Wordpress build offline

The short answer is yes.

In reality you will need to export and import your local database to your hosted database each time, so I would advise to do all of you development local and when you are ready to go live THEN export out to your hosted DB.

There are several tools available to help you accomplish this, just do a Google search. Another place to check out is http://css-tricks.com . Chris Coyier runs that site (which is a WP site) and has written ALOT on the subject of WP Theme development, and site maintenance, just search the site.

I am not getting paid to plug this I swear but you can also check out http://shoptalkshow.com if you are into listening to podcasts. It is hands down the best web design podcast I have ever listened to...I have learned a ton from them.

I would suggest checking out MAMP if you're on a Mac or XAMP if you're on windows and then youtube how to set up wordpress on your local host. It will let you build everything you need on a database on your machine.

If you check out the How to Build a Theme Project we cover this :)

http://teamtreehouse.com/library/websites/how-to-build-a-wordpress-theme/content-strategy-with-wordpress/installing-and-setting-up-wordpress-locally