Recommended Tools and Resources

A “tool” is “anything that can make your life better.” I love tools, whether physical or digital. And I love books, because they’re some of the best tools out there!

(For my personal “tech stack” recommendations, including what I use for email, social media, etc., see my /tech-stack page.)

DIY/Home Repair Tools

• Toolbox: AWP TrapJaw 3-in-1 Electrician Tool Pouch
  • Previous: Hyper Tough 16-inch Open Top Tool Tote
• Drill and Driver Set: BOSCH CLPK22–120 12V Max Cordless 2-Tool 3/8 in. Drill/Driver and 1/4 in. Impact Driver Combo Kit
• Utility Knives:
  • Gear Infusion GhostTi Utility Knife
  • Milwaukee Fastback 6-in-1 48-22-1505
  • OLFA 25mm Utility Knife
  • OLFA 18mm Utility Knife
• Hammers:
  • ESTWING 12 oz Straight Rip Claw - E3-12S
  • ESTWING 16 oz Straight Rip Claw - E3-16S
• Screwdrivers:
  • WORKPRO 12-in-1 Ratcheting Multi-Bit Screwdriver
  • Wera 838 RA-R M Ratcheting Screwdriver
  • HOTO 24-in-1 Precision Screwdriver
• Pliers / Wrenches:
  • KNIPEX Tools - Pliers Wrench, Chrome (8603250), 10-Inch
  • KNIPEX Tools - Cobra Water Pump Pliers (8701250),10-Inch
  • In addition to the “250mm” size above, I also own the Pliers Wrench in 100mm and 180mm sizes, and the Cobra Pliers in 100mm and 180mm sizes.
• Measuring Tapes:
  • Stanley FatMax 25-foot Measuring Tape
  • Stanley Powerlock 25-foot Measuring Tape
  • FastCap Standard Reverse Measuring Tape
  • FastCap Metric Reverse Measuring Tape
• Stud Finder: C.H. Hanson Magnetic Stud Finder
• Pry Bar / Nail Puller: ESTWING Pro Claw Moulding Puller - 10" Pry Bar
  • SMALL Pry Bar: Lisle 35100 1/4" Pry Bar with Strike Cap
  • Ridiculously Useful Pry Bar: 4140 Pry Tool (I guess these are used for sheet metal and airplane work, but you can use them for a TON of other stuff, too.)
• Hex / Allen Wrenches: TEKTON Ball End Hex Key Wrench Set, 26-Piece
• Tire Pressure Gauge: ETENWOLF Digital Tire Pressure Gauge, 2 Pack

Home

• Coffee Maker: OXO 9-Cup Coffee Maker
• Coffee Grinder: Capresso Infinity Conical Burr Grinder
• Water Bottle: Owala FreeSip, 24oz
  • Previous: Iron Flask, 64oz
• Nail Clippers: Muji Nail Clipper
• Cleaning Wipes: Tub O’ Towels Heavy Duty Cleaning Wipes

Health/Fitness

• Squat Rack: REP Fitness PR-1100 Power Rack
  • Previous: Valor Fitness BD–9 Squat Stands
• Bench: Amazon Basics Flat Weight Bench
• Barbell and Weights: Fitness Gear 300lb. Olympic Weight Set
• Kettlebell(s): CAP Barbell Cast Iron Kettlebells
• Steel Mace(s): Retrospec Steel Macebells
• Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, by Mark Rippetoe
• Kettlebell Simple & Sinister: Revised and Updated Edition, by Pavel Tsatsouline
• Darebee: https://darebee.com/

Office

• Computer: Mac Mini (2024, Apple M4 chip)
  • Previous: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
• Notebook: Leuchtturm1917 Medium Size Hardcover A5 Notebook - Dotted Pages
  • Pocket Notebook: Field Notes
• Pen: Uni-ball Power Tank 0.7mm, Blue or Black
• Password Manager: 1Password
• Notes / Personal Knowledge Management: Obsidian
• Task Management: Apple Reminders (used to use Todoist) and Jira

Thinking and Learning Resources

• How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, by Mortimer J. Adler
• The Personal MBA, by Josh Kaufman
• The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User’s Manual, by Ward Farnsworth
• Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann
• Untools: https://untools.co/
• James Clear: https://jamesclear.com/
• Farnam Street: https://fs.blog/
• Your Logical Fallacy Is: https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/
• Your Bias Is: https://yourbias.is/

Productivity and Time Management Resources

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen Covey
• Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, by Brian Tracy
• Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen

Software Development Resources

Software

• Terminal: Warp
• IDEs: IntelliJ IDEA and VS Code
• Database Management: Datagrip
• Version Control: Git and GitHub
• Containerization: Docker and Rancher Desktop
• API Testing: Postman

Books

• Code Complete: A Practical Handbook of Software Construction, Second Edition by Steve McConnell (old, but still good!)
• Cracking the Coding Interview: 189 Programming Questions and Solutions by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
• Designing Data-Intensive Applications: The Big Ideas Behind Reliable, Scalable, and Maintainable Systems by Martin Kleppmann
• The Effective Engineer by Edmond Lau
• The Missing README: A Guide for the New Software Engineer by Chris Riccomini and Dmitriy Ryaboy
• The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P. Brooks Jr. (again, old, but still very good!)
• The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt
• The Software Engineer’s Guidebook by Gergely Orosz
• System Design Interview and System Design Interview, Volume 2 by Alex Xu
• Understanding Distributed Systems, Second Edition by Roberto Vitillo

Other

• “The Pragmatic Engineer” newsletter by Gergely Orosz
• “How to Do Great Work” by Paul Graham
• “Get your work recognized: write a brag document” by Julia Evans
• ByteByteGo, especially the ByteByteGo Youtube channel
• Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/
• O’Reilly: https://learning.oreilly.com/
• roadmap.sh: https://roadmap.sh/
• cheat.sh: https://cheat.sh/
• DevHints.io: https://devhints.io/
• Learn X in Y minutes: https://learnxinyminutes.com/
• Baeldung (for Java/Spring): https://www.baeldung.com/