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Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

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Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#101

Post by Joeboy »

Jefro118 wrote: post #66
foepys wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenovo ThinkPads are similar in build quality and processing power while being significantly cheaper and they have a usable keyboard. Same for Dell XPS, I believe, but my company is using ThinkPads. Windows is usable even for node and git development nowadays.

Can I ask if you've tried using one with Linux (Ubuntu or Mint)? I'm thinking of getting a ThinkPad next but I would prefer to use Linux over Windows and I'm wondering how well it runs Linux.

Running Ubuntu 20.04 on my P53. The Internet told me I needed to check the BIOS was up to date and check a couple of things were set properly before installing, which I did, and everything seems fine. Before that it was a T430 which was also fine.

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#103

Post by axegon_ »

The single biggest contributor: vim. Not relying on fancy IDE's with smart autocomplete and all that. You end up learning the internals of a language/library without relying on the IDE to do it for you. It became my weapon of choice around 2009-2010 and now I can't remember the last time I had a syntax error. Browser for documentation and vim is literally all I need.

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#104

Post by smichel17 »

tych0 wrote: post #94
Jeaye wrote: post #22

- GNU/Linux + i3wm; complete control over my programming environment. - bash + GNU coreutils; seriously, take the time to be able to write helpful bash scripts which can run basically anywhere. - git; use it even when you're not pushing to a remote. Add helpful aliases for everyday commands. Build a good mental model of commits and branches to help you through tough merges. ( my ~/.gitconfig: https://gist.github.com/…

My life was also improved with some additional aliases in my git config: [alias] dfif = diff idff = diff grpe = grep

bashrc snippet (with extra newlines, for folks on mobile apps like materialistic that don't understand code formatting):

    # I do this an embarrassing amount

    alias fgf='fg'

    alias fgfg='fg'

    alias gf='fg'

    alias gfg='fg'

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#105

Post by elt0r0 »

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #15

Shell, awk, sed and textutils. They teach that programming is everywhere. I have trouble understanding professional challenges of people that never had a chance to learn those. Like accountants struggling to merge tables or proposal writers painfully tuning document layouts.

Any recommendations for resources on learning more about these commands?

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#106

Post by ufo »

Jefro118 wrote: post #66
foepys wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenovo ThinkPads are similar in build quality and processing power while being significantly cheaper and they have a usable keyboard. Same for Dell XPS, I believe, but my company is using ThinkPads. Windows is usable even for node and git development nowadays.

Can I ask if you've tried using one with Linux (Ubuntu or Mint)? I'm thinking of getting a ThinkPad next but I would prefer to use Linux over Windows and I'm wondering how well it runs Linux.

Thinkpads are very popular among the Linux crowd.

The only thing that doesn't work in mine is the fingerprint reader.

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#107

Post by ufo »

Joeboy wrote: post #88

In recent years: 1) Ripgrep 2) Upgrading my Lenovo T430 laptop to a P53

My only beef with ripgrep is that "rg" is only a small typo away from "rm".

One time I almost deleted my working directory but luckly I had passed the -i flag for case insensitive search :)

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#108

Post by vmchale »

Jeaye wrote: post #22

- GNU/Linux + i3wm; complete control over my programming environment. - bash + GNU coreutils; seriously, take the time to be able to write helpful bash scripts which can run basically anywhere. - git; use it even when you're not pushing to a remote. Add helpful aliases for everyday commands. Build a good mental model of commits and branches to help you through tough merges. ( my ~/.gitconfig: https://gist.github.com/…

> start with Clojure, not one of the less-practical languages.

doesn't expose you to typed functional programming (the ML school) though.

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#109

Post by blandflakes »

cowmix wrote: post #82
gregwchase wrote: post #79

Docker. Being able to develop/ deploy code across a team and business is invaluable.

100%.. for all the crap Docker gets these days, it has been a great tool for my software dev processes.

I don't mean this as a counterargument, but I've become much more efficient now that I've been able to leave docker behind (changed jobs). Docker solves some real problems, but it had real costs for me.

Re: Ask HN: Which tools have made you a much better programmer?

#110

Post by easterncalculus »

I do think that your keyboard can help not only mitigate health risks associated with typing all day, but can make the actual act of writing code go from annoying to enjoyable. What works for you is a subjective question (I don't think that mechanical keyboards are the best for everyone, if I'm hoenst), but a good keyboard can really go a long way.
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