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.