Free Tool: Making Life Easier with Web Essentials
I mentioned this tool in one of my Practical JavaScript columns, but Web Essentials 2010/2012 are so useful to ASP.NET developers that I wanted to cover it here for everyone not reading that column. The primary difference between the 2010 and the 2012 versions is that the 2012 version does more.
First and foremost, Web Essentials will create bundles for you (unlike Chirpy, a previous tool from this column which will only minify your files). But Web Essentials also includes tons of support for creating CSS (I keep discovering more features, but the inline URL picker will probably remain my favorite). There are fewer features for HTML and JavaScript files (though Web Essential's support for TypeScript is essential).
Having said that, I do like regions and outlining; Web Essentials gives me both for JavaScript. I'm not a great JavaScript programmer (yet), so I also like Web Essentials' JSHint, which reminds me of JavaScript best practices.
You should get this tool.
Posted by Peter Vogel on 09/30/2013