Uses: Tools & Services

This is what’s on my desk and powering my day-to-day development work. I’ve spent years tweaking this setup to focus on what actually gets things built rather than what looks impressive.

You’ll find my hardware, software, web services, and the learning resources that have shaped how I approach development. This setup keeps evolving, but the goal stays the same: build profitable applications efficiently to make a sustainable income.

If you’re curious about how I build and ship projects, or you’re looking for recommendations for your own development stack, this page should give you a comprehensive view of what works for me.

Hardware

Computer & Displays

  • 2021 Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch My main development machine! I used to be Windows guy, but moved over to the Mac around 2023. Never looked back since! 1TB SSD with 16GB Ram - Space Grey / Silver
  • 2 x Apple Studio Display Standard glass with tilt- and height-adjustable stands (using built-in webcam & Audio). Swaped a 49 inch Ultra wide screen for these 2 early 2024.
  • uGreen Vertical Laptop Stand Adjustable aluminum desktop stand. Not a known brand, but I was using the Twelve South clam-shell stands. This one is much nice, studier and cleaner than the twelve south. Recommended!

Furnishings

  • Elite Standing Desk (E9) Motorized standing desk with light grey/white frame and Mahogany desktop. Took the plunge and finally bought one in 2024 after years of putting it off. Solid built, great height and plenty of desk space!
  • Exofcer High Curved Back Chair Simple clean, yet supports my back during long day. I’ve tried a fair few different chairs over the years. The leather padded executive chairs are nice and all, but just dont help your back during longer sessions. It’s a chair on wheels. Nothing more and suits me!

Input & Accessories

  • 2 x Apple Magic Mouse Why do you need two? I hear you ask. Well, due to the charing port being underneath, one is always in use while the other one is charging or stored in co2CREA carrying case.
  • Apple Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad Not trying to be an Apple fan boy, but I just love the simplicity and cleanliness that apple products give. If anyone has potential alternatives let me know. No mechanical keyboards please.
  • BenQ ScreenBar Halo LED Monitor Light With wireless Controller, adjustable Brightness and colour Temperature options. USB-A Powered. I have this on daily even during the day. My eyes and brain have thanked me for it!
  • 2021 Apple iPad 10.2-inch (9th Generation) Secondary device for testing responsive layouts and general reading / watching while chilling.

Software

IDEs & Editors

  • PHP Storm & Premium Plugins My primary IDE for all web development work, whether Laravel-based or not. I’ve customized it with the Laravel Idea Plugin for enhanced Laravel development, plus Atom Material Icons, Material Theme (paid version), and Fira Code font to create a comfortable coding environment.
  • Windsurf Cursor IDE AI-powered IDE that I use for assistance with writing unit tests and fixing PHPStan issues - it’s been a game changer for these tasks. There are quite a few AI development tools out there now, but Windsurf has really helped streamline my workflow for these specific challenges.
  • XCode For Swift/iOS development - still learning and exploring mobile app development when time permits. I’m relatively new to iOS development but enjoy experimenting with it as a side interest.

Development Tools

  • Laravel Herd Pro Local development environment with built-in email testing and debugging tools. The Pro version eliminates the need to switch contexts when testing emails, keeping my workflow streamlined and focused.
  • iTerm2 with OMZsh Enhanced terminal experience with better window management, split panes, and improved productivity features compared to the native macOS Terminal. Oh My Zsh adds smart auto-completion, git integration, and developer-focused shortcuts that streamline my daily workflow.
  • Spatie Ray Real-time debugging and monitoring. Available for any PHP based application and of course Laravel too. This allows me to be easily add debug breakpoints anywhere and dump data without stopping code execution.
  • Remote Desktop Manager I used this for streamlined SSH connection management across all my servers. I store all SSH connections with their keys and root passwords in one secure location, so when I need to access any server, it’s just a click to connect - no hunting for credentials or remembering IP addresses. Simple, organized, and efficient.
  • Navicat for MySQL For local development I’ll use SQLite or MySQL depending on the project needs. I’ve been using Navicat for MySQL database management for several years now - it’s a premium tool but absolutely worth the investment. The intuitive interface, powerful query tools, and reliable connection management make database work much more efficient than command-line alternatives.
  • FileZilla FTP Client In all honesty, I rarely use FTP/SFTP these days, but when I do need it, FileZilla gets the job done reliably. It’s been around forever and just works - enough said!
  • NativePHP This piece of kit has been in development for a while. NativePHP means I can bring my PHP & Laravel skills to the world of desktop & mobile apps, building cross-platform applications effortlessly.
  • Cork GUI for Homebrew I recently stumbled upon this nifty little GUI tool to manage homebrew packages installed on my mac. Still relatively new for me, so when I’m more familiar with it, I’ll expand further.
  • Serif Affinity Designer 2 Mainly used for photo manipulation, basic logo design, favicons, and social share images. I’m no graphic designer by any means, but this tool handles all my visual needs for projects - from quick photo edits to creating simple branding elements and social media graphics.

