Developer Tools
Overview
These are the tools every developer needs regardless of language or framework — the bedrock of the development environment. Whether you are writing Python, C#, Rust, or JavaScript, you will reach for these tools daily: a shell to run commands, Git to track changes, a package manager to install software, and containers to ship reproducible environments. Mastering this foundational layer makes everything built on top of it faster and more reliable.
Tool Landscape
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Developer Tools │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Shells: PowerShell Core, Bash/Zsh │
│ Version Control: Git │
│ Package Managers: choco, winget, brew, apt, snap │
│ Containers: Docker, Podman │
│ Remote Access: SSH, SCP │
│ HTTP Clients: curl, wget, HTTPie │
│ Data Processing: jq, yq │
│ Pattern Matching: Regular Expressions │
│ Build Runners: Make, Just, Task │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Choosing the Right Sub-Skill
| Need | Look In |
|---|
| Writing cross-platform shell scripts | powershell-core |
| Writing Unix shell scripts, Bash/Zsh automation | bash |
| Version control, branching, merging, rebasing | git |
| Installing system-level software and managing OS packages | package-managers |
| Containerizing applications, Docker Compose, Podman | docker |
| Remote server access, key management, tunneling | ssh |
| Making HTTP requests from the command line | curl |
| Parsing and transforming JSON or YAML data | jq |
| Text pattern matching, search-and-replace with regex | regex |
| Running build tasks, command orchestration | make |
Platform Availability
| Tool | Windows | macOS | Linux |
|---|
| PowerShell Core (pwsh) | Yes (built-in on Win11, installable) | Yes (brew) | Yes (apt/dnf) |
| Bash | Yes (WSL, Git Bash) | Yes (built-in) | Yes (built-in) |
| Zsh | Yes (WSL) | Yes (default shell) | Yes (installable) |
| Git | Yes (winget/choco) | Yes (Xcode CLT / brew) | Yes (apt/dnf) |
| choco | Yes | No | No |
| winget | Yes (built-in on Win10+) | No | No |
| brew | No | Yes | Yes |
| apt | No | No | Yes (Debian/Ubuntu) |
| snap | No | No | Yes |
| Docker | Yes (Docker Desktop / WSL2) | Yes (Docker Desktop) | Yes (native) |
| Podman | Yes | Yes (brew) | Yes (native) |
| SSH / SCP | Yes (built-in on Win10+) | Yes (built-in) | Yes (built-in) |
| curl | Yes (built-in on Win10+) | Yes (built-in) | Yes (built-in) |
| wget | Yes (choco/winget) | Yes (brew) | Yes (built-in) |
| HTTPie | Yes (pip/choco) | Yes (brew) | Yes (apt/pip) |
| jq | Yes (choco/winget) | Yes (brew) | Yes (apt) |
| yq | Yes (choco/winget) | Yes (brew) | Yes (snap/apt) |
| Make | Yes (choco, WSL) | Yes (Xcode CLT) | Yes (built-in) |
| Just | Yes (cargo/choco) | Yes (brew/cargo) | Yes (cargo/apt) |
| Task (go-task) | Yes (choco/winget) | Yes (brew) | Yes (snap/apt) |
Best Practices
- Automate your setup with dotfiles. Keep your shell configuration, Git config, and tool settings in a version-controlled dotfiles repository so you can bootstrap any new machine in minutes.
- Use cross-platform tools where possible. Prefer tools like PowerShell Core, Docker, and Git that work identically on Windows, macOS, and Linux to reduce friction when switching environments or collaborating across teams.
- Learn at least one shell deeply. Surface-level knowledge of many shells is less valuable than deep expertise in one. Pick PowerShell or Bash and master its scripting, pipeline, and debugging capabilities.
- Version control everything. Not just source code — configuration files, infrastructure definitions, documentation, and scripts all belong in Git.
- Use containers for reproducible environments. Docker and Podman eliminate "works on my machine" problems by packaging applications with their exact dependencies.
- Prefer declarative build runners. Tools like Make, Just, and Task let you define project commands (build, test, lint, deploy) in a single file, making onboarding and CI/CD consistent.