Eddie Hedges



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My setup

In previous posts I have talked quite a bit about what types of programming I do and other nerdy stuff but in this post I would like to recognize ALL the tools I use daily for programming purposes as well as just fun. I think the best way to do this would be in list form, so here goes:

Hardware

  • MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.6.8 - I have had this laptop since the summer of 2008. I got it as a graduation present and still today it is a wonderful machine. It has 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processing power and 4 GB of Ram. Overall a great machine and I hope that when I get a new mac I am not disappointed because this one has spoiled me.

Software

  • Google Chrome - This is my browser of choice. If you like applications that are easy to use, fast, and powerful then Google Chrome should be your browser. The first time I tried chrome I immediately knew I wasn't ever going to be happy with another browser. I highly recommend this not only for web development/design but for general all purpose web browsing. Also IE sucks.
  • Apple Mail - I have been using Apple's built in email client since before I had my laptop. There isn't a better email client out there in my opinion. I use it to manage my gmail, k-state, and new ACEware email accounts. I think mac users will agree that apple mail beats out any other mail client be it a desktop or web interface.
  • Sublime Text 2 - This is the newest addition to my toolset and it is completely amazing. Sublime Text 2 is a beautiful and powerful text editor. I have used Notepad++, TextWrangler, and many other text editors but none come close to Sublime. I purchased it for $60 and it has been a wonderful investment.
  • Terminal - This is the coolest application on the Mac hands down. Terminal is a command line application allowing access to be able to control the UNIX base. In high school I liked using terminal for small things such as typing: say I am a robot This command would signal the computer to output the phrase "I am a robot" in an audio version. It hasn't been until more recently that I have used it for more productive things such as ssh, git and github/bitbucket, fabric and in a more broad sense executing python code. I could go on and on about more specific things I do with terminal but I'll save that for a future post.
  • FileZilla - Another application that has recently grown on me is FileZilla. FileZilla is an application that allows me to do ftp. I have used WinSCP for Windows and Cyberduck for Mac but when I found FileZilla I haven't looked back. FileZilla is free, cross-platform, user friendly, and powerful.
  • Eclipse - This application is an integrated development environment mainly used for Java but can be used with other languages. I used eclipse my first year at K-State in the intro programming class when I learned Java. I have picked it back up to use at my new job at ACEware. I am using it for Java web development using the jsf framework and richfaces.

Web Resources

  • Google - Google is my go to resource for everything. I honestly don't know what I would do without it. Why read a book when you can just google it right?
  • github - A place where coders can collaborate and store their project by using git.
  • bitbucket - Similar to github but not as pretty in my opinion. I use bitbuckets free private repos for deployment since I don't want people to be able to see if I have sensitive information in my live code.
  • Django - This is my main resource for making django powered sites and applications. Django rocks!
  • Dillinger - An interactive html5 and markdown editor for the web. I write my blogs and README.md files with Dillinger.
  • Reddit - I use reddit for pleasure as well as to stay updated on what other web developers and web designers are doing. This reddit LINK is one of my favorites to browse for learning purposes.

Resources are great! I highly recommend everything on the list. If there are any questions about any of the information make sure to comment or contact me.

Thanks for reading!