The tools I am using (2018)

I have seen other people writing articles with about the same topic, so I thought I would share as well my set of tools, to compare and to let know others what it is that they could be using.

Ubuntu: This is not the most common choice, but since I started using Ubuntu 5 years ago, I have never had the desire to switch back. The platform has everything I need to work on web development. It is free. It is OSS. And unlike Apple, yo do not find yourself locked into an expensive software ecosystem that you need to maintain to keep all your different tools working well together with one another.

Visual Code: This one was a recent change. I had been a long life supporter with Sublime Text due to its speed, which today I think it is the fastest editor out there. I also like the editors that are just about coding. No IDE, no integrated execution. Just code. Bus I started giving a try to other editors like Atom and Visual Code and it became clear that ST had fallen behind in features. Visual Code is a potent editor that can do whatever you ask him to do. From being a beast to control every aspect of your development, to being just a simple plain editor with an excellent interface.

Inbox: For my email communication, Google Inbox has been my choice for a while now, and I have to admit I have never even once missed GMail. It has a clean presentation, modern UI, bundling of messages, and my most beloved feature, reminders. I really hope that Google does not kill it!

• Update: Sadly it is going to be killed in March, so I guess I better found a good alternative, because GMail right now does not appeal to me much.

ZSH: A beautiful command line, with way more power than normal bash. Great extensibility with many themes and plugins, that allow you to change it’s presentation with just changing a couple lines of configuration.

Terminator: The best terminal I have seen to the date. Fully configurable and very easy to create complicated layouts to present the amount of command-lines that you need for a task.

Git: Duh.

BitBucket: As a freelance developer, the need to have private git repositories is a must, and BitBucket offers them for free. There is all I need to organize my professional projects in an organized way.

LastPass: I never knew what I was missing by not using password managers, until I started using LastPass. Now remembering passwords has become a distant memory and a problems I do not have to worry never again.

Slack: Managing communications with other team members is an important side of a business, and email can take you just so far. After a certain point, you need to have more direct and clear conversations, sometimes in real-time. For that, Slack offers me the right features to make such an environment a reality.

Chrome: While it is true that this browser devours your RAM memory, it has the best set of developer tools that I have seen anywhere. It is a must-have if you want to work on frontend.

Peek: Have you ever wanted to make a GIF, when you wanted to show something that was happening in your computer to someone else? Peek is the best available tool for Ubuntu that I have seen.

ShareX: Same thing as with Peek, but this is for Windows, if I ever need to work with it. It does so much more: screen capture, screen recording, auto upload to temporary image hosters, and so on.

Aug 23, 2018