Tools

[Last updated: 2026]

Here is what I have in my professional toolkit as a software engineer. These are things that I always try to have on my system. Everything here is free with many them being open source. I originally published this list about 15 years ago and this year I finally revisited it and cleaned things up. What I discovered was that the open source projects are the ones that most likely survived the test of time.

See my posts on recommended books

Programming Languages

  • Go Programming Language - Open source programming language that makes it easy to build simple, reliable and efficient software (Quoted from the Go site but is pretty accurate). This is my favorite language as it blends the compile nature of C with the practical aspects of a scripting language.
    • Check this post on setting up Vim for Go.
  • GNU GCC - Open source C/C++ compiler supported on so many platforms now that I can’t list them on. There’s even ports of it so that you can compile games to run on the GBA. C is the foundation language of enabled the growth of our profession and is a must learn of every software engineering.
  • Perl - One of the great scripting languages although admittedly I rarely use it now. In many instances, Python has taken the mantel of Perl, but for me Go replaces both.
  • Scheme - I don’t really do much with Scheme, but I believe it’s worthwhile for engineers to have exposure to this form of programming.

Programmer’s Editor & Development Environment

  • Vim - My editor of choice.  Vim's availability and flexibility enables me to do whatever I needed to do as a programmer.  Even in the age of AI and IDEs such as Cursor, Vim continues to be relevant especially as we're moving towards agentic coding.  What is old is new again as terminal-based tools are getting another chance to shine.
  • Tmux - Combine this terminal multiplexer with VIM and get an development environment rivaling any IDE with its power, configurability and even how it can work with agentic tools such as Gemini CLI and Claude Code.

Web Browser

Databases

Multimedia

  • VideoLAN VLC - Open source media player that can play just about any format without the hassle of installing a bunch of codecs individually.
  • Handbrake - Allows conversion between different media formats.

Graphics and Diagramming

  • Excalidraw - Open source hand-drawn style diagramming tool.  
  • Blender - Open source 3D modler ala Maya.
  • IrfanView (Windows) Fast graphic view that’s small, fast, but loaded with features.
  • GIMP - Photoshop-like graphics program.
  • Inkscape - Vector graphics editor.

Source Control

    Operating Systems

    Cloud

    Windows/DOS

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