--- layout: post title: "My tool belt" date: 2012-12-23 19:54 comments: true categories: - tool-chain - mac - ruby - software --- As a web developer you need a bunch of good tools. I know that tools are something very personal, but maybe my choice contains some inspiration for your toolbelt. ![Toolbelt](/images/uploads/2012-12/toolbelt.jpg) Toolbelt Picture from [brockamer](http://www.flickr.com/photos/brockamer/5673414513). Licensed under [CC BY 2.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.de) ## Mac OS X Software ### 1Password ![1Password Login Window](/images/uploads/2012-12/1passwd.png "1Password") 1Password is my password manager of choice. Why a password manager? Well its the only realistic way of having a different password for every website. 1Password also hold password to servers, my serial numbers + my credit card info etc. Apart from being more secure it also makes the whole password business much more user-friendly, fills passwords in and submits forms if I want. There is one downside however: I don't know my passwords any more. When I am at my friends computer I have to look them up in the iPad version of 1Password. ### Alfred Alfred is a marvelous application launcher. I tried Quicksilver and Launchbar but both are not as nice as Alfred. ![Alfred](/images/uploads/2012-12/alfred.png "Alfred - my app launcher") Apart of the use as app launcher, Alfred is a perfect keyboard interface for iTunes and my clipboard history. ### Arq ![Arq](/images/uploads/2012-12/arq.jpg) Backing up ones data is important. I use TimeMachine and Arq. Arq back's up your Data to Amazon S3 or Amazon Glacier. It encrypts the data, before it is uploaded. ### Bartender I use a ridicoulus amount of menu bar apps. Bartender is a nice programm, that helps you to organize them. ![Bartender](/images/uploads/2012-12/bartender.jpg) ### BetterSnapTool ![BetterSnapTool](/images/uploads/2012-12/bettersnaptool.jpg) BetterSnapTool manages my windows in an intelligent way. With soon simple grips on the keyboard: I can move them from one screen to another, or arrange them in split view to the left and the right side. ### Chrome ![Google Chrome](/images/uploads/2012-12/chrome.png) One of my most important tools is Chrome. Not only is it a nifty, fast and clutterfree browser, but also a perfect tool for web developers. The developer tools are right build in and contain everything that I need on a daily basis: JS Console, network activity, debugging facilities for CSS and some basic checks for front end performance. ### iTerm 2 ![ITerm2](/images/uploads/2012-12/iterm2.png "Iterm 2") I spend quite a lot of time in the terminal. I use iTerm instead of the build in Mac OS terminal. I like the split-pane view, Tmux-integration and that it just kind of feels much better then the normal build in terminal. ### MacVim ![Mvim](/images/uploads/2012-12/mvim.jpg) For reading code or refactorings I prefer to use an IDE - but whenever I create something new I use MacVim. It was quite hard to get used to it - but after a few month it just feels right :) ### PHPStorm / Rubymine ![PHPStorm](/images/uploads/2012-12/phpstorm.png "PHPStorm") A year ago i used PHPStorm. After my switch to Ruby I use its brother RubyMine now. RubyMine is quite expensive and you have to get a new license on a yearly basis - but its definetly worth every penny. ### Pomodoro ![Pomodoro](/images/uploads/2012-12/pomodoro.png) I am a big believer in the [Pomodoro Technique](http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/). When I started, I used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer. But it constantly fell of my desk and the ticking annoyed my environment. Thats why I choose to use the little app with the name "Pomodoro". Its gorgeous. It has Things Integration and lives in my menu bar. I also like that you can write little Apple scripts. Currently after every pomodoro my Mac locks, to ensure that I don't cheat and take the break. ### Reggy ![Reggy](/images/uploads/2012-12/reggy.jpg "Regex Tester") Reggy is a small program that helps you create and test-drive regular expressions. Its quite simple and saves a lot of time. I can't imagine how to create complicated regular expressions without rapid feedback any more. Some of my colleagues had a look at Reggy and instantly wanted this kind of instant feedback for regexe's as well. If you don't have a Mac an alternative might be [Rubular](http://rubular.com/) ### Sparrow I hate email! They suck the energy out of me. I tried many different clients over the years: Mail, Entourage, Postbox, Thunderbird, GMail. They really don't work for me. ![Sparrow](/images/uploads/2012-12/sparrow.png "Sparrow - lightweight email") Recently I