Development Tools

This editor is fast and fosters collaboration; other than that it is very similar to Cursor or VS Code. It's newer, than those, so it may be missing features some folks want.

This IDE is VS Code but deeply integrated with AI tools. It has inteligent code completion like Copilot, built-in code creation and editing via prompting, and the ability to ask questions about the code base. It also hadnles the subscriptions for you; pay cursor instead of all the other coding tools.

An extremely fast coding copilot.

I used to use language specific verison managers, but that was such a pain. asdf is the one language version manager to rule them all.

I started using Docker before it was cool, I even had to go through the trouble of convincing a few ops/sec opps teams to allow me to use it just for dev work. Now it's old, exepected, and slow, but I still use it.

Because you gotta store your code somewhere, and I have been using GitHub since I fled SVN.

I am always in a terminal window, and I usually have more than one open. Tabs are nice for this, but panes are even better. Sure, I could open a single terminal and then use tmux, but I've never got into that habit. As an added benefit, iTerm2 can send keyboard input to multiple panes, which is super slick.

Tools like Trello are not enough, and ones like Jira/Asana/Monday are too much. Linear has been just right. I use this when working with mixed technical teams (ones with talents besides software developers). When I am only working with coders I tend to just use markdown files.

This is a tool which locally centralizes developer documentation. You can either google your coding question and decide whether you want to trust the unknown person on Stackoverflow, or you could just look at the docs. I usually prefer the latter, so use it all the time when I am developing.

I normally use a CODE 87-Key Mechanical Keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches. It is a very nice mechanical keyboard with backlit keys and a removable cable. If I am doing pairing or need a keyboard when I am not at my desk, I still pull out my old Apple Wireless Keyboard (A1314, MC184LL/B). This is a surprisingly good non-mechanical-switch keyboard, it is much better than the new Apple Magic Keyboard. Sometimes I think about bringing when I travel with my 2018 Macbook Pro, which has a terrible keyboard with no-travel keys. The Apple Wireless keyboard somehow costs more than my CODE keyaboard, probably because it is no longer made and also better than the ones which Apple currently makes.

I switch between my old Apple Magic Mouse and a Logitech MX Master 2S. I like the non-mechanical touch interface of theMagic mouse, but it is not very ergonomic and more dust sticks to the bottom of it than other mice. The Logitech is functional and ergonomic, but the mechanical components are not as sexy.