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Software I’m thankful for (2021)

crawshaw.io

521–530 of 530 posts

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One thing that has stood out to me is that when I have two Edge windows open, for example and I switch to the last used window from Safari, both windows overlap instead of just the one window I was working with.

If you want to just have the one window come forward use Expose to do it, rather than Cmd-Tab or the Dock.

Using mouse is both slower, and needs more mental process to do the same task. Especially if you need to switch repeatedly while doing something, you come up with a short-term muscle memory: use vscode, alt-tab to the other vscode, alt-tab-tab to chrome. Now you know the first alt-tab takes you to the most recent vscode, but two alt-tabs take you to the first one. I develop a vscode extension and do this routinely. On mac I need to either use the mouse, or switch to vscode, then use CMD+backtick to switch to the other. Both are much slower and a disruption to the flow state.

Apple for some reason avoids giving people too many options. Just one option: "threat windows of the same application independently" with a default of no would make everyone happy.

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#522
post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I should say a lot of that is because of the fundamental assumption that multiple instances of an app are related to each other in multitasking. If I have vscode in my external monitor, plus two Firefox instances one in internal and one in the external, than in many ways of switching to the browser, both windows come up. That covers my IDE, and I need an extra click/keystroke to bring it back. One example of many. I'…

Use Expose or Cmd-` rather than Cmd-Tab or the Dock if you want the Windows behavior.

If you are on chrome, and you have two vscode windows, you need to use CMD-tab to switch to VsCode, then see which one you got, if it's not the one you wanted, use CMD+backtick to switch to the other.

Using the mouse is much much slower than the keyboard, especially if on both windows you have been using the keyboard.

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#523

The fish shell, makes using the shell feel almost painless. Hammerspoon, I use it to automatically switch audio devices based on context, so every call uses the best microphone currently available, window management via keystrokes, limiting media keys to Spotify, tons of other things. Indispensable. Arduino, I don't think I would be able to tinker with microcontrollers as much if I had to write C and use obscure tool…

I use fish as my main shell and haven't seen anyone else that has. Honestly its really good, the autocomplete feature is my favorite.

I've been using fish as my primary shell for probably 5-6 years, and it's honestly fucking delightful. I have my own custom theme/prompt, a bunch of custom functions I use on a very regular basis, an extensive config and I use fisher for third party add ons. I've seen a lot of people say things like "oh you can modify ZSH to be like a slightly worse version of fish" and I just don't get why I would bother? I'm already using a non-standard shell...

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#524

The fish shell, makes using the shell feel almost painless. Hammerspoon, I use it to automatically switch audio devices based on context, so every call uses the best microphone currently available, window management via keystrokes, limiting media keys to Spotify, tons of other things. Indispensable. Arduino, I don't think I would be able to tinker with microcontrollers as much if I had to write C and use obscure tool…

Got any Hammerspoon config to share? I've used it for simple stuff for years, but recently noticed that people use it for window management, and macos' handling of windows on my second monitor is driving me nuts...

I know your comment is stale at this point, but my hammerspoon config is quite extensive.

Here's the Spoon I created for window management:

https://github.com/nonissue/hammerspoon/blob/main/_Spoons/Fe...

Essentially, `cmd + alt + left / right` resizes the frontmost window to 50% the screen width, and moves it to the specified side of the screen.

`alt + space` maximizes the frontmost window. `cmd + alt + ctrl + P` sends the frontmost window to your next screen, and you can repeat it to move windows between multiple monitors. I also have an undo function that lets you revert any of the window management actions you've taken.

Let me know if you have any questions / concerns!

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#525

The fish shell, makes using the shell feel almost painless. Hammerspoon, I use it to automatically switch audio devices based on context, so every call uses the best microphone currently available, window management via keystrokes, limiting media keys to Spotify, tons of other things. Indispensable. Arduino, I don't think I would be able to tinker with microcontrollers as much if I had to write C and use obscure tool…

Do you mind sharing your Hammerspoon config?

You didn't ask me, but here's mine:

https://github.com/nonissue/hammerspoon

Quite extensive! My custom Spoons (Hammerspoon's version of plugins) can be found in the _Spoons directory. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with your own config!

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you mind sharing your Hammerspoon config?

I second the motion

Not the parent commenter but here's mine:

https://github.com/nonissue/hammerspoon

Quite extensive! My custom Spoons (Hammerspoon's version of plugins) can be found in the _Spoons directory. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help with your own config!

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#528
post #44

JetBrains IDEs. I need to work with three different languages and it is just a blessing that every IDE works exactly the same.

Visual Studio Code works with many more languages, loads an order of magnitude quicker, has amazing settings sync and a rich community of plugin developers. And it's free.

If you haven't properly checked it out, you owe it to yourself to do so.

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#529

Fork - a fast and friendly git client https://fork.dev/ Beyond Compare 4 - compare files and folders https://www.scootersoftware.com/ uBlock Origin - An efficient blocker add-on for various browsers. Fast, potent, and lean. https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock Those tools made my life so much easier. Can't recommend them enough. Just a happy user and not affiliated

Nice list. Love fork. Been a BC user for like 15 years now. And uBlock just works.

I've also been using Beyond Compare for over a decade, and the only thing I'm missing that they stubbornly refuse to add is line wrap support. Comparing long lines is such a pain.

Re: Software I’m thankful for (2021)

#530
post #44

JetBrains IDEs. I need to work with three different languages and it is just a blessing that every IDE works exactly the same.

Visual Studio Code works with many more languages, loads an order of magnitude quicker, has amazing settings sync and a rich community of plugin developers. And it's free. If you haven't properly checked it out, you owe it to yourself to do so.

VSCode is my choice for a fresh codebase.

But if I'm shoved into an old codebase and I need to grok it fast, Jetbrains tools are a lifesaver.

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