Choosing the right dev tool for the right job

Microsoft has made no bones about the fact that it wants to field tools that appeal to the wide spectrum of current and future developers. But sometimes, it's not obvious which Microsoft tool is best for a particular coding job.

Would Expression Web be the best tool to build a Web app? Or SharePoint Designer? Or Visual Studio? The choice isn't as straightforward as Microsoft might make it seem.

I recently interviewed a number of Web developers and got their take on which Microsoft (and third-party) tools they are using to write next-generation applications. Now that Microsoft FrontPage is no longer Microsoft's go-to tool for building Web pages, there is a lot of gray area, in terms of finding the right tool for the right job.

"The thing to keep in mind here is that Web application design and SharePoint application design are two very distinct activities," says Karen Hobert, a Burton Group analyst specializing in collaboration and content strategies. "Where confusion might ensue -- especially when Microsoft releases the next version of Visual Studio [code-named "Orcas"] -- is when to use SharePoint Designer or Visual Studio for building composite applications, [which are] different than SharePoint applications."

Check out the full article, "Dev Shops Face Web Tool Choices," for more.