Uses
The tools I build with.
People ask what I use, so here it is — the small kit I actually reach for, not a sponsor list. I keep it lean on purpose: fewer tools, known deeply, beats a drawer full of half-learned ones.
Editor & terminal
Where the work happens
- VS Code — main editor, kept close to stock
- iTerm2 + zsh — terminal
- Git — version control for everything
- SF Mono / a calm theme — low-drama colors
The stack
What I build in
- JavaScript & Node.js
- PHP & WordPress — themes & custom plugins
- Hand-written HTML & CSS — no page-builders
- SQL for data; Swift for iOS
Design
Drawing it first
- Figma — layout & UI
- Real type, real spacing — design in the browser too
- SVG by hand when it needs to be perfect
SEO & performance
How I keep pages ranking
- Google Search Console & Analytics
- Lighthouse & Core Web Vitals
- Structured data (JSON-LD) on everything
- Schema & Rich Results testing
Hosting & infra
Where it lives
- Static hosting + CDN for speed
- Cloudflare for caching & protection
- Managed WordPress when a client needs it
Hardware
The desk
- Mac — primary machine
- iPhone & iPad — testing on real devices
- A quiet room on Long Island
Tools change; taste doesn’t. If you’re curious why I chose any of these, the blog goes deeper.