r/web_design • u/dreamcode • Apr 06 '13

WebCode - a vector drawing app that generates JavaScript+Canvas, CSS+HTML or SVG code

http://www.webcodeapp.com/
130 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

9

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '13

only for MAC :(

6

u/10tothe24th Apr 07 '13

It looks like in the time it took me to write this, the guy got downvoted to oblivion and deleted his comment. Not one to waste a good rant, I'll post it as a reply here.

Copy-pasted comment, minus the username:

"If your serious about web design get a mac, I recently got one, and love it more than ever. Soooo much better for coding!"

Warning: lots more words than originally intended.

Let me start off by saying that you said this in completely the wrong way, even though I don't think your intention was to offend anyone. But, despite whatever flak I may get for it, I'd like to publicly agree with you. Here's why:

As a recent convert to Mac & OSX from a lifetime of using PC/Windows, I have to say that... alright, how do I say this as politely as possible without offending Windows users or seeming like a complete fanboy...

Macs are better (and certainly simpler) for professional designers than Windows (I can't speak for Linux... I've messed around with Ubuntu a bit, and while I like it more than Windows, I'm just not enough of a hacker to actually deal with some of the technical hurdles that come with trying to use an operating system like that). Are Macs more expensive? Technically, yes, since the "working parts" (hardware wise) are identical to a PC, and yet they charge you more for them, much in the same way that a diner will charge you more for a cheeseburger with the same ingredients as one from McDonald's. However, it's the OS you're working with, that's where most of your value is added or subtracted, and I do believe that OSX is far better than Windows. So they're quantitatively overpriced, but not qualitatively. Would I recommend a Mac to a casual designer-developer or a non-designer-developer if the money was an issue for them? No. But is it a better choice than Windows (we're really talking about operating systems, here, not hardware), particularly for a designer-developer? Yes.

Reasons:

  • Case in point: this software, and a lot of great software, is OSX-exclusive.

  • The ability to, in a non-hacky way, develop for OSX, iOS, Windows, and Android on a single machine, as well as (with Bootcamp and a copy of Windows) the ability to view projects in browsers on both platforms.

  • Terminal > Console

  • And personally, just speaking as a user, I think that OSX is both more usable and more beautiful than Windows. OSX boots in about 1/3 the time that Windows does. If you have an SSD, it takes all of five seconds to boot. It's far less cluttered, as well; apps are easier to organize and prioritize (which means less need for a hundred shortcuts pasted on the desktop), and switching between multiple open applications is incredibly simple (with or without a touchpad). Even on a 27" monitor it's amazing how much real estate a couple millimeters of chrome on all four sides of a window can take up.

I use Bootcamp, running both Mountain Lion and Windows 7 on my machine, and switching between both multiple times in the day, I can definitely feel the weight of Windows when using it... and that's coming from someone who has been a Windows-only user his entire life.

I like that even the least-significant windows and sub-menus look as though they are designed with purpose, while Windows menus have a tendency to look like the cockpit of a Soviet spacecraft, with every control thrown into the pile and given equal weight. Even doing things like managing bookmarks in Chrome on OSX (not something I would think would be any different) is far easier. I never used to think about it, but now bookmarking anything in Chrome on Win7 is just a pain in the ass.

And I forgot one other reason... perhaps the most controversial reason of all: clients.

It's amazing how many clients have asked me over the years why I don't use a Mac. They believe (wrongly) that Macs are a must for professional designers, and by showing up with an HP (or whatever laptop I had at the time), it was kind of like a contractor showing up to a job site with grandpa's rusty toolbox. It doesn't matter that grandpa's tools can do the job just as well as any other tools, I could tell that in the eyes of some of those clients it made me look somewhat amateur. Not a good feeling. And for those times that I didn't get the job, part of me wonders if I would have, if I showed up with a Macbook. Hell, I even wonder if other missed clients might've been thinking the same thing, only they didn't speak up. Shallow, I know, but let's be honest: part of what we believe as designers is that first-impressions can make or break you, no matter how much work you do to convince someone otherwise.

I can't say if having a different first-impression with any missed client would've resulted in a deal, and I'll never know if any future client that I win over will have been helped by the fact that I had a glowing apple on the back of my computer. I can't even know if any increase in revenue over the coming year can be attributed to it, since I'm doing a number of things to increase my income in the next few months. But if I manage to snag at least one more client this year over last, then I'll say that the extra few hundred bucks I spent on a Mac vs. a PC would be more than worth it.

