Tools for my craft

Here is a list of software tools I regularly use in my work as well as occasional recommendations for applications and gadgets I enjoy.

General tools

  • Raycast

    When setting up a new Mac, Raycast is the first thing I install. It simply boosts my macOS experience as well as my productivity.

Research

  • Zotero

    It is my favorite reference manager. I use it to organize my library of research papers and create bibliographies. It integrates well with Google Docs and Microsoft Word.

  • Obsidian

    Obsidian is a powerful note-taking app that I use to organize my research notes.

Development

  • iTerm2

    My go-to terminal.

  • Oh My Zsh

    I use oh-my-zsh to customize and speed up my terminal. I am a big fan of the plugins, and I use a lot of them to add aliases.

  • VS Code

    Great overall IDE. There are many extensions to tailor VS Code to your needs and style.

  • TablePlus

    If you are working with databases, TablePlus will make your life easier and save you a lot of time.

Programming languages

  • Python

    Python is my go-to programming language to process a CSV file, scrape data from the web, play around with deep learning, and most recently with text-to-image AI models such as Stable Diffusion.

  • MATLAB

    Here is where I do any serious signal processing for my research.

  • JavaScript / TypeScript

    For web development, I use JavaScript and TypeScript with React, NextJS, and TailwindCSS.

Design

  • Figma

    I prefer to design using code. However, whenever I need to create visuals, edit SVG files, or brainstorm on design ideas, I use Figma. And Figma is free for students and educators.

  • Inkscape

    I use Inkscape for quick operations over image files, such as generating ICO files or converting SVGs into PNGs or vice versa.