Dreamweaver CS4, the latest release from Adobe of most web developer's favourite tool, is earning high praise as a time saver but more about that later.

Dreamweaver CS4 has a new interface which enables it to fit snugly into the rest of the Creative Suite 4 Master Collection line-up but does introduce a bit of a learning curve for those familiar with previous versions of Dreamweaver. The last traces of the Macromedia interface have left the building.

Interface aside, the perks are that interaction between the rest of the Creative Suite is much better than before. For example, drag and drop SWF files into Dreamweaver pages, Smart Objects in Photoshop allow for PSD files to be dropped into pages without losing track of source files, a definite bonus, and open images in Photoshop, Fireworks and other image editors.

Time Savers

• Upon opening an HTML type file, all associated files are also opened and their titles displayed in the "related files bar", this enables flicking between associated CSS, Javascript and other files easily. No more hunting down which CSS file is actually being used.
• Dynamic data driven websites just got easier to test in Dreamweaver - welcome to "Live Mode" which has interactivity and dynamic elements included, even data sources can be loaded and design flaws tweaked without having to "publish" pages. There is also the ability to stop scripts just where you need to work on a design element, giving you much more control over over the design and interactivity as a whole.
• To compliment "Live Mode" there is now "Live Code" allowing for your code changes to render automatically in the "Live View" pane.
• A CSS properties navigator has been included amongst the HTML properties giving greater design control.
• Scripting is easier as well with enhanced code hinting and support for jQuery, Prototype, and Spry.

Overall

The CS4 version continues Dreamweaver's movement toward building properly structured, standards-compliant Web sites. The WYSIWYG is a whole lot better and designed to render more realistically for the various browsers in "Live View". "Live Code" gives you the added bonus of watching your code changes "live".

If you're developing dynamic websites this version will make your life a lot easier. If you're a designer only you won't gain that much from the upgrade. My opinion? Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 does an awesome job, the integration to the rest of the Suite is great and the time savers are excellent. If you've purchased Photoshop CS4 then purchasing Dreamweaver CS4 is a given.