20 Useful Tools to Test Code Snippets

As a web developer, having a place to quickly test code or work on an idea before going live might be very important. As time go by, more online code editors are created that can help you code from any computer with internet access. These tools let you combine CSS, HTML and often even JavaScript to create and share coding examples.

Below you will find some useful free code playgrounds and sandboxing tools for testing, debugging and sharing your code snippets.

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Create Free Custom Branded Short URL

You probably have see top sites like New York Times, TechCrunch, Mashable, The Next Web and others sharing fancy short links across their social media profiles and you wondered how they did that. Well there's just a simple short trick behind it.
The benefits to having your own custom short URL are things like consistent branding and increased link trust as readers know exactly where it will lead - no one likes clicking on random links.

Also, by using your own custom branded short link, you reinforce your brand awareness, as well as ensure that you're taking full advantage of all the benefits shortened links offer. Whenever you use a link shortening service, like bit.ly, the new shortened link comes with tracking information. The service will track clicks made on the shortened link and gives you valuable metrics and information.

Here are few examples of shortened links:

• bit.ly (Bitly)
• goo.gl (Google)
• ow.li (Hootsuite)
• youtu.be (YouTube)
• nyti.ms (New Your Times)
• tcrn.ch (TechCrunch)
• tnw.to (The Next Web)

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Iconion: Converts Icon Fonts To Icon Files

Icon fonts are quickly becoming a web design trend and there is a good reason for that. Instead of working with a load of files in different resolutions or large sprites to be controlled by CSS, we simply embed a special font. Creating icons with icon fonts gives designers the ability to manipulate the icons with CSS, and it can improve load times by up to 15%, and because they're vector in nature, they're infinitely scalable, while still being smaller in size than an image sprite.

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10 Custom Icon Font Generators for Designers

Icon fonts are the easiest way to embed vector graphics and definitely the fastest way too. Using an icon font can improve load times by up to 15%, and because they're vector in nature, they're infinitely scalable, while still being smaller in size than an image sprite. You can style icon fonts dynamically using CSS, rather than requiring a new graphic, with the added bonus of using CSS3 properties such as "text-shadow." And also leaving no room for additional HTTP request.

The downside of using an icon font is that, icons are typically grouped in discrete sets if you select icons that are not part of one specific set, you could be loading additional sets which may contain lots of unnecessary icons, resulting in extra loading time.

That's where custom icon font generators comes in. With these generators, you can create scalable and easy-to-style icons for your web projects. While there are tons of icon font generators online, here are 10 useful custom icon font generators you should consider using, starting from now!


Pictonic

Pictonic offers both free and premium versions when you sign up for an account. The first thing you should do is create an account and sign up to their website. After that, you can use their free icons, buy one icon for $0.59, or have a lifetime unlimited use of all their icons for only $199.

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15 Pattern Generators for Background Designs

A good background or pattern can make a huge difference in your overall design. Having the right tool to create them makes it easier to get your job done faster.

Creating repetitive, seamless patterns can be time-consuming and tough. Pattern generators are there to help you achieve just this. Keep in mind that their capacity is not like that of graphic programs however, if you need striped, dotted or tiled backgrounds they are really useful and faster. Here is a collection of 15 patterns generators you can add to your tools box:


PatternCooler

If you  are not a fan of subtle patterncooler will be the best place for you. You can add your own colors to 100s of cool FREE pattern designs, or browse from 10,000s of pre-colored patterns using the new seamless pattern background editor. All artworks on this site can be used freely for Blogger and Twitter backgrounds, web and graphic design projects, PhotoShop texture tiles and fills, mobile phone wallpapers and personal artwork, blogs and websites.

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15 Must-Have Mobile App Development Tools

A lot has changed since 1995, literally anyone with almost no technical capabilities can crank out a web or mobile app with ease. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to share some of the more interesting app development platforms I’ve discovered recently.

As a small business owner, if you decide there's good reason to develop your own mobile app, there are several tools that will help you do that.

You don't have to be a programming junkie before you can use these tools - The frameworks are simpler to understand. Developers don't need to build their own databases or maintain the app. They just open up an account, then point their app to the cloud.


Corona

Corona is the platform of choice for cross platform mobile app development. Whether you’re building games, ebooks, utilities or business apps, corona will be a smart option for you. Its elegant APIs allow you to add features like Facebook and physics in just a few lines of code.

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15 Code Syntax Highlighters To Prettify Your Code

Syntax highlighting is a feature of text editors that displays text, especially source code , in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature facilitates writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and syntax errors are visually distinct. Highlighting does not affect the meaning of the text itself; it is intended only for human readers.

Syntax highlighting also helps programmers find errors in their program. For example, most editors highlight string literals in a different color. Consequently, spotting a missing delimiter is much easier because of the contrasting color of the text.

There are various syntax highlighters which can format codes and color them appropriately according to the languages used. Whether it is a HTML page or runs on PHP, Ruby, Python or ASP. Here in this article, we are showcasing 15 best syntax code highlighter to help you present to your code snippets in a more fascinating way. Enjoy!


Prism

Prism is a lightweight (1.5KB minified & gzipped), extensible syntax highlighter, built with modern web standards in mind. All styling is done through CSS, with sensible class names like .comment, .string, .property etc.

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CSS Animation Tools and Tutorials

CSS3 animations make it possible to animate transitions from one CSS style configuration to another. Animations consist of two components, a style describing the CSS animation and a set of keyframes that indicate the start and end states of the animation’s style.

Animations are one of the great way to get that wow feelings from your audience. Though, they might look technical to craft. But thankfully, new tools and tutorials are popping-in which makes it easy for designers and developer to create animations from several range of effects, and with less technical experience.

That is where this post comes in. We have put together a collection of CSS animation tools and tutorials to help ease your woes.

CSS Animation Tools

Tridiv

Tridiv is a web-based editor for creating 3D shapes in CSS. It is cross-browser compatible, and there are varieties of examples for your inspiration.

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