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Uses

These are the tools I use to get things done on a daily basis.

Here are the tools I use daily when developing my web applications. I have tried many different tools over the years and these are the ones I have settled on. I have also included some other hardware and software I use on a regular basis.

Workstation

  • 14" MacBook Pro, M1 Pro, 16GB RAM (2021)

    I use this laptop for all my development work. I love the M1 Pro chip and the 16GB of RAM is plenty for my needs. The M1 Pro chip is a massive improvement over the Intel MacBook I had before.

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  • Asus 32" 4K ProArt Display PA329CV

    I chose this monitor because it has great colour accuracy (ΔE < 2), plenty of pixels and is large enough that I don't need a second monitor. I use it for all my development work and needed the color accuracy for my astrophotography.

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  • Keychron K2 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard

    I love the feel of mechanical keyboards and this one is great. It has a nice compact design and is wireless. I have the brown switches which are a nice balance between quiet and tactile.

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  • Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse

    This mouse is great. It has a nice weight to it and is very comfortable to use. It has a great scroll wheel and the thumb buttons are very useful. I had the magic mouse before this and I much prefer this mouse.

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  • Fully Jarvis Solid Oak Standing Desk

    The Jarvis desk is fantastic. It's very sturdy and the height is easy to adjust using the programmable buttons. I bought and fitted the solid oak top separately, which was very easy to do and looks great.

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Development

  • JetBrains PhpStorm

    I use this IDE for all my PHP development. It has great support for Laravel, Vue and Tailwind. I also use the built in terminal to run my tests and other commands. The plugin ecosystem is also top-notch.

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  • DBngin

    DBngin is my tool of choice to set up local databases. It has a nice UI and is very easy to use. I use it to manage my MySQL, PostgreSQL and Redis databases on my MacBook.

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  • TablePlus

    I use TablePlus to manage my local and remote databases. I moved away from Sequel Pro a few years ago when development stopped and I'm very happy with TablePlus.

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  • Postman

    I use Postman to test my API endpoints. I also use it to create collections of my API endpoints which I can share with my team. When I'm integrating with third party APIs I use it to test their endpoints too.

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  • Expose

    Expose is a great tool for sharing local development environments with others. It's very easy to set up and use. I mainly use it to view my web applications on my iPhone while developing them.

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Other

  • 1Password

    I use 1Password to store all my passwords, credit card details and other sensitive information. It integrated and syncs across all my devices. I've used 1Password since 2017 and I'm very happy with it.

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  • Apple AirPods Pro

    I use these for listening to music, podcasts and online meetings. I love the noise cancelling feature and the transparency mode is great too. The sound quality is great and they are very comfortable to wear.

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  • Apple HomePod Mini

    We have a few HomePod Minis around the house and have set up lots of home automations with them. They have great sound quality and decent bass for a speaker of this size. The one in my office is perfect for listening to music while I work.

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  • Belkin Mount with MagSafe

    I use this to mount my iPhone to my monitor so I can utilise the Continuity Camera feature. It allows me to use my iPhone camera as a webcam for online meetings. Less wires and better quality than most webcams.

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  • Proton Mail

    Proton Mail is my email provider of choice. I love the fact that it's encrypted and private by default. It's reasonably priced for a premium account, but there's a free option too.

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