HubSpot has had a pretty great web-based IDE they call the “Design Manager” for quite some time now. It has some really useful features like revision history, code linting, and syntax highlighting. Best of all, since it’s all web-based, you don’t have to worry about getting your local environment setup or synced to other devices.
So… why would anyone want to use the HubSpot CLI? Well, I’m glad you asked! Here are the top 3 reasons why you should ditch the Design Manager for the HubSpot CLI:
1. A Build Process
The number 1 reason by far is for setting up a build process. A build process for a website typically includes the following:
- Compiling various other languages to production-ready HTML, JS, or CSS
- Transpiling newer JavaScript features into an older syntax current browsers will understand
- Automated Testing and Deployments
It can take some time to get a build process initially setup, but if you’re working on a project that’s going to be around for multiple years, it’s worth putting in a few extra hours, in the beginning, to help prevent issues or bugs in the future.
2. A Git Workflow
A git workflow is like a manual version of the Design Manager’s auto-saving/revision history. This might sound counter-intuitive, but if you’ve ever tried working in the design manager with multiple developers, you will find yourself overwriting each other’s code by accident all too often.
Not only does a git workflow make working with other developers much easier, but it also goes hand-in-hand with a build workflow and automated testing where you can easily make a staging branch of your website to test all the code changes before taking that to production on the live site.
3. Use Your Preferred Text Editor or IDE
The design manager is great, but sometimes it just doesn’t have that very specific feature that VS Code (or what have you) has that would make something very difficult in the design manager extremely trivial in that editor (find and replace a keyword in the entire project for example). The HubSpot CLI enables this and it will change your life—especially if you’re an IDE nerd like me.
I love the design manager and how quick and easy it makes editing code on a website. But, I also love the HubSpot CLI for taking those larger projects to the next level when needed ❤️.
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