Browsers & Testing

  • Arc Browser I’ve been using Arc since mid-2024. Until then I was purely a Chrome user, but switched to Arc for its privacy focus and excellent tab management features. The workspace organization and cleaner interface have really improved my browsing workflow.
  • Safari I only really use Safari for cross-browser testing - it’s rarely my go-to browser, but as Mac’s default browser, it’s essential for ensuring my web apps work properly across different platforms. Sometimes the built-in tools come in handy for testing edge cases.
  • Pest A testing framework that makes writing unit tests less painful. Pest’s syntax is so much cleaner and more intuitive than PHPUnit - tests read almost like plain English, which means I actually enjoy writing them and maintaining test coverage. I’m always aiming for 100% code coverage!
  • PHP/Lara Stan A static analysis tool for Laravel projects - catches bugs and code issues before I even run the code. It’s like having a code reviewer that understands Laravel’s magic methods and facades, helping me write cleaner, more reliable PHP. I always use max level when running this!
  • Peck A static analysis tool that catches typos in variable and method names before they become runtime errors. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m constantly misspelling variables and method names - Peck saves me from those frustrating debugging sessions where the issue is just a simple typo that could have been caught immediately.
  • Rector An automated code refactoring tool that upgrades and modernizes my PHP codebase. I use Rector to automatically migrate code to newer PHP versions, update deprecated syntax, and apply coding standards - it saves me hours of manual refactoring work and helps keep my projects current with the latest PHP best practices.

Digital Services

Infrastructure

  • Linode A cloud hosting platform that I’ve been using for servers, storage, and domain record management. While there are many similar services available, I appreciate Linode’s ease of use and the rich features it provides out of the box - it just makes server management more straightforward for my needs
  • Ploi A server and web app management platform that I use to manage my Linode servers and deploy websites. I’ve found it to be simple yet feature-rich, making server management much more straightforward than doing everything manually. Highly recommended and reasonably priced too!
  • Resend I use Resend as my transactional email service provider on production servers. Resend has been a game-changer with its excellent developer experience and reliable deliverability - emails actually land in inboxes instead of spam folders. The clean API and straightforward setup made switching from other providers effortless, and I love that it’s built specifically with developers in mind rather than trying to be a bloated marketing platform.
  • Dynadot My domain registrar of choice for buying and managing domains. I’ve found Dynadot to be refreshingly straightforward with transparent pricing and a clean, uncluttered interface - no aggressive upsells like some bigger registrars. They include free WHOIS privacy protection which saves money, and I appreciate that they focus on doing domain registration really well rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
  • Stripe While there are other options like Paddle that offer more all-in-one features, I stick with Stripe because of its excellent developer experience and flexibility. The APIs are incredibly well-documented and easy to integrate, plus it gives me complete control over the payment flow.
  • UseFathom After many years of being tired of Google and want to use more ethnical, privacy focused means of tracking visits, I opted for Fathom. They don’t track personal data or use cookies - no annoying cookie banners needed either. Fathom gives me all the essential metrics I need in a clean, simple dashboard without the privacy concerns - plus it’s fully GDPR compliant out of the box.

Productivity & Communication

  • ProtonMail After watching Google scan my emails for ad targeting, I switched to ProtonMail for true privacy. Their end-to-end encryption ensures no one—not even Proton—can read my messages, and being Swiss-based means my data is protected by strict privacy laws rather than harvested for profit. The automatic encryption between ProtonMail users and ability to send self-destructing, password-protected messages to anyone has completely changed how I handle sensitive communications.
  • ProtonPass ProtonPass won me over with end-to-end encryption that covers everything—passwords, usernames, URLs, and metadata that many other managers don’t protect. The seamless import from LastPass was effortless, and features like passkeys and hide-my-email aliases keep me secure while maintaining privacy. The dark web monitoring scans for compromised credentials and gives me a crucial head start to change passwords before any damage occurs.
  • OpenAI - ChatGPT & API ChatGPT’s API has become indispensable for my development workflow. GPT-4’s exceptional natural language understanding lets me build intelligent, conversational features into applications that feel genuinely human. The versatility is incredible—from automated code generation and debugging to sophisticated chatbots handling complex interactions. The separate API billing means I can experiment and scale based on actual usage rather than being locked into subscription tiers.
  • Anthropic - Claude & API Claude has become my go-to AI for complex reasoning tasks. Its superior instruction following and error correction make it incredibly reliable for production applications. The ability to analyze images, run Python code, and create visualizations all within API calls transforms it from a coding assistant into a full data analyst. The extended prompt caching and Files API make it practical for building agents that maintain context over long periods while keeping costs manageable.
  • Google Drives Despite moving toward privacy-focused tools, Google Drive remains essential for everyday file storage. The seamless integration with Google’s productivity suite and real-time collaboration features make it irreplaceable when working with teams in the Google ecosystem. The AI-powered search and 15GB of free storage across Gmail and Google Photos make it practical for non-sensitive project files and quick document sharing.
  • Proton Drive For sensitive or personal files, Proton Drive is my secure vault. End-to-end encryption means no one—not even Proton—can access my files or metadata. Every upload is automatically encrypted, and the sharing features include password protection and expiring links. Being Swiss-based and outside intelligence-sharing agreements makes it perfect for storing contracts, financial documents, and other sensitive materials.
  • Trello Trello’s visual, card-based system perfectly matches how my brain works. I can break down complex projects into manageable tasks and drag cards between lists to track progress. For quick notes and ideas, Trello’s simplicity is unbeatable—I can capture thoughts faster than opening dedicated note-taking apps. The flexibility lets me adapt boards to whatever workflow makes sense for each project.
  • Apple Notes Apple Notes has evolved into a surprisingly powerful tool with seamless sync across all my devices. I can mix text, sketches, photos, and scanned documents in whatever format feels natural. The search function and folder organization make it perfect for meeting notes, project brainstorming, and quick task lists, while staying secure within the Apple ecosystem.
  • CleanMyMac My Mac is my primary work machine, so CleanMyMac has become part of my weekly maintenance routine. It automatically clears system junk, cache files, and forgotten downloads while monitoring disk usage and performance to catch issues before they become problems. The real value is proactive maintenance that keeps my development environment running at peak performance without me having to think about it.

