My Developer Tool List
As a software engineer, I rely on all kinds of software for my day-to-day work. Software are like tools; the right one for the right job makes everything a lot easier.
I've always enjoyed reading about the tools that other developers use and recommend, such as Scott Hanselman, so here's my own.
This list focuses on Windows software, since I do most of my development on my work-issued Windows 11 PC. However, some of the software also runs on Linux and other platforms.
BareTailPro (): GUI tail tool for log monitoring on Windows. It's old, but still works great. A free version with less features is also available.
Beyond Compare (): Hands down the best diff/merge tool I've found. Affordable perpetual licenses, and runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS.
Bruno: A cross-platform API tool. Unlike Postman, it's bloat-free and doesn't require an account to use.
Chocolatey: A software package manager for Windows, with a large repository of apps. Chocolatey makes it super easy to install, update, and remove software.
Greenshot: A simple and easy-to-use tool for taking and editing screenshots.
GrepWin: A fast full text search tool that integrates with Explorer.
KeePassXC: A modern, cross-platform take on KeePass. Compatible with KeePass databases, and supports browser auto-fill via an extension.
LICECap: An easy-to-use tool for creating screen recording GIFs. It's great for recording bug reproductions for a Jira ticket.
LINQPad: A scratchpad/fiddler for C#, F#, Visual Basic, and SQL. I use LINQPad all the time to test assumptions about code and rry small ideas. It's also amazing for writing one-off scripts, since it avoids all the ceremony of creating a whole Visual Studio solution.
Listary: Windows' search is awful. Listary offers fast and easy searching of installed programs, and files - all from the keyboard. If you like to keep your hand off the mouse, Listary makes life a lot easier. For a decent, free alternative, see Launchy.
PowerShell: If you're a developer or system administrator on Windows and haven't picked up PowerShell yet, you're living in the past. It's easy to use and script with, and its .NET interopt is a godsend.
RegexBuddy (): Do you struggle with regular expressions? RegexBuddy makes it easy to write regexes for a variety of languages, test, and debug. One of its best features is its ability to parse and explain exactly what a given regex does. It really takes the guesswork out, and has often helped find bugs or errors.
TortoiseGit: The best GUI Git client I've had the pleasure of using. I really appreciate that it uses separate windows for everything, so you can easily work in multiple repositories at the same time.
Vim: Ok, I'll be honest; I don't use Vim itself much anymore. However, I do use Vi extensions in my IDEs wherever possible. Once you get comfortable with doing everything from the keyboard, there's no going back.