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.

Workstation

  • Custom build desktop

    I built a custom desktop PC for my workstation and it’s been amazing. I went with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, 64GB of RAM, 2TB of NVMe storage and dual GeForce RTX 3060s. I’ve never had a machine that could handle everything I throw at it, including running multiple virtual machines, Docker containers, and a ton of other applications all at once. It’s a beast.

  • Custom build AI workstation

    I built a second custom desktop for AI development and it’s even more powerful than my workstation. I went with an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F, 96GB of RAM, 2TB of NVMe storage and GeForce RTX 3090 with 24GB of VRAM. It’s a monster and can handle everything from Deepseek-R1's advanced reasoning model to running a mutli-agent ReAct system with multiple LLMs all at once. It’s a dream machine for AI development.

Development tools

  • Visual Studio Code

    I’ve tried a lot of different IDEs and text editors over the years but I always come back to VS Code. It’s fast, lightweight, and has a ton of great extensions that make it easy to customize for my workflow. I love the built-in terminal and the ability to easily switch between different programming languages and frameworks. It’s the best IDE I’ve ever used.

  • Windows Terminal

    I use Windows Terminal for all of my command line needs. It’s fast, customizable, and has a ton of great features like tabs, split panes, and support for multiple shells. I love being able to run PowerShell, WSL, and even SSH sessions all in the same terminal window. It’s a great tool for anyone who spends a lot of time in the command line.

  • Ollama

    Ollama is a new tool for running LLMs locally and it’s been a game changer for me. I love being able to run models like Llama 2 and Mistral 7B on my own hardware without having to worry about cloud costs or latency. It’s super easy to use and has a great interface for managing models and running inference. If you’re interested in AI development, I highly recommend checking it out.

  • Docker

    Docker has been a game changer for my development workflow. I love being able to spin up containers for different projects and environments without having to worry about dependencies or configuration. It’s made it so much easier to work on multiple projects at once and keep everything organized. I also love being able to use Docker Compose to define and manage multi-container applications. It’s a powerful tool that has saved me a ton of time.

Design

  • Figma

    I just started using Figma for design work and I’m really impressed. It’s super easy to use and has a ton of great features for collaboration and prototyping. I love being able to work on designs with others in real-time and the ability to easily share designs with clients and stakeholders. It’s a great tool for anyone who does design work.

  • Mermaid

    I use Mermaid for creating diagrams and flowcharts in my documentation and it’s been a great addition to my workflow. I love being able to create diagrams using simple text syntax and the ability to easily embed them in Markdown files. It’s a great way to visualize complex ideas and processes without having to use a separate tool. If you do any kind of documentation or technical writing, I highly recommend it for your next project.