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

  • Linux Ubuntu. Latest available. just sudo do-release-upgrade.

    Now... this one has grown on me. Prior to delving into Linux territory, I was using Windows, and I was very happy with it. I pretty much didn’t know better at the time, and I was really never a fan of Apple products. But, as I started to delve into software engineering a bit deeper, I realized that I really need a Linux based system. Most of the servers are running on some kind of Linux, and I really need to have a system that is as close to the production environment as possible. I have been using Ubuntu for a few years now, and I am very happy with it. I know folks tend to suggest for engineering different distros, but hey, I am just too acustomed to Ubuntu. I will make a blog post about this topic, I promise.

  • AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT, AMD Radeon RX6700, 32GB Ram

    For software development and casual gaming (Elden Ring, khm), this is the best bang for the buck. I have been runing a ton of VMs and containers and it has been a blast, never let me down. I have been using it for about three years now and I am very happy with it.

  • 27" UltraGear QHD Nano IPS 165Hz

    I was really in doubts about this one, and I was thinking about a bigger monitor, but I am very happy with this one. It is a great monitor for gaming and work, has great colors and its 165Hz refresh rate is a game changer, since I upgraded from a measly 60Hz monitor.

    This literally opened my eyes.

  • HyperX Alloy FPS Pro keyboard

    A keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches. I love the compact design and the fact that it is a mechanical keyboard. I have been using it for a few years now and I am very happy with it. I am literally taking this one to the grave, it seems indestuctible.

  • RedDragon Cobra mouse

    I am not a fan of wireless mice, so I am using this one. It is a great mouse for the price, and it has been serving me well for a few years now. I love the feel of the mouse clicks on it, even though I really don’t like the RGB on it. And I am not even using it too much for software engineering, since real engineers use keyboard only, right? RIGHT? All riiight.

Development tools

  • VSCode

    I’ve tried all the other editors but I always come back to VSCode. It’s community, rich plaethora of extensions and the fact that it’s free are the main reasons I keep coming back to it.

  • GitHub Copilot

    I was very skeptical about it at first, but I think that over time it has grown to be quite a useful tool. It is not perfect, but it is a great tool. In the end, you really have to check the outputs and such of the generated code, and I can probably talk for hours on this topic. I might make a post. 🔥

  • Jetbrains

    I am just gonna say Jetbrains. I am using a lot of their products, and I am very happy with them. If I am delving into any other programming language outside of Javascript, I am using Jetbrains products. I am using currently Rubymine and Phpstorm, and I am very happy with them.

Productivity

  • Notion

    I am using Notion literally on every single project I can pitch it to. It is a great tool for organizing your thoughts and your projects, software development cycles, notes, wikis, knowledge bases, and so on.