discovered Sparrow. I like it because it makes email as convenient as using Twitter. You can reply fast and it resides in your menu bar and does not use space in the dock. What I also like is that it automatically uploads attachments to dropbox and I dont have to send 10 MB big attachment bombs through the internet. I still don't like emails.. But they are a lot nicer now.. ### TextExpander ![TextExpander](/images/uploads/2012-12/textexpander.png "TextExpander") TextExpander stores snippets of texts that i use over and over again. For example boilerplate code that I have to write in PHP to create tests, or email signatures, Lorem Ipsum snippets and such.. TextExpander syncs itself via Dropbox, so that you can share your snippets between different computers. ### Things ![Tasks in Things](/images/uploads/2012-12/things.png "A list of tasks in Things") Things is a pretty neat store of the stuff that pops into my mind, while I am working on hard problems. I can revisit this stuff later and continue to concentrate on the task at hand. It allows me to plan Tasks, schedule them, create little projects. Since the last weekend I also use Things Cloud beta, to syncronize my tasks between my Imac at work and my Macbook Pro at home. ### Sequel Pro ![Sequel Pro](/images/uploads/2012-12/sequel-pro.jpg) I already recommended Sequel Pro [in the past](http://www.zipfelmaus.com/blog/mysql-datenbankadministration-unter-mac-os-x-mit-sequel-pro-erledigen/) a while ago. In the meantime it even got better. If you work with MySQL and a Mac and you don't have it - get it. Now! It makes working with the database fun again. You can have favorite queries, browse your database, alter tables, kill queries in a simple, elegant and time-saving way. ### Soulver Soulver is a really nice application that you can use to do quick calculations. I love it and use it for all my simple calculations. ### Transmit ![Xenu LinkSleuth](/images/uploads/2012-12/transmit.jpg) I rarely need it, since we deploy using GIT these days - but whenever I have to transfer stuff from a server I use Transmit. ### Xenu LinkSleuth ![Xenu LinkSleuth](/images/uploads/2012-12/xenu.jpg) Xenu is a real gem! I used it for many years now. Xenu is supposed to search for broken links - but I use it in another way.. The last time it came handy was, when I ported one of our projects to a new Ruby version. We have a pretty decent test-coverage - but I did not feel very comfortable anyway. That's typically when I start Xenu to discover if something terrible is wrong with the system. Xenu is a tool for Windows but works just great with Wine. ## Terminal ### Homebrew Homebrew is the missing package manager for OS X. It my preferred way to install *NIX tools. It works like a charm and just feels better than the alternatives. ### Bashmarks Bashmarks is a little shell script that allows you to save bookmarks to directories. With a few keystrokes you can jump everywhere in the system. To bookmark a directory: cd ~/Ruby/amazing-project/ s amaz To jump back in: g amaz ### GIT My swiss army VCM system. I use it for nearly everything that is related to text. For example also to write blog-articles: [toolbelt.md on GitHub](https://raw.github.com/shostakovich/mugim/master/source/_posts/2012-12-04-my-tool-belt.markdown) ### Todo-Void For my daily small tasks I use Todo-Void. A small task-manager that I created as a toy-project. ![Todo-Void](/images/uploads/2012-12/todo-void.jpg) As a long-term task manager I use Things. ## Links ### Mac OS X * [1Password](https://agilebits.com/onepassword) * [Arq](http://www.haystacksoftware.com/arq/) * [Alfred](http://www.alfredapp.com/) * [Bartender](http://www.macbartender.com/) * [BetterSnapTool](https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/bettersnaptool/id417375580?mt=12) * [Chrome](https://www.google.com/intl/de/chrome/browser/) * [iTerm 2](http://www.iterm2.com) * [OmniOutliner](http://www.omnigroup.com/products/omnioutliner/) * [MacVim](http://code.google.com/p/macvim/) * [RubyMine](http://www.jetbrains.com/ruby/) * [Pomodoro](http://pomodoro.ugolandini.com/) * [Reggy](http://reggyapp.com/) * [Sparrow](http://sparrowmailapp.com/) * [Soulver](http://www.acqualia.com/soulver/) * [TextExpander](http://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/index.html) * [Transmit](http://panic.com/transmit/) * [Things](http://culturedcode.com/things/) * [SequelPro](http://www.sequelpro.com/) * [Xenu Link Sleuth](http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html) ### Terminal * [Homebrew](http://mxcl.github.io/homebrew/) * [Bashmarks](https://github.com/huyng/bashmarks) * [Git](http://git-scm.com/) * [Todo-Void](https://github.com/shostakovich/Todo-Void)