My Favorite Development Tools and Tech Stack for 2023

I am a full-stack developer currently working as a Software Engineer at Appwrite. In addition to office work, I have many different side projects. I build web applications and mobile applications, and I am an enthusiast who tests and tries many different technology stacks. During my 19-year journey in programming (https://dlohani.com.np/blog/my-years-in-programming), I have worked with many different technologies. In this article, I will discuss my recent tech stack and development tools for both work and personal projects.

Development Tools

Linux

Linux is my goto operating system for development work. Mainly for web development related works, I use linux extensively both for development as well as deployment.

VS Code

VS Code is my code editor of choice both for personal and company projects. I use VS Code extensively each day.

Gitpod

Gitpod is a cloud based development environment with vs-code server. I use Gitpod to quickly spin up a development environment while working with different features and functionalities. I usually open up new Gitpod workspace for each feature, bug fix that I’m working on. Using Gitpod has immensely improved my productivity and workflow.

Git and GitHub

Git with GitHub is the most essential tool of my personal and professional development work. All my repositories are hosted in GitHub and I use Git, GitHub as well as GitHub actions extensively in both my work and personal projects.

Figma

I use Figma for designing my assets for blogs and social posts and YouTube video thumbnails. I switched from Inkscape as with Figma I can access my assets from anywhere. It’s also simple to use for my use case and it’s been highly productive.

Work Tech Stack

At Appwrite, we are building a developer tool that is platform and technology agnostic, so that I can work for all kinds of developers. That means we get to test and play with many different technologies. However primarily we work with following technologies at Appwrite.

Docker

Docker is a containerization technology to package and distribute applications together with it’s dependencies so that it works across system without issues and additional setups. At Appwrite we use docker both during development and deployment. Appwrite is built as docker stack of different micro services.

PHP

The core libraries and APIs for Appwrite is written in PHP and we work with PHP a lot. Under utopia PHP we develop a lot of open source micro PHP libraries and build Appwrite core on top of those libraries.

Personal Tech Stack

Personally I build web and mobile applications and I use the following tech stack.

Flutter

Flutter is my framework of choice for mobile and desktop applications in recent years. I’ve tried native iOS and Android development, I’ve tried React Native, I’ve also tried frameworks like PhoneGap and Ionic. However, the productivity and performance I get from Flutter applications is incomparable to any other framework I’ve worked with. I’m immensely satisfied with choosing Flutter both professionally and personally.

Svelte & Svelte Kit

I’ve worked with React, Angular and learned a little bit of VueJS as well. However, for a year and half now, I’m working with Svelte and Svelte Kit to build my applications. I love the simplicity of the framework. It’s easy to work with, organize and build. My recent projects live reactbits.com, Master Flutter, ABCs of Appwrite and this blog itself is built using Svelte Kit.

Appwrite

Appwrite is my choice for back-end for my mobile and web projects. Appwrite being open-source and I myself working, I know the ins and outs of Appwrite as well as it’s strength and weakness. My recent re-write of reactbits.com is done using Appwrite as it’s back-end.

Conclusion

One thing I’ve understood in all these years of programming is that, the power of tools and technologies depend more on the person using it. No matter, what technologies and tools I work with, I’m always eager to learn and practice more.

Enjoyed? Tell your friends.