Winton DeShong

Web / Flash Development

After countless configurations, I have composed my best setup for development workflow yet! Below are a few tools that I utilize everyday.

Hardware

Apple Mac Pro

Ever since the purchase of my Apple Powerbook G4 a few years ago, I’ve had the Apple bug. Though I love to build out workstations and servers, I hate having to do so in the middle of a hard deadline. So, though all of the developers at Sposto Interactive have utilized Winder’s Dell Workstations, I’ve personally migrated to an Apple Mac Pro workstation. As for displays, I use a wide screen 24″ Dell for my primary, and a wide screen 19″ Dell rotated 90° for maximum editor height.

Razor Diamondback

Throughout a normal day, I switch between atleast 3-4 computers utilizing different distros of Linux, Windows, and Mac OS. I’ve just about mastered the different key layouts, but I never felt quite right with mouse sensitivity on the Mac. Until…my brother Colin, a Professional E-Sports Gamer and Manager, gave me a Razor Diamondback mouse. This 1600 dpi gaming mouse has completely eliminated the issue. It’s also a blast watching n00bs try to wield such a mouse.

Software

SWSoft’s Parallels

No need to have a winders machine just for simple browser testing anymore. Now I can selectively use Winders when I need to do cross platform tests. Though it’s always fun when emulated Winders still manages to crash my system.

Macromate’s Textmate

Being a Flash Developer, my number one requirement for an editor is support for ActionScript. Before finding Textmate, I resorted to emulating the SE|PY ActionScript Editor on my Winders install. Textmate has been an integral part of my move to a Mac development environment. The support for Textmate is awesome. Check out the bundle repository for your favorite languages.

Charles Web Debugging Proxy

Yeah yeah, it isn’t the first of it’s kind. Without Charles or an HTTP Proxy like it…I would spend a countless number of unnecessary hours debugging. If you don’t currently have an HTTP Proxy in your debugging toolbox, I highly recommend giving Charles a try.

Stunt Software’s Overflow

Overflow allows me to keep my most commonly used applications a single key combo away. I hit Command + ~ and a simple and organized menu comes over top my apps. I have found that the more I can avoid browsing the finder, the quicker I work. For only $15 USD, definitely give it a try.