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 Pro, M2 Pro, 16GB RAM (2023)

    I use an Apple-based 14” MacBook Pro to this and the difference is night and day. I’ve never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through with our various launch simulations.

Development tools

  • PhpStorm

    PhpStorm is a powerful IDE for PHP development created by JetBrains. I use it because it provides code completion, debugging, built-in terminal and database tools, integration with version control systems, and many other features that boost my productivity when writing PHP code. The intelligent code editor makes it easy to navigate large codebases and refactor code safely.

  • WebStorm

    WebStorm is a robust IDE for web development created by JetBrains. I use it because of its excellent support for JavaScript, TypeScript, CSS, HTML, Node.js, Angular, React, Vue.js, and more. The code completion, debugging, and convenient GUI tools like built-in terminal help me develop complex web apps efficiently. WebStorm's integration with version control systems like Git accelerates my workflow.

  • Ray

    Spatie Ray is a debugging tool for PHP applications that helps me quickly identify issues. I use it to get insights into request/response data, logged events, executed queries, queued jobs, and more. The interactive dashboard and tailable logs accelerate debugging workflows.

Design

  • Figma

    We started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

Productivity

  • Notion

    Notion is an all-in-one workspace for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases that I use to organize my life. Its flexible drag-and-drop interface allows me to customize it to fit my needs. I can collaborate with others and access it from any device, enhancing my productivity.