Development Tools

As a passionate developer, I rely on tools that work seamlessly across both my Mac and PC, ensuring a frictionless experience on my personal devices. With a busy life and limited time to spare, I can’t afford to waste precious minutes troubleshooting compatibility issues or dealing with clunky transitions. My workflow demands efficiency, and my tools must enable swift, hassle-free switching between devices so I can stay focused on what truly matters—building, creating, and problem-solving without unnecessary interruptions.

I also self-host some of my essential tools to have full control over my data, improve privacy, and ensure better customization. These tools are marked with a ⭐️

IDEs & Code Editors

• VS Code – My go-to for front-end development, quick edits, and its vast ecosystem of extensions. The ability to sync settings and extensions across devices makes switching seamless. I also frequently use VS Code’s SSH Remote Development feature to work on remote environments, allowing me to code on different machines without disrupting my setup.

• IntelliJ IDEA – My main tool for Java development and debugging. Its deep integration with Java, intelligent code assistance, and powerful debugging tools make it indispensable for working on backend systems, large codebases, and complex projects.

Databases

• DBeaver – My preferred database management tool for working with various SQL and NoSQL databases. DBeaver’s cross-platform support, intuitive UI, and ability to connect to multiple database types make it invaluable for querying, analyzing data, and managing database schemas efficiently. Whether I’m working locally or connecting to remote databases, DBeaver ensures a smooth and reliable experience.

Source Control

• Git – The backbone of my version control workflow. Whether I’m working solo or collaborating with a team, Git provides robust branching, merging, and history tracking, allowing me to manage code changes with confidence. Integrated seamlessly into both VS Code and IntelliJ IDEA, Git enables me to perform commits, resolve conflicts, and review history directly within my IDEs, enhancing productivity and minimizing context switching.

• Gitea ⭐️– A lightweight, self-hosted Git service I use for managing repositories privately. Gitea provides an efficient and minimal alternative to platforms like GitHub and GitLab, giving me full control over my code and ensuring a fast, resource-friendly experience on my personal infrastructure.

Analytics

• Umami – My go-to open-source web analytics tool for privacy-friendly and lightweight tracking. I self-host Umami to gain full control over my data and avoid third-party tracking services. If you're interested in setting it up yourself, check out my Step-by-Step Guide to Self-Hosting Umami.

Monitoring

• Grafana ⭐️ – A powerful open-source observability platform for visualizing and analyzing metrics. I use Grafana to create real-time dashboards that provide insights into system performance, application health, and infrastructure monitoring.

• Prometheus ⭐️ – A highly scalable monitoring and alerting toolkit that I use to collect and store time-series metrics from various services. It integrates seamlessly with Grafana for rich visualizations and alerting.

• UptimeObserver – A simple and effective uptime monitoring tool that helps me track website availability and response times, ensuring my applications remain accessible and responsive.