The most popular topic for development teams on the internet these days is “how to be more productive.” Well, coding isn’t the only thing a typical software development team does during the course of their day. A development team’s role is complicated by a plethora of additional duties.
Development teams must not only produce clean and efficient code, but they must also adhere to stringent deadlines, communicate with each other, and effectively manage their time.
As a developer, you must concentrate on doing more work in less time. But how can you do this when you have so many tasks to attend to?
There are, however, tools that help development teams to gain an advantage at work by increasing their productivity. As a web developer, you should use tools to increase work efficiency and manage your job responsibilities more effectively.
Why Do Development Teams Need Productivity Tools?
Many development teams that haven’t tried productivity tools wonder how a tool may help them be more productive. To be honest, the answer to this question is fairly straightforward. Productivity tools don’t handle your work for you; instead, they streamline procedures so you can finish more things in less time.
As a developer, you must always stay one step ahead of the game in terms of work since unforeseeable events, such as the introduction of code defects, might throw your schedule off. That is why it is critical to maintain a high level of productivity in order to accomplish your development task within the specified time frame.
7 Productivity Tools Every Software Development Team Needs
1. Codeanywhere: All-In-One Code Editor
Codeanywhere is a cloud-based programming environment software that aids simple real-time collaboration with your teammates. The integrated debugger in Codeanywhere allows developers to use intelligent editing tools (code refactoring, renaming a symbol, etc.) as well as inspect call stacks and apply breakpoints.
Development teams can easily work from any location and on any device using Codeanywhere, and can modify their files immediately on your server. You can choose one of the 75 languages offered and begin collaborating with a fellow developer using pair programming.
Core Features:
- Code refactoring,
- Automations and smart editing tools
- Breakpoints and call stacks
- Interactive console
- Various programming language support
- Preconfigured development environments
- Full sudo access
Pricing: Codeanywhere’s Standard plan is priced at $9/month.
2. ProofHub: Project Management
ProofHub is a project management and team communication tool that helps you to manage all of your development projects in one location. The programme integrates a number of complex task management features, like Kanban boards and Gantt charts, to help you and your development team remain on top of everything.
Delegating tasks to team members and letting everyone know who is working on what is critical for development teams. You can divide your projects into several tasks, give one or more assignees to each task, attach files, and make comments to tasks using ProofHub. Your development team will be able to cooperate more effectively, track job progress, and complete projects on schedule thanks to the software.
Core Features:
- Built-in timers
- Board view and Table view
- Custom workflows
- Gantt charts
- Inbuilt chat application
- File management
- Reports
- Notes and announcements
- Stickies
Pricing: ProofHub’s Ultimate Control plan is priced at $89/month (No per-user fee).
3. Cold Turkey
Cold Turkey is an excellent productivity tool for developers if you need help ripping yourself away from Internet distractions. By enabling a function to restrict websites, apps, and even your access to the Internet in general, Cold Turkey ensures that users do not become lost in the maze of social media channels.
This application is fully customizable; you may design your own personal schedule for visits to various websites/apps, as well as daily access limits that will be shown in blocks.
Core Features:
- Built-in distraction list
- Pre-made website categories
- Unlimited block lists
- Keyword blocking
- Application blocking
- Scheduled blocks
- Timers
- Data management
Pricing: The Pro plan of Cold Turkey starts at $39/per month.
4. Time Doctor: Time Tracking
Time Doctor is a robust time management application that gives you complete control over your work hours. Along with automatic time tracking, the software also allows you to block off distractions so you can stay focused on your task.
The main highlight of Time Doctor is that it automatically tracks the time and records how much time you spend on different apps, websites, etc. The detailed time reports give you a good idea about your working habits and also allow you to determine activities that hamper your productivity.
Core Features:
- Time tracking & employee monitoring ty
- Payroll management
- Productivity measuring & summary reports
- Project management & budgeting
- Screenshots & activity levels
- Website blocking
- Time use alerts
- Break tracking
Pricing: Time Doctor’s Standard plan is priced at $10/month/user.
5. IntelliJ IDEA: Smart Coding Assistance
IntelliJ IDEA is another excellent IDE that is primarily used for Java programming. Other programming languages, such as JavaScript, HTML, and SQL, are supported. The software was created with the goal of increasing developer efficiency through its capabilities, which include an intelligent coding assistant.
IntelliJ IDEA’s smart code completion lowers the amount of code you have to write by suggesting classes, methods, and other items based on your coding pattern. Furthermore, the software provides framework-specific support, allowing you to build speedier codes in programming languages other than Java.
Core features:
- In-depth coding support
- Fast navigation
- Smart error analysis
- Cross-language refactoring
- Editor-centric environment
- Workflow optimization
- Test runner and coverage
- JVM and non JVM frameworks
Pricing: IntelliJ IDEA’s basic plan is priced at $49/month/user.
6. Visual Studio: Code writing and testing
Visual Studio is without a doubt one of the most popular and frequently used IDEs for writing, debugging, testing, and deploying code. Microsoft’s Visual Studio is ideal for developing web, mobile, and desktop programmes, games, and artificial intelligence.
Visual Studio’s code recommendations tool is the best feature that makes it a must-have for your development process. The AI-powered programming interface evaluates your updates and offers code suggestions and autocomplete code statements. This allows you to save a significant amount of time while building long and complex programmes.
Core Features:
- Comprehensive testing tools
- Version controlling
- Extensions
- Supports development with all major programming languages
- Debug
- IDE customization
Pricing: Visual Studio’s basic plan is priced at $45/month.
7. CodeStream: Code Discussion
Easy information transfer is something very critical to a developer’s productivity. Streamlining team workflows and activity is important to produce valuable work if you’re a part of a software development team. Thankfully, there’s CodeStream for all your code-related talks, which takes the effort and annoyance out of code reviews.
CodeStream supports every programming language and allows you to discuss code with your team without ever having to use a pull request. To quickly resolve an issue, teams can simply highlight a code block and type a remark. CodeStream facilitates regular group problem solving by allowing developers to discuss code related stuff directly, thereby improving the quality of your code base.
Core Features:
- Pull requests integration
- Code reviews
- Source tree context
- Feedback requests
- Code discussion
- Integrations (Slack, Microsoft teams, email, and in-editor notifications).
Pricing: CodeStream’s business plan is priced at $10/month.
Wrapping up!
As a development team, your productivity is just as important as your coding abilities. Productivity tools help you increase your output while also improving the quality of your work. It will be much easier to complete complex and dynamic development projects on schedule if you have the correct set of tools to organise your tasks.
Here’s hoping this article will help your development team learn how to be productive.
Best of luck!