As a result, along with the larger corporate-backed applications, we have a huge host of small tools and libraries, each designed to solve a particular problem or preserve a certain set of possibilities. A couple of these projects have become institutions: Modernizr, keeping the technical playing field level and PhoneGap holding the mobile market open for web types.

Good design is like a refrigerator—when it works, no one notices, but when it doesn’t, it sure stinks. –Irene Au

Most encouragingly, there’s room for some ‘just for the hell of it’ type experimentation. And even a bit of self-congratulation, evidenced by the fact that Google felt confident enough about some tools to package and prink them into the Yeoman project.

Indeed, this is a handsome list, with good representation for most slices of the development pie. From full-scale IDEs to small, exotic libraries with beautiful aesthetics. But what gives this year its character is the poise that these tools exhibit. Within it’s niche, each one shows that we use are beginning to outdistance the problems, freeing ourselves up to give more though to the creative possibilities of the web. How’s that for joyous tidings? Happy Holidays!

Source: creativebloq.com