Build-tools and Live Reload
As creating for the web has gotten more complex, build tools have become an essential part of my workflow. These tools are usually used to automate repetitive tasks such as pre-processing CSS stylesheets from Sass or Less, or compiling JavaScript from many smaller files. They can also reload browsers when files change -- not having to constantly mash reload is a significant productivity boost. Working without auto-refresh now feels like trying to type in mittens.
[Gulp][] and [Grunt][] run from the Terminal, [CodeKit][] and [LiveReload][] are standalone Mac apps. Gulp is relatively new, is very fast and its task definition files are written in JavaScript. Grunt is more established, works well and has a ton of people using it, but can be slower and requires a lot more configuration using verbose JSON files. CodeKit and LiveReload help with common workflows, Gulp and Grunt can do just about anything imaginable.
I’d been happily using Grunt for a while, but increasing buzz a