An average developer writes good code. A great one writes impressive code and knows how to use powerful tools adeptly.
Many developers skip learning how to use these basic tools. It ends up hurting them when they want to collaborate with others. They end up wasting time on the job.
New developers want to learn all the hot stuff like new frameworks. But instead, they should focus on building their foundation and understanding how the coding pipeline works.
In software, there are so many tools to choose one. This article gives you a great place to start.
Here are the tools every developer must learn —
Github
If you work in a team, you need Git and Github. Version control is imperative to avoid mistakes. This way, you can go to a previous commit when things go wrong.
Branches also help developers work on different features at the same time. When you're done with your code, you can merge your branch to Master.
You should learn everything from basic commits to advanced merges.
You can also set up pipelines with Github Actions. It operates just like Jenkins.
Another tool made by the Github Org is copilot. You can add it to VSCode using an extension. It's an autocorrect for your code. It can predict what you want to type beforehand. It's a great tool to use. But, if you use it too much, you will depend on it.
With Github, you can keep records of all versions of your application so that it is never lost.
AWS
Amazon Web Services is the most popular cloud platform used by companies. They have the most features and the best reliability.
You can use AWS for your databases, infrastructure management, and more. You can even host your landing page on AWS(I would not recommend it).
They offer services in many categories such as Networking, Analytics, security, Big Data management, Data management, etc. The list goes on.
You've probably heard of Amazon S3. The Simple Storage Service lets you store all your files in an organized manner with the help of S3 buckets.
You understand how to deploy applications and the problems that may arise. You can also get in-depth by taking the AWS certifications.
One downside of AWS is the cost. You have to be very careful when you configure everything. If you're building a side project and are low on funds, I suggest looking at Digitalocean or Heroku.
VSCode
A powerful text editor can make coding effortless. With VSCode, you have all your files in one place. You don't have to open a separate terminal; It's inbuilt.
Github also becomes easy with VSCode. You don't even need commands. You get a separate tab for Git called source control. By clicking the plus button, you can add your change to the stage. From here, you can add your commit message and push your change. It's that simple.
You get many extensions that make your life easier. You can add the Github copilot, which completes your code with AI.
You can add React snippets if you're using React. Just by typing rafce, you'll get a basic template of a component.
VSCode has cross-platform support so that you can use it on any system. It also has multi-language support.
You don't have to use different IDEs for different languages. You can use VSCode for any language with the help of extensions.
DevRev
If you like Jira, you will love DevRev. It's the all-in-one solution for your codebases issues, tickets, and communications. Instead of jumping from one platform to the other, you can do everything from one place.
DevRev is a devCRM; a CRM focused on customers and developers. While most CRMs focus on B2B companies that have clients, DevRev focuses on B2C companies.
In B2C tech companies, developers build important features and functionality. They directly impact customer satisfaction and retention. DevRev brings the Devs(developers) to the Revs(users).
With DevRev, user feedback is taken into account by the developers. Developers can then accordingly raise issues or tickets depending on the severity.
You can add DevRev to your app using the PluG SDK.
DevRev also has integrations with Github and Jira.
DevRev provides a God-eye view of a company's features and APIs. At one glance, you can see what APIs power which features.
Slack
Slack is the ultimate tool for collaboration within a company. The platform provides messaging and file sharing. Companies can create different Slack channels for different groups. You can have different groups for marketing, development, QA, etc.
You can connect your Github repository to Slack. This way, you get updates about issues, pull requests, commits, etc.
You can access Slack from your browser or get a dedicated app.
You can set individual notification preferences for each channel.
You should learn how to set up Slack channels to understand how companies use them. Many open source projects also use Slack channels for communication.
Postman
Postman is an API development tool that is mainly used for testing APIs. Instead of wondering if your API is working, you can check it on Postman.
With Postman, you can add all of your parameters, headers, and body easily. You get the response once you click send. You can view the response in JSON or HTML. You get a Pretty option which makes the response easily scannable.
You also get information such as response code, time, and size of the response.
You can also group common APIs in folders. You can group all your user APIs in one folder and posts in another.
You can also manage your different dev, staging, and production environments.
If you want to automate everything, you can use Newman. This postman tool for continuous integration lets you run postman collections directly from the command line.
Stack Overflow
What would developers be without Stack Overflow?
Stack Overflow is the best online community where developers answer each other's questions and doubts. If you're stuck somewhere, chances are that the solution is there on Stack Overflow.
You get to see how different developers tackle various issues. You get to see different coding styles. You can decide for yourself the best way to proceed.
It's handy when using a tech stack with bad documentation. In these cases, stack overflow threads act as documentation.
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