Tools I use

Inspired by uses.tech where developers share their hardware, software and tools they use regularly. Here are my tools.

Software

Programming

• Terminal: I use iTerm2 with
  • zsh and with Starship prompt
  • base16-shell for terminal colors
  • zoxide as a replacement for cd command
  • eza as a replacement for ls command
  • bat as a replacement for cat command
  • fnm for node version management
  • and here are my dotfiles repo.

• Code editor: VSCode (with Vim emulation)
  • Theme: the official GitHub themes. I use both dark and light themes, depending on the surrounding light.
  • Here is a full post on how I set up my VSCode: My VSCode setup for 2023.
• Vim for a quick file editing from the terminal.
  • I use vim-plug as a plugin manager for Vim. Here is my .vimrc file.
• Git: I use command line Git with delta to render diffs and logs
• JetBrains Mono fonts in both code editors and terminal.

Others

• Homebrew package manager
• Arc as the default browser, and Chrome Canary as the browser for development.
• Raycast as a Spotlight replacement, calculators, shortcuts, etc.
• Karabiner Elements for keyboard shortcut customizations.
• Rectangle for windows management.
• Ice to show/hide icons on the menu bar.
• Pixelmator Pro for image/photo editing
• Cleanshot X to capture and annotate screenshots, screen recordings etc.
• 1Password for password management
• Google Photos to backup all of my photos

Alumni

Things I used in the past that are worth mentioning.

• oh-my-zsh and oh-my-posh zsh frameworks.
• z - replaced by zoxide
• kitty is a GPU-accelerated terminal app and it’s much faster than iTerm. The only thing that stops me from using it is that it doesn’t render as beautiful text as in iTerm, probably because of the lack of supporting sub-pixel antialiasing.
• Cursor is basically VSCode with AI features which I really liked. But paying 20$ a month for a code editor is a no-go for me.
• Alfred - I used Alfred for many years until I found Raycast. Thanks Alfred!
• BetterTouchTool for shortcuts, automation.

Hardware

• Computers: 13-inch Macbook Air M2 at work. At home I have a 2013 13-inch MakBook Pro, but this one is rarely used nowadays.
  
• Monitor: a Samsung 28” UR55 UHD 4K Monitor mounted with an NB-F80 Monitor arm.
  
• Keyboard: Corne wireless split keyboard. I wrote about it here: Building a Wireless Corne Keyboard and Low Profile Wireless Corne Keyboard.
  
• Mouse: Logitech MX Anywhere 3S
• Headphones: I have a few too many of them for my various use cases
  • Sony WH-1000XM4 for working in a noisy environment
  • Audio-Technica M50x with Audirect Beam 2se DAC/Amp for music listening
  • JBL Quantum 100 for video calls and meetings. This one has a really good mic!
  • Soundpeats Air3 for commuting and workouts
    
    

Other

Not something I use everyday, but still worth mentioning.

• Digital camera: Fujifilm XT-20 digital camera with a TTArtisan 50mm f/1.2 manual focus lense
  
• Bike: 2022 Nich Faith 2 road bike. I use it for commuting to work sometimes and for a weekend long ride.