Dreamweaver is not the only pro solution to web development and if you are a Mac web developer you better have a look at Espresso a all-in-one solution by MacRabbit.
We at TheLanceLife do work both as a freelancer team but also run our own Web Agency and are organized in a two stage workflow, graphic design and coding.
After a case study, layout and wireframing study phase Our graphic designer Federica starts her work on her iMac.
Upon graphic phase ending she passes all graphic sources to our coding department for slicing and valid xhtml/css conversion phase.
Our coding department use Windows based workstations and since today we never tried to run all the coding phase on a Mac system.
This time we decided to give a Mac application called Espresso a try.
The MacRabbit team introduces Espresso as the all-in-one solution for web development, a sort of boosted web editor, but we can say for sure that Espresso is much more than a simple web editor, is a full web development environment since you won’t need to leave Espresso window for the full coding process time.
Let’s see which are Espresso main features.
First of all Espresso helps you stay productive and organized by collecting your projects into a colorful and beautiful overview window and the whole workspace is fully customizable to better suit your own project and workflow needs.
Espresso is of course an editor, a full and rich text editor that comes bundled with syntax highlighting, code navigator, code folding, contextual text snippets, spell checking, CodeSense and more, all this at an incredible speed, exactly what a modern editor for coders should be like.
The main and powerful feature of Espresso is for sure the real-time preview and styling, you won’t need to refresh your browser anymore, you can just edit your CSS on the fly and see your webpage changing live while you edit, no matter if it is a simple html page or a complex web app frontend.
Also when coming to website publishing Espresso behaves like a real pro application, you will be able to sync your project to FTP, SFTP and Amazon S3 servers with the full speed of dynamic parallel connections.
Another great tool embedded into Espresso is its powerful search functionality, that from version 1.1.1 also supports Regular Espression searches.
Espresso built-in power can be extended through its extensive plug-in architecture, to add support for new languages, new CodeSense support and more and you have no need to write a single line of code since all is done via XML files that combined do behave like plugins that are called Sugars.
If you feel the need for Sugars just go and get some at the MacRabbit Coffee House or try writing you own maybe having a look at the MacRabbit Espresso Sugar Forums.
We tested Espresso on real-life projects for a while and we can say that we are fully satisfied with the results and the learning curve of this software, give it a try downloading it and enjoy the full-featured Espresso power for 15 days, you will end buying it for sure before trial expiration.
GIVEAWAY
MacRabbit team kindly offered 1 free license of Espresso for this giveaway ending on the 12nd of February
To win just you have simply to :
- twitter the following text (simply click to tweet) :
“TheLanceLife giveaway: MacRabbit Espresso : http://bit.ly/dCpDGz @thelancelife @wpstudios RT pls”
AND
- comment here writing your twitter ID and explaining why you would like to win a free license of Espresso and how it could help you in your everyday freelance business
The giveaway will end on Friday the 12nd of February 2010 and the winner will be chosen using a random number generator.
Tags: coding, css, freelance, giveaway, mac
The Author : WPstudios
WPstudios is a graphic and coding agency specialized in web design, print design, logo and branding, wordpress customization, PHP and Javascript coding, 3D graphic.
February 8th, 2010 on 20:11
loving it, looks so beautiful. very decent app and very useful.
February 8th, 2010 on 20:53
http://mobile.twitter.com/westongallagher/status/8819781505
Espresso looks like an amazing tool any young web designer starting out would love to have. I believe that haveing a great tool will make starting out programing for the web all the quicker.
February 8th, 2010 on 21:08
It’s so elegant and useful, could help more foucs on my text editing.
My username: @biship2855
Tweet: https://twitter.com/biship2855/status/8820456686
February 8th, 2010 on 21:11
@matthewpaul
I like the clean UI and would use Espresso as my code editor for my WordPress sites.
February 8th, 2010 on 21:13
Because I love tinkering and Espresso will help me to move on from tinkering and build beautiful websites. x
February 8th, 2010 on 21:39
http://twitter.com/iMaddin/status/8821624531
It has a beautiful UI which will inspire me to work on websites. It will definitely help me with the process of learning web development.
February 8th, 2010 on 22:30
CSSEdit is a great app. Espresso looks just as good.
February 8th, 2010 on 23:51
Espresso sounds like it would help streamline my day and keep projects more organized. I love the idea of viewing changes in real time without saving and uploading or refreshing pages. Every little bit helps in turning a 20+ hour work day into a more manageable day. Maybe even make me less grumpy?
