Software I use, newsletters I read.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software and stay productive. Here’s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • 14” MacBook Pro, M2 Max, 64GB RAM (2023)

    I was using a 13” 16GB M1 MacBook Pro earlier. Extra RAM and more CPU cores are a game changer for me. I’m able to run more apps at once without worrying about performance.

  • LG UltraWide 34WK95U-W

    34” display with 5120x2160 resolution and 21:9 aspect ratio. It has a Thunderbolt port, so I can connect it to my MacBook with a single cable for power and display. I love the extra horizontal space for working with 2 windows side-by-side.

  • Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID

    It works great with MacBook Pro and I love the Touch ID integration. I don’t have to type my password 100 times a day.

  • Logitech MX Master 3 For Mac

    I enjoy the extra buttons and the LogiOptions+ software to customize extra buttons and gestures for different apps.

Development tools

  • WebStorm

    After using WebStorm for about a decade, I can’t imagine using anything else. My workflow is so optimized around it that I don’t think I could be as productive in any other editor. I use other JetBrains products too, like DataGrip and PyCharm.

  • iTerm2

    I’m honestly not using it to full potential, but the things I like over the default Terminal.app are: better autocomplete, better mouse support for text selection, better search and large scrollback buffer.

  • CleanShot X

    After trying many different screenshot tools, this is the only one that meets all of my needs. It struck me with beautiful annotation tools, auto-scroll screenshots, and decent screen recording features.

Productivity

  • Paste

    Clipboard history manager is a must-have tool for me. Need to recall a code snippet from a month ago? Paste has got you covered.

  • Github Copilot

    Thanks to Copilot, I enjoy coding more than ever. It saves time writing ”boring” code and helps me focus on the interesting parts.

  • GPT-4

    I use GPT-4 for all sorts of coding & writing tasks, and interestingly to create new productivity tools based on it. It deserves a separate article.

  • CodeGPT

    This is a WebStorm plugin that makes it super easy to use GPT-4 in IDE. Just select a code snippet, right-click, and choose Refactor.

  • DevUtils

    This is a swiss army knife for developers. It can convert JSON to CSV, decode Base64, JWT, URLs, diff text, generate Lorem Ipsum, and much more.

  • Setapp

    Other productivity apps from Setapp subscription not mentioned above are: Bartender, iStats Menus, Paletro, CleanMyMac X, Prizmo, Sip.

  • AltTab

    AltTab brings the power of Windows’s “alt-tab” window switcher to macOS. It is super customizable and works great with multiple displays!

Newsletters

  • ByteByteGo

    It covers interesting bits of software architecture and distributed systems. I like how they explain complex topics in a simple way.

  • Last Week in AWS

    Since I work with AWS every day, it helps to stay up to date with the latest releases through insightful commentary.

  • Node Weekly

    Lately I rarely find useful news there, but I still keep it for occasional gems.

  • Postgres Weekly

    I’ve started using Postgres not so long ago, so this newsletter is an invaluable source of knowledge for me at the moment.

  • The Pragmatic Engineer

    Occasionally I find an interesting read there on the inner workings of software engineering in some well-known companies.

  • Serverless Status

    Serverless is a big part of my work, so this one helps to stay up to date with the cutting edge stuff of the ecosystem.

  • Tech Radar

    Published quarterly, it is always filled with dozens of new tools, techniques, frameworks and ideas to explore.

  • weekly.tf

    I’m a big fan of Terraform and I find insightful articles, novel tools and latest best practice in this newsletter.

  • TypeScript Weekly

    TypeScript releases are pretty technical, so I am always on a lookout for good follow-up articles in this newsletter.