Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I get asked a lot about the things I use to build software, stay productive, or buy to fool myself into thinking I'm being productive when I'm really just procrastinating. Here's a big list of all of my favorite stuff.

  • Intel Core i9-11900K, 3080ti, 64GB RAM

    Built as a workstation, but used as a gaming PC. I absolutely love the performance of this system,

  • 14” MacBook Pro, M2 Max, 64GB RAM (2023)

    I was using an Intel-based 16” MacBook Pro prior to this and the difference is night and day. I've never heard the fans turn on a single time, even under the incredibly heavy loads I put it through with our various launch simulations.

  • NextJS & React

    My go to frontend framework these days. I love the flexibility of JSX, and the developer experience of NextJS when published to Vercel is fantastic. Being able to build and deploy an app with all the bells and whistles, like serverless functions or analytics, has been a game changer for me.

  • MySQL

    As one of the most widely supported and used databases, MySQL is still my first pick for new projects. I typically use it with Prisma and Planetscale when I can.

  • TailwindCSS

    As a fullstack developer with significantly more aptitude for the backend and devops, Tailwind has been a lifesaver for me (not to mention a timesaver).

  • Cloudflare

    For any DNS, CDN, or serverless functions, I use Cloudflare. They have a fantastic suite of products that are easy to use and integrate with, and their free tier is more than enough for most projects.

  • AWS

    For anything more complicated that Vercel or Cloudflare can't handle, I use AWS. To date, I has built and shipped dozens of applications with AWS, handling hundreds of millions of requests per month.

  • Visual Studio Code

    I've been using VS Code for years now, and with the CoPilot and CodeSpaces integrations, it's a hard sell for me to use anything else.

  • Terminal (Windows)

    With the direct WSL integration out of the box, somehow Terminal has been my go-to. Fun fact, win+` is a keyboard shortcut to open a terminal overlay from anywhere in Windows.

  • Alfred

    Easily the best productivity tool I've ever used. I never need to reach for the mouse to open and switch apps, and with the Powerpack, I can integrate with almost any other tool I use (like 1Password)

  • Notion

    Switching from paper to digital has been a game changer for me, and Notion is the best tool I've found for organizing my thoughts and ideas. In fact, I've even written my entire resume and hosted it with Notion.