Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I’m being productive when I’m really just procrastinating. Here’s a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

Workstation

  • 14” MacBook M3 Pro (2023)

    I was using an Intel-based MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference was quite stunning. These days, a MacBook Air running on Apple Silicon is more than powerful enough to run the latest & greatest dev tooling, and that’s great.

  • Apple Studio Display

    Coming from LG’s 27” UltraFine 5K IPS Monitor, I had pretty high expectations for a display. The Apple Studio Display reached them, and went beyond. Its sleek design is a wonderful bonus!

  • MX Keys for Mac

    Love the travel time of this keyboard. Feels similar to the MacBooks, but a little more travel. It’s designed to work seamlessly with Macs & iPads. A pretty decent keyboard for developers.

  • MX Master 3S

    I’ve been using the MX Master 3 for a few years now and it’s been great. The MX Master 3S feels similar, with a few minor improvements, like the clicks. The scroll wheel is great as always!

Development tools

  • GitHub Desktop

    GitHub Desktop is my trusty sidekick for most git needs. No shame. It’s a great tool to keep your codebase in check, and your commits in line, visually.

  • iTerm2

    Jeffrey Way recommended it years ago during one of the Laracasts videos I was watching. Stuck with it ever since, great terminal. Currently exploring Warp.

  • Stacks

    The Stacks Desktop app is key to my productivity. It supercharges my local development experience, and automates management of cloud resources.

  • TablePlus

    Over the years, I have used many database tools, and TablePlus is the best I have used. Great software for working with databases.

  • Cursor

    Cursor, just like VS Code, is an amazing editor that ships with a powerfulAI integration—one that is super easy to use.

  • Supermaven

    Similar to GitHub Copilot, Supermaven is another AI-powered tool that suggests code snippets incredibly well, and fast.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for everything.

Productivity

  • Raycast

    With a pretty UI, Raycast makes it simple, fast and delightful to control my tools. I love the fact I can assign custom keyboard shortcuts to anything.

  • SavvyCal

    Great tool for scheduling meetings while protecting my calendar and making sure I still have lots of time for deep work during the week.