[devmach]

I understand the advantages of using these tools but isn't it too much ? Node, Npm,Yeoman, Grunt, Bower just to bootstrap some font-end code, if you don't use node.js for back-end you have to use other tools in back-end development too ( composer, phpunit, gem, rake etc... you name it... ). Sometimes i feel like we use tools just to use them.

edit: Just to clarify : I'm not saying don't use any of them and don't organize/automate tasks and code like monkey...

[rockyj]

You are right, it's a lot of tools for FE development. However, (IMHO) when I used this toolkit, I felt very productive, for example, if you make a change in the CSS, the UI is automatically refreshed (no need to manually refresh). The final build process optimizes PNGs among other things. All in all, it felt that someone has thought of everything that a webdev needs and put it in.

[philpill]

Could you explain what you mean by 'no need to manually refresh'?

I understand this to mean you don't need to refresh your browser to see the changes you've made in your source.

EDIT: Ah, nevermind - just read up on it: "Our LiveReload watch process automatically compiles source files and refreshes your browser whenever a change is made so you don't have to."

[untog]

If your front end is simple, perhaps. But if you're constructing complex webapps with tests etc. then this stuff comes in very useful.