What I use.
Tools..Tools..Tools.. What tools do you use in your daily job? There are many that make my life easier. I’m a Windows guy. There are several reasons I haven’t jumped ship to Ubuntu or *gasp* Mac. If I had it my way, I would be using a Linux machine. There are several projects that I work on that require Microsoft. A Linux machine running a Windows VM would be nice, but I don’t think I want to risk it
Some of the tools I use daily are:
- Visual Studio Code – Source Code Editor. This is where I do my NODE and PHP work.
- Chrome – My favorite editor, even with all the headlines I see on web. The Developer Tools are my favorite.
- Draw.IO – Best place to draw up diagrams.
- Notepad++ – Quick and dirty editor that is full of features and plugin that allow you to get the job done.
- DBeaver – My favorite DB tool. I use to be a MySql Workbench fan until I accidentally installed the new one that wasn’t supported in Windows 7!
- Filezilla – Best way to FTP. No one has time for the command line FTP! 🙂
I will try and explain why I love each one of these tools. I’m not here to try and convince you to switch, just let you know what is in my tool belt.
Visual Studio Code (VSCODE)
This is by far my favorite code editor. I have a subscription for Webtorm, and it is a great editor with a lot of features. The plugins for VSCode are what make it so great. The community is developing powerful pluginns that are very useful. They have done a great job at making it easy to push/pull/commit changes to Github/Gitlab. VSCode makes it easy to debug your code too.
If you get a chance, I would suggest looking into the Live Share plugins. It makes pair programming so much easier. If your coworker is in the other room or in another city, this is very useful!
Chrome
Chrome is my browser of choice and it’s been hard to break the addiction. There are several alternatives, but when it comes to debugging code, Chrome is by far my favorite. The developer tools are the best! There isn’t a day that goes by where I’m not in there tracing calls to my APIs and figuring out what is going on. Debugging CSS is the other thing I’m doing in the DEV tools a lot. I cannot make things look pretty, so it is nice to be able to go in and tweak the CSS and see what it does.
Like every tool it isn’t without problems. Most of the problems I have with it are with my machine. I have 3 monitors at work and one is having a driver issue, so when I try and do PIP on that screen using the Google PIP Plugin. That is my machines problem.
DRAW.IO
In my college years, I spent many hours documenting my code and drawing UML diagrams. EER diagrams by hand or using old WordPerfect tools or Microsoft Tools. That is what we had at the time. There were no free apps as cool as this, that I can remember. I’m very thankful for the free tools that we have now.
DRAW.IO makes it easier to create flowcharts, user stories, EER diagrams (there are other tools for this. See DBeaver), and many other tools. I use it through Google Drive integration. The downside to this is when you want to share a drawing with someone, they usually need a GMAIL account if you want them to be able to edit it. (as far as I can tell).
Notepad++
This is definitely my go to application for quick editing for random files. I’m sad when i’m using Linux and I don’t have access to it :(. It has syntax highlighting, so you can see reserved words easily. When I need to manipulate data, I can pull it into here and use Regular Expressions to format the document fast. There are even tools to format XML and JSON files so it is easier to read. The code folding is also a valuable feature that gets used daily!
My only problem with this tool is when I have to edit a super duper large file! I’ve run into this several times and I have to split the file up or find another editor.
DBeaver
When it comes to viewing tables and running queries, it doesn’t get any better than DBeaver! If your references are setup correctly it is so easy to get an ER Diagram from your tables. There is always some client or manager that wants to see what your tables look like, and this makes it easy!
My biggest gripe with this tool is the way it manages files, but it could be a problem with me. I create new script files and then forget to give them a name, so it makes it harder to find my “scratch” pad of queries.
Overall it is my favorite query tool for MySQL and PostgreSQL. I still find myself going to Workbench for somethings that I’m use to using. I use Microsoft for MsSQL Databases, but that is because I’m lazy!
Filezilla
I love Linux and the terminal, but when it comes to FTP, I prefer to use a GUI. Filezilla is my favorite quick tool to go to. I’m usually downloading a DB that has been backed up or something. It also makes it easy to forget my FTP password, because I’ve saved it in the settings. SFTP via WinSCP is my alternative. Another super easy tool to use.
To wrap up..
I’m very open minded and not the type of person who lives by the “Do it my way or it’s the highway” and I love learning about tools that make my job easier. I use to use WebStorm code, but my co-worker started using VSCode and loved it! I’m also a creature of habit, so it took me about 2 weeks to make the switch to VSCode. With daily use and persistence, I was able to make the switch. Who knows which one is the best, but I’m really enjoying VSCode more than WebStorm.
Android Studio did redesign their editor using the same editor as what WebStorm was built from, by JetBrains. They did a great job at making it easy to use.
Take all of this with a grain of salt or take a look at them if you have never heard of them. I love finding new tools to use, so please leave a comment with any tools you’d like to share.