I have been in programming job for over 5 years now. Like you and everyone else, I have used many tools along the way to support the development and productivity. Some of them I am still using now, and some I have better replacements.
So today, I would like to share my top-10 free tools that I am using every day.
Let's get started. Shall we?!
1. Visual Studio Code
No doubts that this is my first pick of my top tool. It is my main code editor. I do React.js, Next.js, TypeScript for frontend so this code editor is perfect for me with all the available plugins it has. It does everything that I expect a code editor/IDE to do.
2. Intellij IDEA
VSCode, now this IDE, using two, seriously?
Yeah, I am serious. I also do Java, Spring Boot for backend. So, I find Intellij IDEA is ideal for me. It works so well for Spring Boot development that I cannot resist to use it.
3. ToolifyBox
This is new actually, but I am loving it.
It is more than just a tool, but a set of useful tools that I think every developer will need.
I work with JSON a lot, and in the past, "Online JSON Viewer and Formatter" is where I deal with the JSON.
But ohhh my! until I found this ToolifyBox, it becomes my hidden gems for almost everything now.
Want to format JSON, I go to ToolifyBox.
Want to decode JWT, I go to ToolifyBox.
Want to decode/encode URL, that's right, I go to ToolifyBox.
It has a lot more tools that I cannot mention all. So, it is worth checking out yourself.
4. Git Bash
I am not necessarily talking about git, but what I want to mention is git-bash terminal.
I had used other terminals including Tabby, Hyper, Commad Prompt.
But at the end, my goto every terminal now is git-bash because it is fast, simple and fully customizable.
5. Postman
Testing API is one of required step for both backend and frontend dev. Easy to copy curl and create request from that is what I kept using Postman as my HTTP Client tool.
6. Brave Browser
Yes it is a browser, but unlike Chrome or Firefox, this one is my favorite of all. On top of built-in ad-block, better security, I found out that I run app in dev mode faster in this browser than other else. And because it built on top of chromium, so the inspection tool is at its most usefulness.
7. DBeaver
I used to use database client like Navicat, but it is not free, it is good but not free. Later I found this DBeaver, it is really good and for my use case, it is my replacement of Navicat.
8. Notion
Notion is my top-notch tool for note taking, counting from taking small notes to fully manage my daily and weekly tasks. It can handle almost every type of content such as links, embeds, codes, and a lot more that I cannot describe. It is like a Swiss army knife verion of digital notes that I use every day.
9. KeePass
Hands down, this is really useful in managing credentials locally in your computer (Window). The one thing I use this more often is that I build web applications, and I may need to log in with different test users. So, instead of typing, I store all the test users' credentials in the KeePass, and use its shortcut Ctrl + V to auto-type the credentials into the form. It is a killing feature, that I think all developers should know, it saves so much time.
10. Notepad
Yeah, even though Notion is great, but for the quickest note of thing here and there, I love to open the notepad to store those little things. And even better, in Window 11, notepad has tabs and it auto-saves, and when we re-open the notepad, the notes are still there. Good job for that, Window.
Summary
These are my top 10 tools that help me in productivity and completing my tasks every single day. They are part of my programming life.
Among all, one tool I would like to recommend everyone checking out is the ToolifyBox, you gonna love it as much as I am.
Please let me know, if you have other tools that I should know about. And I would really appreciate. And I hope you may know some new tools as from this list as well.
Thank you, catch up later!
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