Tools I Use in 2019
Published: 2019-08-20 22:40:07

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title: Tools I Use in 2019
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tags: 
canonical_url: https://www.geekytidbits.com/tools-i-use-2019/
---

I have previously written about tools I use [here](http://www.geekytidbits.com/my-development-toolbelt/) and [here](https://www.geekytidbits.com/development-tools-i-use/). It’s fun to see how things have changed when looking back a few years.

It’s time for my 2019 version.

## Coding

- [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com) - I still love this code editor. I also wrote a [PostgreSQL extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bradymholt.pgformatter#overview) for it.
- [Git](https://git-scm.com/) - I’m still using git along with the rest of the world.
- [GitHub](http://www.github.com) - I use GitHub for work and personal projects. It really is the hub of all my development work these days.
- [Beyond Compare](http://www.scootersoftware.com/) - Beyond Compare is still a must have diff tool for me.
- [RegExr](http://www.regexr.com/) - RegEx made easy. I use this site a handful of times each week.

## Database

- [TablePlus](https://tableplus.com/) - I’ve switched over from Navicat to TablePlus and couldn’t be happier. This is a fantasic database management GUI tool.
- [psql](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/app-psql.html) - I use the PostgreSQL psql CLI tool quite a bit for quick queries.

## DevOps

- [Docker](https://www.docker.com/) - I’ve been using Docker more recently. It’s becoming de-facto for development environments for good reason.
- [Digital Ocean](https://m.do.co/c/974ef9a471c1) - I have a Digital Ocean machine for my personal use and I use a few servers at work. I still enjoy this service: the price, offering and documentation.
- [AWS](http://aws.amazon.com) - These days, I use AWS primarily for S3.

## System

- [macoS Mojave](http://www.apple.com/osx/) - I’m still using a MacBook. I bought a Surface Laptop about 6 months ago to “try it out” but took it back to the store after about a week. Maybe one day I’ll switch back to Windows but I’m still enjoying macOS. They really need to fix the keyboard problem though.
- [1Password](https://1password.com/) - I used to use LastPass primarily because the 1Password Android client was unusable for me. But, they’ve improved it greatly and I’m a happy 1Password user now.
- [Spectacle](https://www.spectacleapp.com/) - I use this to resize windows in macOS, particularly to snap windows to the left/right on my monitors. It’s very handy because I have 3 screens.
- [iTerm2](https://www.iterm2.com/) - I’m a happy iTerm2 user. It’s really a fantastic terminal emulator for macOS.
- [Zsh](http://www.zsh.org/) - I still prefer Zsh over Bash. It has a lot of convienent, productive features.
- [Oh My Zsh](https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh) - Oh My Zsh manages Zsh config and makes adding in themes and plugins trival.
- [Dato](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/dato/id1470584107?mt=12) - A newer tool, this is a system tray date / clock with all sorts of useful features including showing additional timezones and integration with the Calendar app.

# Communication

- [Franz](https://meetfranz.com/) - I use Franz to organize all the services I use to commicate (Slack, Gmail, Basecamp, etc). I love how it shows me badge count notifications for each service so I know which ones I need to look at.
- [Zoom](https://zoom.us) - Zoom really has nailed video conference quality.
- [Google Meet](https://meet.google.com) - This is a solid tool for a video conference and is really great when I need to share my screen.
- [Slack](https://slack.com) - I use Slack heavily for team communication and audio calls. I usually avoid using it when I want to share my screen or make video calls because it has some relability issues.
- [Basecamp](https://www.basecamp.com)
- [Trello](https://trello.com) - I don’t use Trello as much as I use to but still find it useful for organizing projects or collecting thoughts.

## Misc Tools

- [Gifox](https://gifox.io/) - This is a simple yet effective animated GIF recorder. The killer feature for me is the simple drag-drop capability which I use all the time to upload to GitHub and Slack.
- [Monosnap](https://monosnap.com) - I use this tool for screenshots and annotations. It’s fast, simple and free.
- [dotfiles/bin](https://github.com/bradymholt/dotfiles/tree/master/bin) - I have a collection of scripts for handy things like abstracting Git commands and `ws` for starting a lightweight webserver from the current directory.
- [Pixelmator Pro](https://www.pixelmator.com/pro/) - For the occasional image edits I do.
- [Audacity](https://www.audacityteam.org/) - For the occasional audio edits I do.