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Right Tool for the Right Job

By Ryan Lambert -- Published October 18, 2013

My dad taught me as a young child that there are different tools that are appropriate for different jobs. Don't use that flat-head on a Philips head screw. Is that a nail? No? Then why the heck are you using a hammer?

As a programmer I find that more than ever, the right tool for the right job is vital for productivity. About two years ago I switched to a MacBook Pro as my main machine and I couldn't be happier. For me, that's one of my "right tools", I love it and I have no plans on switching back. There are occasions where I feel the difference in trying to find a cheap/free tool to get something done where a slew of options are available for PC users, but I can't say it has affected me too much. Throughout a given day I will likely use a huge assortment of tools, below is my list of frequent tools that I use pretty much every single week for various tasks as a programmer.

Phew, that's 18 different tools, and only a couple (such as Kompozer) don't get used every week. Sure, 3 of them are browsers and it doesn't include iOS Safari, but I have tasks I can only do in IE (shudder), I prefer to use Firefox for web development, and I use Chrome as my searching browser to keep Firefox from having 30 open tabs. This is just a quick list of what I happen to be using at this time, I'm open to suggestions to try as well!

What are your favorite tools for the trade?

By Ryan Lambert
Published October 18, 2013
Last Updated October 18, 2013