My Essential Software Toolbelt

As a developer, I like any other developer would love to develop my own set of tools which could help me in day to day work. But, alas xkcd very aptly describes the problem I always get into.
The General Problem

As a result I use a lot of third party tools to increase productivity and ease my job. I hope to list the tools I love and update this list frequently.

My 2014 Developer Toolbelt:

  • Redgate SQL Compare: I work a lot with databases and Redgate SQL Compare is an essential tool for me to compare schema's across databases and ultimately creating migration scripts. Its not free and at around ~$500, its expensive. But its my bread and butter tool for all deployments and migrations.

  • Beyond Compare: I just cannot emphasize enough, how incredible this software is and how important it is to my daily workflow. Not only does it compare files, it doubles up as my deployment tool. It is also my de facto tool for diff and merge for SVN.

  • Resharper: One of those tools that you can live by until you use it. Makes working with large code bases manageable and easy in addition to one of the best code completion features.

  • Productivity Power Tools 2012: The first add-on that I install on Visual Studio. It adds a bunch of features which are missing in VS or makes the existing ones even more awesome. One of my favorites is the 'Edit Project File' which combines the Unload Project and Edit Project in one click.

  • Indent Guides: VS plugin for adding lines at each indent level.

  • TextMate 2: I use this on my Mac for editing almost any kind of file. With its bundles it supports almost any programming language. This is a new editor to me and I am still getting used to it.

  • 1Password 4: A must have tool for managing passwords. If you are still not using the same password for everything, then this utility is the answer. It has browser extensions making it easier to save and enter passwords. Also it is available for Windows, Mac and the iPhone.

I will be updating this post with any other tools I start using. What are your favorites tools?

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