Software Development Tools

Here’s my software development toolkit.

Zen Browser

I’ve used these browsers roughly in this order.

1. Lynx
2. Netscape Navigator
3. Internet Explorer
4. Firefox
5. Opera
6. Links
7. Vivaldi
8. Google Chrome
9. Arc
10. Brave Browser
11. Back to Firefox
12. And onward to Zen

I use Zen because it’s stable, fast, and doesn’t block ad blockers.

I use a few browser extensions to simplify my life.

• RSS Reader Extension (by Inoreader): I ♥️ RSS. We need more Aaron Swartz and less Jeff Bezos.
• Bitwarden — Free Password Manager: I use Bitwarden for password management.
• uBlock Origin: May your life be free of ads, and devoid of popups.

Experimenting

• Bridgy — I’m working on joining the indy web.

macOS

I use macOS as my primary computing platform.

I use it for the following reasons.

1. It works more often than Microsoft Windows or Linux—based computers.
2. It’s built to last.
3. It’s Unix under the hood.
4. The user interface is consistent and pleasing to the eye.
5. It’s simple and productive.

Alfred

I use Alfred and shell scripts to automate repetitive tasks.

I used Automator for a while, but Alfred is superior.

I use it for the following reasons.

1. It’s user friendly
2. It’s incredibly flexible.
3. It works like Spotlight but with a lot more options.
4. Clicks steal ticks.

Ghostty

I use Ghostty instead of the default macOS terminal. I like that it’s built for speed and simplicity.

Command Line

I live on the command line.

A couple shell enhancement tools.

• starship — Primary use, themes
• zsh-autocomplete-plugin — Auto—completion is a gift from the gods

I’m learning nushell.

Indispensible CLI Programs

You’ll pry these from my cold dead meat sticks.

• find — Where did I put that file again?
• grep — Unlock the mysteries of file contents
• jq — Json parsing FTW
• shellcheck — A clean shell script is a happy shell script
• xargs — Construct argument lists and invoke a utility
• Copilot for CLI — I’m not a robot, but I can write like one
• sed — Regex all the things
• zoxide — cd++
• eza — ls++
• …and hundreds more

My Custom Tools

I build tools to automate my workflows.

• Emoji Search Tool — Finding the perfect emoji shouldn’t be hard. This tool makes it easy.

If you have any great tools to share, please drop a comment below!