Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.
I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating. Here’s a list of all of my favorite stuff.
Workstation
Laptop: 14” MacBook Pro, M1, 16GB RAM (2021)
This was my first ARM based Mac and I'm definitely not disappointed by it, but I also push it to its limits. Sometimes you have to do a few extra steps because of the ARM architecture but I don't mind.
Desktop: AMD Ryzen 9 3900, 32 GB RAM, Nvidia 3060 TI
Sometimes a Macbook isn't the best tool for the job, in these cases I have my overpowerered desktop which I run linux and Windows on. Its a a few years older but gets the job done.
Server: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X, 32 GB RAM, 70TB HDD, 1TB SSD
I run unRAID OS on a local server in my office, its a really nifty OS. If you haven't checked it out yet, I would.
Dell U3821DW
I’m a huge fan of ultrawide monitors and this is the best one I've ever used. I love the the USB-C support for my MacBook Pro. It even has an ethernet port that feeds the network connection over usb c.
Logitech MX Keys Mini
Feels very similar to the Apple Magic Keyboard but the rounded edges of the keys give it a smoother feel. Would recommend.
MX Master 3S
I've been using the MX Master since the first version and it's still my go to mouse, I don't think I'll ever change.
Development tools
Visual Studio Code
I've tried to switch to other editors but I always come back to VS Code, right now its for the elixir support.
iTerm2
I'm honestly not even sure what features I get with this that aren't just part of the macOS Terminal but it's what I use.
OrbStack
Docker for Mac done right.
DataGrip
Great software for working with databases. Will probably switch to Dbeaver once my license expires.
GitGraken / GitLens
Takes the stress out of working with git.
Firefox Developers Edition
Hot take: Firefox developers tools are better than Chrome.
Design
Photoshop / Illustrator
Some people call me old school.
Mermaid JS
I fell in love with Mermaid as soon as I was introduced to it, an easy way to create diagrams with code.
Excalidraw
Quick and easy mockups.
Productivity
Raycast
I used to use Alfred, but the past few years Raycast has won over my heart. This is one of the first things I install on a my Mac.
Notion
Raycast has some great extensions for this that making quick notes a breeze and If I didn't use Notion, I'd be using Apple Notes or Obsidian.
Learning Materials
Books
Here are some books I can reccomend from experience, everything below I have read cover to cover and wouldn't reccomend it otherwise. If I'm not reading something below I am probably reading some code documentation.
- HTML and CSS: Design and Build Websites - Jon Duckett
- JavaScript and jQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development - Jon Duckett
- PHP & MySQL: Server-side Web Development - Jon Duckett
- Programming Elixir: 1.6 - Jose Valim
- Programming Phoenix: 1.4 - Chris McCord, Bruce Tate and José Valim
- Programming Phoenix LiveView - Bruce A. Tate and Sophie DeBenedetto
- Building Table Views with Phoenix LiveView - Peter Ullrich
- Designing Elixir Systems with OTP - James Edward Gray, II and Bruce A. Tate
- Metaprogramming Elixir - Chris McCord
- A Philosophy of Software Design - John Ousterhout
- Hacking APIs - Corey Ball
- Machine Learning in Elixir - Sean Moriarity (in progress)
Websites