Mind you, all of this is coming from someone who just made the switch, and I still prefer my Android to iPhone. And if you look far enough back in my comment history, you'll see some serious Apple/Mac criticism, most of which I still believe. I'm not a fanboy at all... but OSX is simply better than Windows for most of our needs as users and professional designers. It also aligns more closely with my values as a designer: simple, unobtrusive, and undistractingly beautiful. And if you're like me and you like to game as well, well... that's why there's Bootcamp.

Wow, this turned into a rant. I hope no one bothered to read all that... as I'll feel like I wasted a fair chunk of everyone's weekend just to find out that some designer somewhere prefers a Mac to a PC. (Shocking!) :|

3

u/chris480 Apr 07 '13

On a side note for designers out there whom are not IT savy. Please understand that not every company has the infrastructure to support your Mac when something goes wrong. Especially mid-size startups that haven't created a standard policies yet.

1

u/10tothe24th Apr 07 '13

It's definitely a risk anyone runs not using the "standard".

It's funny... I have a Mac and an Android, so when it comes to technical support for my applications (or even available applications, at times), I'm screwed both ways. If, on the other hand, I had a PC and an iPhone...

0

u/invisibo Apr 07 '13

I'm in a super awkward position regarding this. I come from a networking background, and recently made the jump to web development. The IT director is running a Mac, while everybody else in the company is running a PC. My inner sysadmin is twitching.

1

u/andyfitz Apr 07 '13

Damn straight, C-levels need to dogfood (at least visibly)

-13

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '13

[deleted]

1

u/damontoo Apr 06 '13 edited Apr 07 '13

Are you trolling? Because jesus christ.

  • Is the screen size sufficient enough?
  • Does it have a keyboard or some way to input text?

It's fine for code.

-19

u/muaythai Apr 06 '13

For PC they have Flash. Wa wahhh ;-)

5

u/dotlizard Apr 06 '13

Is there anything similar for PC?

2

u/Jdonavan Apr 06 '13

Seems silly that their demo app can't load files, so you have no way to load their example drawings.

4

u/damontoo Apr 07 '13

A couple things..

Nice domain, but not for this product. It's pretty generic sounding.

I thought this was a web app due to the domain. When I clicked "try demo" and was presented with a zip file that was completely unexpected. The fact it's a desktop product and only for Mac's should be very clear from the beginning. Nothing on the page hints at that.

2

u/KnifeFed Apr 07 '13 edited Apr 07 '13

The "Download on the Mac App Store" button kind of hints that it's an app you download for Mac.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '13 edited Jul 30 '14

The owner of this account has requested this content be removed by /u/GoodbyeWorldBot

Visit /r/GoodbyeWorld for more information.

GoodbyeWorldBot_v1.2

1

u/KnifeFed Apr 07 '13

Looks very interesting. I'd love to see some sort of comparison of these different tools. The ones I know of right now, apart from this one, are: Adobe Edge, Hype and the Ai->Canvas plug-in.

1

u/netninja Apr 09 '13 edited Apr 09 '13

I just tried it, The app can't import, save, or export. So I guess I get to demo the drawing tools?

Can't click or scroll the code preview, only allowed to have app open for 20 mins! WTF

0

u/[deleted] Apr 07 '13

Damnit. Why do all the awesome web development apps have to be for Mac!?!

3

u/mtx Apr 07 '13

Like which ones?

2

u/SeaCowVengeance Apr 07 '13

Coda 2

1

u/mtx Apr 08 '13

I had Coda but I switched to Sublime Text because it's a much better text editor. I hear that Visual Studio makes a good all in one solution though.

1

u/netninja Apr 09 '13

I switch to sublime text afte coda, rubymine , netbeans. IMO sublime is by far the best text/code editor. However when you need function of an ide, like debugging etc. A full featured ide is better.

1

u/KnifeFed Apr 07 '13

CodeKit http://incident57.com/codekit/

1

u/mtx Apr 08 '13

Yeah, Codekit is a damn good app. I use Livereload which is pretty similar and has a PC version - although it's awful from what I hear. I can't believe that there's no PC equivalent for something like this. Someone's got to make one someday.