2024 Mac Developer Toolbox: Essentials for Full-Stack Development

Many talented developers prefer to use Macs for their development work, and I'm no exception. That's why I've compiled a list of software and tools that I find useful, along with some setup tips. I'm sharing these to foster a community of learning and exploration.

For versatile full-stack developers, the Mac has become an indispensable ally for a simple reason: it's both stable and fast, making development less of a headache and more efficient. Plus, its developer-friendly nature makes installing various tools and setting up environments a breeze, offering a smooth and seamless experience.

Let's dive into some of the Mac-specific development tools that act as your coding sidekicks. Whether you're working on front-end design, back-end logic, or even database management, these tools have got you covered.

Postman

Postman is a powerful API development and testing tool for Mac users. It features an intuitive interface for creating, sending requests, and inspecting responses. It supports various types of API testing, like REST and SOAP. Postman also offers automated testing, environment variable management, and API documentation generation, making it an ideal choice for API development and testing.

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Sequel Pro

Designed for Mac users, Sequel Pro is a MySQL database management tool that provides an intuitive graphical interface for database management and operations. TablePlus is another robust database management tool that supports multiple databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, etc., offering broader database support and advanced features like built-in SSH, database backup, and restoration.

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Free Alternative Recommendation: TablePlus

Homebrew

Homebrew is a command-line package manager tool that allows you to manage third-party software packages as if they were part of your operating system. It supports both Mac and Linux.

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Warp

The most popular terminal software for Mac has been iTerm2, but Warp has made a significant entrance. Despite my initial reservations about needing to register an account to use the software, the efficiency gains and improved development experience have proven to be truly delightful. Warp embodies what a modern terminal should be.

ServBay

ServBay is a local web development environment designed for macOS. It integrates popular servers like Caddy, databases such as MariaDB and PostgreSQL, NoSQL databases including Redis and Memcached, and database management tools like phpMyAdmin and adminer. It supports running multiple hosts simultaneously, custom domain names with non-existent TLDs, offers free SSL certificates, and simplifies local network request routing and management through local DNS services. Additionally, it includes a development kit for recompiling and integrating unique or custom-built software, greatly enhancing the smoothness and efficiency of web and PHP development. With its user-friendly, easy-to-operate, and powerful customization features, it has become the go-to choice for new PHP and Node.js developers.

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OrbStack

OrbStack offers a fast, lightweight, and simple way to run Docker containers and Linux. It serves as an alternative to Docker Desktop, allowing development at lightning speed. The official Docker Compose consumes significant system resources, but OrbStack uses less CPU and disk space, requires less memory, and is a native Swift application. It seamlessly runs Docker containers and full Linux distributions while providing robust networking features. It's completely free for personal use!

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Surge

Surge is an advanced network toolbox for Mac and iOS, catering to all your personalized networking needs, like smooth access to Github, ChatGPT, and more. Note that the Mac and iOS versions are sold separately, with the iOS version including a bonus Apple TV version for TV OS. Using Apple TV, you can achieve some pretty amazing functionalities.

Dash

Dash is an offline documentation browser and code snippet manager. Developers often need to consult technical documentation to look up API usage, and Dash offers a superior offline viewing experience.

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Telegram & Discord

Many frameworks and services offer contact through Slack/Discord. Discord provides immediate access to official news and community feedback. Its user and development experiences are outstanding. For instance, you can incorporate bots and plugins, APIs, etc., into your channel, like a ChatGPT bot or group management bot. If you're considering participating in open-source projects, Discord is highly recommended.

Gifox

Gifox is the best GIF-making software for Mac, offering simple operations with key recording, perfect for creating GIFs.

1Password

When it comes to password management, the all-around best choice is 1Password. It eliminates the awkwardness of trying to remember passwords and the risk of losing them. While passwordless login methods like passkeys are becoming more common, passwords are still indispensable for now, making a password manager a significant efficiency booster.
Free Alternative Recommendations: Chrome Password Manager / Bitwarden / iCloud Password & KeyChains

CleanShot X

Originally using the open-source, free Snipaste X, I found CleanShot X to be even better, available in setapp. It supports OCR to extract text from images, pinning, and scrolling screenshots, making it one of the most comprehensive screenshot tools for Mac. It can be accessed for free through a setapp subscription.
Alternative Recommendations: Snipaste / iShot / Shottr / Xnip

Conclusion

Choosing the right tools can help you tackle the challenges of full-stack development more comfortably and achieve an efficient development workflow. As a developer who codes primarily, these are the tools I've used and recommend for now. I will continue to update with new software shares, hoping to aid in your development journey.