In this article I will run through the kinds of software tools that we need to build websites. These are often free but some inevitably cost money.
Our needs will dictate what tools we require. Actually, there are often online alternatives for the tools but it pays to be aware of what tools are worth having that run on your computer.
For a professional approach, I think we all want to own our own websites so this will entail uploading files to the web. For this we need an FTP client. For this purpose I use FileZilla which happens to be free but does everything you need for file manipulation between a computer and a web server.
With this software, you are able to drag and drop files between folders in any of the 2 windows (your hard drive or the web server). Also, right-clicking on the server folders and files allows you to set the file permissions that determine who can do what with each file such as view it in a web browser or not.
However, for bulk file deletions I find it a lot faster to do this from the file manager in my web hosting control panel.
Next, you are likely to need to edit text files such as templates, configuration files etc. For this I recommend NotePad++ which is also free but very handy with tabbed edit windows that you can reposition and syntax highlighting. I also use this for HTML and PHP editing.
To test websites, scripts and templates on your computer, a great solution is Xampp which makes it very easy to set up a web server on your computer for development purposes. This avoids you having to keep uploading files to a live site to test things.
To build web pages, you may want to use a WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) editor. This helps you create HTML pages in a visual environment. Several ones to consider are: XSite Pro, Dreamweaver, and NVU. For HTML only consider HTML Kit or NotePad++.
So, hopefully this will get you started in selecting your software tools to build websites.