Tools

As a beginning developer, I don’t have a lot of money to spend on what is currently a hobby. While I love programming, I don’t see ever making the jump into it as a career. Therefore, I am always looking for tools that are FREE to use. I am not opposed at all to pay for a tool, but in my opinion, there are a ton of free assets out in the world that a beginning developer can use to get started. These will allow you to produce high quality applications until you are at a point where you can afford to update toolsets. In the end, if you have the means, I highly encourage paying (or donating) to developers that are creating some of these wonderful applications.

I have not been paid to endorse any of these products. While description information is often obtained directly from the applications site, the items listed below are my opinion and not statements of fact.

To get started, here are some of my favorites:

• Xcode: Xcode includes everything you need to develop, test, and distribute apps across all Apple platforms. Leverage the simplicity and power of Swift and SwiftUI with a new multiplatform app experience, code faster with enhanced editor features, and start testing and deploying from Xcode Cloud to TestFlight and the App Store. Creating amazing apps has never been easier.
• Canva: Canva is a great website to create professional graphics. I often use it to create my app icons that will show on the iPhone or iPad screen. A FREE tier exists and users can create outstanding logos, icons, and so many more graphics. The only draw-back I have found is you need to pay for the ability to remove background (transparent) from the images you create.
• Inkscape: Inkscape is a FREE and open source vector graphics editor for GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS. It offers a rich set of features and is widely used for both artistic and technical illustrations such as cartoons, clip art, logos, typography, diagramming and flowcharting. It uses vector graphics to allow for sharp printouts and renderings at unlimited resolution and is not bound to a fixed number of pixels like raster graphics. Inkscape uses the standardized SVG file format as its main format, which is supported by many other applications including web browsers.
• Kenney: Kenney has created thousands of sprites, 3D models, and sound effects that can be used in your projects. These assets are all FREE. However, if you have the ability, I highly recommend supporting him through Patreon . His products are genius and his participation in the programming and graphics communities are amazing.
• Color Hunt: Looking for that perfect mix of colors for your application. This is the FREE site to use. Color Hunt provides color templates so you can find corresponding color palettes with little to no effort.
• Choose a License: Every application needs a use license. Check out this FREE site for guidance and documentation.
• Github: Every developer should embrace version control. Github is an industry standard and FREE to use. They do have paid tiers with additional features, but I have not had to use any of these. Another great benefit is the ability to house and host a website directly from Github. This site has been created and hosted on Github. For those of you afraid of the command-line applications that are often used with GitHub, you can also download the Github Desktop version that provides a more user-friendly GUI.