To make a successful website, you will need a variety of tools.

1. A server: everyone needs a server. There is not much use for a website that cannot be seen the the public. Many web developers will have their own servers, or will have to work on their company's server. Some people have a web host (such as http://godaddy.com or http://dreamhost.com). There are many ways to connect to the server. One popular method is FTP.

2. A text editor: when working on websites, one often needs to quickly edit a line of code. For simple edits, Notepad (on Windows), TextEdit (on Mac), or a number of other small programs will do. For more complicated code writing, with thousands of lines of code and many files, one may prefer a more capable editor, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver. Dreamweaver has many features, such as syntax highlighting, code folding, FTP uploading on file save, file organization, etc.

3. A graphics editor: although websites can be created without images, they will be bland. Many web developers survive with freeware image editors, such as GIMP (http://gimp.org). I prefer Adobe CS.

4. An image archive: many clients will want images on their website of specific things. Over the years, a web developer will collect hundreds of images, from simple icons to generic pictures of businessmen. These are very useful. If you stumble upon a website with free images, make sure to download or bookmark them.

6. Multimedia tools: many websites are using Flash, Java, and other multimedia. It is important to be able to work with dynamic content.

7. A collection of freeware javascript, php, asp, and other language frameworks. They will come in handy.

8. Friends: sometimes when it is 3am, you just cannot find that missing semi-colon. That's what friends are there for. They can also help debug and suggest improvements.

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