Recommended Tools

Recommend software to use for working with SWS.

When working with SWS to configure new web services you will want some simple tools on your machine that you can quickly test new services. Having local

The tools we recommend to use are:

  • Visual Studio Code - The only text editor you should be using!
    • A great text editor with a huge list of plugins for editing and working with XML, JSON, encodings, etc.
    • I really like the HTTPYac extension. It can replace Postman in many situations. It has some pretty good documentation.
      • The key benefit here is that your HTTP request syntax is in local text files and you can easily check them into Git or do other types of backups.
      • Chris uses this combination of tools to do 98% of development, troubleshooting and testing and is likely all you need.
  • Use Hurl.dev for Automated API testing.
    • You need to understand HTTP to use this tool and the learning curve can be steep. However, if you want to set up a simple automated HTTP test, I highly recommend learning it.
    • Hurl is used in the development of SWS!
  • Postman
    • This is the default choice for most people. However, I have found that it has gotten too bloated with features for what I use it for. However, it is a great product!
  • hoppscotch.io is a good alternative to Postman.
  • curl is also a tried and true tool for the techies.

Understanding HTTP Syntax

If you don’t have a firm understanding of HTTP concepts, I highly recommend that you read this concise book.

We will be documenting most HTTP calls in HTTP syntax in this documentation so you must have a general understanding of HTTP. If you prefer a more visual instruction I suggest you Search YouTube for HTTP introductions