This is what I use literally every single day, it works for me.

In my 7+ years of building software, I've experimented with tons of tools. The ones that have made it to this list are simple, reliable, and customizable.

Workstation

  • 14” MacBook Pro, M1, 16GB RAM (2021)

    I typically try to be able to fully work off just my laptop screen, therefore the 16" or 14" is necessary. In my experience The M1 chip is much quieter and faster than the Intel version. I'm skeptical that I could ever switch back to a non-M1 Mac.

  • Whatever Monitor I can plug into

    Because I like to have the ability to work off just my laptop having a monitor is a bonus and I'll use it if available. When I do I almost always just move my VSCode window onto it in full screen.

Development tools

  • VSCode

    It would take a lot of features to get me to switch to another editor. I have fully customized my VSCode setup and I am very productive with it. Having to learn new keybindings would be the biggest hurdle.

  • iTerm2

    Iterm2 is amazing. It's dead simple out of the box but has so many useful features like split panes, easy theming, auto copy on select, and more.

  • Postman

    Postman is just so simple and easy to use. It also makes it easy to share collections with teammates. I typically just use it for testing while I'm building an API but it's also great for debugging.

  • Git, Github

    Managing a team and a software project without Github would be impossible. Issues, PRs, and code reviews are all essential to my workflow.

  • Github Copilot

    I often tell people this has 2-3x my productivity. You have to know what you are doing before it becomes extremely useful, but once you do it's amazing. I feel like i just hit "tab" 1/4 of the time.

Design

  • Figma, XD, Photoshop

    You don't want me designing anything for you. But I hop in and get the data needed to build out the UI.

Productivity

  • Apple Notes

    It's boring, but it works. I use it for all of my notes and always have it open on my Desktop. I feel that if I need something more complex than a note, I should probably be doing the work in Google Sheets or Google Docs.

  • ChatGPT

    Do you really think I wrote all of the content on this site myself?

  • CleanMyMac

    I don't use it everyday but when I do it's great for cleaning up memory, deleting files quickly, and uninstalling apps.