Software I use, tech I love, and other things I recommend.

I've seen this Uses pages on other developer's websites and thought it looked pretty cool. So here's mine... A list of what I use to build software and stay productive.

Workstation

  • 13” MacBook Pro - Core i5 2.3GHz, 8GB RAM (2018)

    I've had this laptop for a good few years. It does what I need it to do really well, so I don't see me upgrading it any time soon.

  • Dell UltraSharp U2720Q

    This monitor is really good. It's 4k resolution is really nice, and means I have screen real estate to work with.

  • Keychron Q1 v2

    I absolutely love mechanical keyboards. I find that once you make the switch, it's really hard to use anything else. Although, I still use the regular old qwerty layout I grew up on and haven't tried any of the others

  • Logitech MX Anywhere 3

    I've experimented with a few different mice and even Apple's Magic Trackpad. I prefer using a regular mouse. Currently considering switch to the MX Master 3, as this ones a little small for my hands.

  • ErgoDesk Atlas Mini

    Sitting at a desk all day isn't great for your back, and I'd often have a back-ache at the end of the day. I got this desk to enable me to switch up my position throughout the day. It's really helped. Aside from that, it's a really nice, solid desk (it can also lift up to 100kg).

Development tools

  • VS Code

    A great text editor for writing code. Super extensible.

  • 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.

  • Insomnia

    Great software for working with api's and testing endpoints.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it's become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

Productivity

  • Alfred

    Alfred is a really nice application launcher. I'm far from a power-user, but I like it.

  • AltTab

    The default application switcher on MacOS is far from great. You can jump between apps i.e Teams to Chrome, but not between different instances of the app (like you can on Windows OS). AltTab fixes that, meaning I don't have to take my hands off the keyboard.

  • Clipy

    Great tool for using your clipboard. No more accidental overwriting your copy when you hit cmd+c instead of cmd+v.

  • Obsidian

    A really customisable note taking application. You can write in markdown and create links between your notes. Another app that I don't use to it's full capabilities, but one I really recommend.

  • Rectangle

    I use this as my window manager. It makes it easy to snap applications right where I want them.