Learning Resources

Video Tutorials

  • Laracasts Jeffrey Way’s teaching style is unmatched—over 1,700 videos covering everything from Laravel fundamentals to advanced techniques. The structured learning paths and bite-sized 'Larabits' make complex topics digestible. It’s the Netflix for developers, and the active community discussions have solved countless problems for me over the years.
  • Livewire Screencasts The official Livewire screencasts taught me component-based development directly from the creators. Watching real-world examples like building contact forms, TDD workflows, and Alpine.js integration gave me the confidence to build dynamic interfaces without JavaScript. The live coding sessions are pure gold for understanding best practices.
  • Spatie Courses Learning from the team behind 300+ Laravel packages with over 1 billion downloads. Their courses on package development, event sourcing, and readable PHP have elevated my code quality significantly. The 'Laravel Beyond CRUD' course completely changed how I approach larger applications and team collaboration.
  • CodeCourse Alex’s practical screencasts are perfect when I need to tackle specific problems or learn niche techniques. The concise, project-based approach helps me quickly grasp concepts like API development, authentication patterns, or integrating third-party services. Great for filling knowledge gaps without lengthy courses.
  • High Performance SQLite Aaron Francis opened my eyes to SQLite’s true potential beyond toy projects. This course taught me WAL mode, indexing strategies, query optimization, and how to scale SQLite to multiple gigabytes while maintaining 100k+ SELECT’s per second. Perfect for understanding database performance at a fundamental level.

Documentation & Components

  • Livewire 3 Livewire lets me build dynamic, interactive interfaces without writing JavaScript. The reactive components feel like magic—I can create SPA-like experiences while staying in the comfort of PHP and Blade. Version 3’s performance improvements and Alpine.js integration make it incredibly productive for rapid prototyping and complex web apps alike.
  • Tailwind CSS 4 The utility-first approach transformed how I write CSS. Version 4’s new Oxide engine is blazingly fast, and the removal of config files makes setup effortless. I love how I can compose designs directly in markup with classes like flex, pt-4, and text-center, creating consistent, responsive interfaces without ever leaving my HTML.
  • FluxUI The official Livewire component library built by the creators themselves. FluxUI provides beautifully crafted, accessible components that integrate seamlessly with Livewire. From date pickers and charts to modals and forms, everything is dependency-free and perfectly optimized for the Livewire workflow I already love.
  • Alpine Components Alpine.js components give me lightweight interactivity without the complexity of larger frameworks. The collection provides keyboard-accessible UI components that perfectly complement Livewire. It’s jQuery for the modern web—simple, powerful, and lets me add behavior directly in markup with minimal overhead.
  • Tailwind Components The official Tailwind UI library provides expertly crafted component examples that serve as perfect starting points. With 500+ professionally designed components across marketing, application, and e-commerce categories, it’s my go-to resource for learning expert Tailwind techniques and rapid prototyping.
  • Lucide SVG A community-driven fork of Feather Icons with 1000+ consistent, customizable SVG icons. The icons are lightweight, tree-shakable, and designed with strict consistency rules. Perfect integration with modern frameworks, plus the ability to customize stroke width, size, and color makes it ideal for any design system.

These tools have shaped how I approach web development, but every developer’s journey is different. I’ve learned that there’s rarely a "perfect" stack, just tools that align well with your projects, team, and personal preferences. If you’re using something amazing that I’m missing, or want to chat about any of these choices, I’d love to hear from you.

The best tools often come from community recommendations, and some of my favorite discoveries happened through casual conversations with other developers. Drop me a line if you want to share what’s working for you.

Last updated: May 25th 2025