Derex.dev

Stuff I Use

This is a "uses" page, which lists my favorite gear and software. Check out uses.tech to see the surprising number of other people who also publish one.

Tangible

  • Macbook PRO M1: It's disturbing how much time I spend on this thing. Not only all day at work, but it's where the lion's share of my hobbies and entertainment comes from too.

    • I've lived through many of the most important personal computing advances in history, and Apple's move to ARM chips yielded the most important. So much power that a desktop PC isn't necessary, and so energy efficient that battery is never a problem.

Intangible

  • VSCode: VSCode is the best software package written in a decade. Powerful, fast, and improved usability compared to a command line program, like making less frequently used features still accessible via GUI point and click.

    • Even so, the Vim extension is absolutely indispensable. Modal editing lives on.

  • Copilot: It’s very useful for learning, offering insights into best practices and relevant snippets.

    • I don't prefer to use it, considering how much its changing the developer landscape but competition is getting fierce, and there is no way around it.

  • Terminal suite:

    • iTerm2: A good terminal app for macOS. Highly configurable, and importantly, still supports non-native transition to full screen so that ⌘-Tab is fast.

    • Zsh: A better shell than Bash. Started using it in my teenage years, never changed it since, its a must have for any developer.

  • Mac apps:

    • Notes: For notes and todos. This app is absolutely awful, but it's ubiquitous, syncs nicely across all my devices, and is quick to access on the go, so begrudgingly, I use it.

Dev stack

  • Go: Golang has garnered a dedicated following, and it's easy to see why. Since Rob Pike's insightful discussions on concurrency, i have fallen in love with its elegant simplicity and powerful features. Go's built-in support for concurrency through goroutines and channels allows for efficient parallel processing, making it an excellent choice for high-performance applications. Although my primary work revolves around JavaScript, I find myself gravitating towards Go for personal projects due to its clean syntax and fast compilation times.

  • Postgres: The world's best database. Incredible feature set, versatility, and performance. When used well, keeps data streamlined and consistent, and acts as an anti-bug firewall.

  • Tailwind: I have no design skills and with Tailwind I can actually make good looking websites with ease and it's everything I ever wanted in a CSS framework. This very website is working with tailwind magic.

Communities

  • Codenight: I’m an advocate for the Codenight Developer Community. I’ve been an admin and contributor for over 7 years. It’s incredible what we’ve accomplished. The community has grown to over 8500 people, and the support among members has increased tenfold. I’ve learned the importance of having a community in any industry. I’m proud of my contributions to Codenight and consider them the best thing I’ve done so far.