Developers have a plethora of tools available to them. Maybe more so than any profession. New potential tools pop up monthly, perhaps daily.
Most developers I know are passionate about some of their tools. IDEs and editors tend to be a hot topic, filled with religious battles. But there are a lot of other tools we use on a daily basis that we may not think about as tools of the trade
As craftsman (yes, developers are craftsman, I’ll fill another blog post with some thoughts on that another time), we should take great care with our tools. You should be selective in the tools you use, weighing the trade offs of them versus the tools currently in your belt. You should freshen them up, keep them up to date and make sure to choose the correct versions. You should customize them, crafting configurations for them that serve your purpose. You should even create some tools, specifically for yourself but which may help others.
Choosing your tools
In Cal Newport’s “Deep Work”, the author recounts the story of a farmer outside of D.C. analyzing the value of a hay baler. It seems clear that there are obvious benefits to the hay baler for a