@meldunford
February 9th, 2010 on 01:01
I’d like to receive Espresso in order to finally complete my website and get rid of my perpetual “Opening Soon” page at http://www.joaopinheiro.org/ :p
Twitter ID: joaopinheiro
February 9th, 2010 on 02:46
Would make my web development projects I’m starting up with after a long absence a lot easier to deal with.
February 9th, 2010 on 09:02
I’ve tried Coda, rapidweaver, dreamweaver and pretty much everything under the sun when it comes to web creation apps for mac. I must say from the demo that i tried of Espresso, i am really impressed. From the speed and accessibility of the app to the easy navigation of files it allows. I really am a fan. I would love to get started with this app, i feel that it would help me build better websites faster for my freelance business. It’s not easy when you’ve got uni to attend to aswell. This would save me lots of time and money.
I hope i win!
http://twitter.com/marcusting/status/8845061707
February 9th, 2010 on 09:55
Enough with the clueless people who cannot fathom how to name a technology without some lameass coffee riff already.
February 9th, 2010 on 11:48
It makes coding really simple and fun
@wp_sk http://twitter.com/wp_sk
February 9th, 2010 on 12:55
http://twitter.com/eikichiDanma/statuses/8849978190
Espresso is the lightest web developer app I’ve tried, I love the fantastic and super-intuitive color of the code (really better than Coda one), the real-time preview, the quick-search functionality.
Thanks for this awesome giveaway!
February 9th, 2010 on 13:01
… è ottimo, molto leggero e funzionale, di gran lunga più intuitivo di dreamweaver o GoLive
twitter: @carlomaru
February 9th, 2010 on 14:45
Espresso is a brand new code editor for the Mac that shares many interface similarities with CSSEdit. Espresso makes coding fun. Developing websites has never been so simple, so logical, so intuitive. This application saved my life… thank you for improving my workflow:)
Espresso makes coding fun… best web application I’ve seen.
February 9th, 2010 on 16:49
This seems like ideal software to help organize web projects and at the same time move away from using Dreamweaver
@Designer023
February 9th, 2010 on 18:05
http://twitter.com/ignitedtrailers/status/8859981699
Espresso is a wonderful editor that has all the features you need. The sugars make it even better and the publishing system is awesome. I would love to get my hands on a license for this!
February 9th, 2010 on 20:39
I am a cssedit user, seems ideal to have the same great user experience in other coding and projects!
February 10th, 2010 on 01:00
http://twitter.com/olivederhiert/statuses/8874902283
Wow! This App is simply great! I think it’s the best tool for web developer, simple, full (yes, it hasn’t wysiwyg, but if you know a bit of code you can do everything, thanks to the perfect css integration and the instant preview function!) and awesome!
Thanks
February 10th, 2010 on 11:29
Indeed, the best web dev tool I’ve tried, light, fast, with gorgeous coloured code
http://twitter.com/xendoxa/statuses/8894894212
February 11th, 2010 on 05:03
Great giveaway! I’m really looking at getting into web design and development, and Expresso is just the app I need to get started!
Cheers!
@cuby07 http://twitter.com/cuby07/status/8943160418
February 11th, 2010 on 09:07
Espresso is a superb application, I’ve tried demo and it’s stunning.
Other then that Espresso icon is delicious
@colaja
here’s my tweet: http://twitter.com/colaja/status/8951331131
February 11th, 2010 on 11:39
@st_matteo
Espresso seems to be a perfect companion for a web designer.
February 11th, 2010 on 15:35
Aivve – i’d like to have some good legal soft instead of using limited freeware :>
February 11th, 2010 on 15:49
http://twitter.com/warstwydotcom/status/8961252602
Nice giveaway. My twitter id: warstwydotcom
February 12th, 2010 on 00:59
I am curious to try the taste of Espresso.
http://twitter.com/zockey/status/8981589264
February 12th, 2010 on 20:50
definitely going to check this one out…. thanks for the tip!
February 12th, 2010 on 22:34
The Giveaway is now closed and the winner is :
@integralist
Congratulations !
February 13th, 2010 on 02:25
This article has been shared on favSHARE.net. Go and vote it!
May 16th, 2010 on 19:09
Hey if you don’t mind, I’m going to spam this website on Twitter every 5 hours for the next several months. Mmmmkay?
May 16th, 2010 on 19:10
We’ve got multiple accounts so we’re going to spam using rtmate3 as well.
May 16th, 2010 on 19:11
MacRabbit Espresso : #mac web development solution : http://bit.ly/dCpDGz;
August 7th, 2010 on 00:38
In my quest to learn more as a hobby, I am lovin’ my MAC and everything that it can do. Would love this software, and I would talk it up, too. I have 1700 Facebook friends who share my interests.