweaver is:
a)Going to crash my PC
b)Confuse me
c)Make me broke
Notepad can make things a lot simpiler.

[gregwhitworth]

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Well put BetaWar. My theory is that a more complex program like Dreamweaver is:
a)Going to crash my PC
b)Confuse me
c)Make me broke
Notepad can make things a lot simpiler.

And yet, from the sound of it - it sounds like you haven't even tried it. I've used Notepad, and Notepad++ and nothing compares to Dreamweaver. Nothing. Go live tries, and fails majorly. So yeah, dreamweaver rocks.

[BetaWar]

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I mean come on - yes they both give you in the end an html document that can be viewed in your browser, but you did a great job at not looking at anything that DW has to offer besides what notepad has to offer and arguing against that.

Yes, I did completely disregard everything that Dreamweaver adds to be better than Notepad. ut, the point of th earticle wa to combat the notion that Dreamweaver is capable of creating something that Notepad is not. A site won't look emensly better simply because it was done in Dreamweaver.

I will admit that having the code view is nice, I just don't like the load times that Dreamweaver brings to the table. If is was something more like Notepad/(++) or loading time I would be more inclined to use it, but it isn't so I don't.

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you don't need tabs and spell checking, history, quick search bar in your browser to view the internet do you - but your browser would suck if it didn't huh?

Well, here I just need to laugh. I am using IE 6. I have no tabs, no spell checking, no quick search bar, and I have turned off history. I don't know, I think the browser works perfectly fine ;P

To wrap up this post, I guess the main reason I don't use Dreamweaver (other than my serious dislike of it) is because it feels bloated (takes time to load, tries to help out with eveything... etc.).

[gregwhitworth]

You do know that you can close windows, and the load times thing makes me chuckle because the amount of time it saves you in simple menial tasks, such as code find and replace are life saving. But I feel that debating the point is worthless as your mind is made up.

And I was correct, your browser sucks!

[BetaWar]

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And I was correct, your browser sucks!

Aw, that's not nice T_T

[gregwhitworth]

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Aw, that's not nice T_T

Hopefully you knew I was giving you a hard time right?