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Powerful development tools are built into the browser
August 31, 2019

Powerful development tools are built into the browser

Nate Dillon | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Chrome DevTools

We use Chrome DevTools for front-end development and debugging. Everyone on my team uses it, and I would suspect others in my department use it as well, probably anyone using Chrome as their main browser. The DevTools allow us to inspect our sites and find problems with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Inspect front-end code.
  • Find and debug issues.
  • Apply changes in the browser for testing.
  • Test responsive designs at various device resolutions.
  • Test page speed and performance.
  • Test various network situations (e.g. low/no internet connection).
  • Improved screenshot support.
  • Quicker access to common testing settings (e.g. disabling JavaScript).
  • Improved CSS tools.
  • It's free and powerful.
  • It allows for faster development.
  • It helps catch problems right away.
While Chrome DevTools are very powerful, it's not the easiest thing to use, as there are so many different tools built in. It takes some exploring to discover all the options possible within DevTools, but with a little exploring, the DevTools become a very powerful asset. Accessing the basic HTML and CSS inspection is very easy though, and that's the most common usage for the DevTools.
I'm not entirely sure what to rate the support for DevTools, because I don't have any experience dealing with official customer support for DevTools. I would guess the primary support for DevTools would be in a Chrome forum. Typically if I have a question or issue, I am able to find an answer from doing a quick Google search. It's pretty widely used, so it's not difficult to find answers.
The main tool I've used that compares to Chrome DevTools is the Firefox built-in development tools. The one thing that I know I like better about Firefox is the screenshot support, which has many great features. Firefox even has a special developer edition of their browser specifically made for web developers. I've used several other browsers built off Chrome that also include the Chrome DevTools. I've used the Safari dev tools a bit, but they don't seem to be quite as intuitive and powerful as the ones in Chrome. There is also a Chrome-based browser called Blisk that I have yet to try.
Chrome DevTools (or something similar) is almost essential for front-end development. It allows for inspection of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and allows you to debug issues right in the browser. DevTools also enable you to apply changes within the browser and see the changes immediately without accessing the actual code. In addition, it works very well at testing service workers, viewing and testing page performance, testing different network speeds, and testing responsive sites at different resolutions.