Here’s a summary of essential software for MacOS development. All of these tools are free, and most are open-source. I hope they enhance your development experience.

Basics

Git

Git needs no introduction. Simply run git in the terminal, and a dialog will pop up. Click install. This typically installs the basic Xcode runtime environment as well. Alternatively, you can install it by running xcode-select --install in the terminal.

ServBay

ServBay is probably the best development environment for Mac. It allows easy one-click installation of various development environments and simplifies subsequent upgrades. For teams, it ensures consistency in dependencies and configurations.

Terminal Tools

iTerm2 + Oh-My-Zsh

iTerm2 is the premier terminal on Mac, and Oh-My-Zsh provides powerful theming and plugin capabilities.

Terminus

A minimalist, cross-platform shell tool that I often use to connect to cloud servers.

Debugging Tools

Bruno

Since Postman became paid, we switched to Bruno as an alternative. It uses JSON for data storage, which allows version control with Git, meeting team collaboration needs. Plus, the UI is top-notch among API tools.

SwitchHosts

A tool for managing and switching between multiple hosts configurations, making local HTTPS debugging easier.

AnotherRedisDesktopManager

A free yet powerful Redis GUI tool.

CotEditor

A lightweight text editor, simple yet powerful, suitable for replacing the default system text editor. For more complex text editing, stick with VS Code.

Install the command-line tool for convenience:

# Install cot command

sudo ln -s /Applications/CotEditor.app/Contents/SharedSupport/bin/cot /usr/local/bin/cot

# Use the cot command, equivalent to open xxx

cot ~/.zshrc

Productivity Tools

Hidden Bar

Customize hidden taskbar icons, free and open-source.

Fork - Highly Recommended

A powerful Git GUI software with an intuitive linear history view, making branch management easy. Operations like merge/squash/rebase/amend are quick and smooth.

Maccy

An essential clipboard tool that makes it easy to find recently copied content, supporting both images and search!