Kazeem Razaq @K.Razaq / 2:00 PM EDT. May 31, 2022.
One of the most important things to do to be an effective software engineer is to constantly learn new tools. Learning - as much as possible - keeps you up to date with the latest technologies and helps you learn new ways to solve problems. In my personal experience, I have found that learning new tools/things by myself has been hit or miss, but for you I've put together an extensive list of 10 tools I have found useful and will help you grow as a software engineer.
Top 10 Tools You Need as a Software Engineer.
1. Bash Shell
Bash is a Unix shell, an operating system command interface, and a programming language. It is the default shell on Linux and Mac OS X. Bash is an acronym for Bourne Again SHell, named for Stephen Bourne who wrote the first version of it in 1988 at AT&T Bell Labs. Bash has been ported to Microsoft Windows environments since its release as part of Cygwin in 1995 through the Cygwin project (in order to provide compatibility between Unix-like systems) and also in various ways via third parties such as MobaXterm and Git Extensions among others.
Bash isn't just one tool; it's actually three tools:
A command language (you can use this as your primary way of interacting with your computer)
A scripting language (you can write programs using this)
An environment where you can run other programs.
2. Git
Git is a version control system. It’s a distributed version control system. It’s also a command-line tool, and it’s free and open-source software (FOSS).
Git doesn’t just help you save your work, but it also helps you collaborate with other developers on the same project or even access their code if needed (that is, if they have already saved it to GitHub).
3. AWS Cloud Platform
AWS Cloud Platform is a group of cloud computing services that allow users to store, manage, and analyze data. It provides developers with an easy way to build and run applications without the need for managing servers or databases.
The AWS Platform is an elastic cloud computing service that allows you to build, run and operate applications on the Internet using virtual machines (VMs) hosted on its cloud servers. You can choose from various VMs including Linux-based or Windows-based operating systems based on your application requirements.
4. Jenkins
Jenkins is a continuous integration tool that helps you automate repetitive tasks. Jenkins is written in Java and has its own community of users and contributors.
Jenkins helps you build, test, and deploy software. The main features of Jenkins include:
Build automation
Test automation
Deployment automation
5. Docker Container
Docker containers are a way of running applications in isolation. They can be used to create an isolated environment for your application so that it doesn't conflict with other applications on your system.
A Docker container is basically a lightweight virtual machine (VM). It contains everything you need to run an application, including the operating system. You don't have to worry about installing an OS from scratch because it's already installed on your image file; you just use that image as the basis for creating your container.
6. Kubernetes Container Orchestrator
Kubernetes is a container orchestration tool that allows you to manage microservices and containers. It manages the lifecycle of your applications, including scaling them as needed.
It also supports auto-scaling and load balancing, so you can ensure that all of your services are running at peak performance. This will allow you to continue optimizing your application even after it’s in production—something that can be particularly useful if you’re working on software for an enterprise customer who wants to make sure their product is always running optimally.
7. Ansible Configuration Management Toolset
Ansible is a simple and powerful IT automation engine. It can manage software provisioning, configuration management, application deployment, intra-service orchestration, and many other IT needs. Ansible works over SSH and does not require any software or daemons to be installed on remote nodes. Extension modules provide additional functionality such as file transfer, one-time execution of commands, etc.
Ansible playbooks are declarative configurations that describe what needs to happen on your servers. They're written in YAML (listing 1), which is more readable than working with arrays of hashes in Ruby or Perl scripts like you might have used in a previous role as a sysadmin or DevOps engineer before moving into development roles. Playbooks are also easier to write when compared with shell scripts because they're less verbose; this makes them easier to read and understand by anyone who may look through them later (the person who maintains your infrastructure or security team).
8. Chef Configuration Management Toolset
Chef is a configuration management tool that automates infrastructure. Its use includes:
Configuration management of cloud instances (AWS, Azure) and containers
Infrastructure as code automation with DevOps best practices and conventions.
9. Vagrant Virtual Machine Manager
A vagrant is a tool for building and managing virtual development environments. Vagrant can be used to create and configure virtual environments on a single computer. These environments are called "boxes" in Vagrant terminology, and they run on top of the provider you choose. The most popular providers are VirtualBox, VMware Fusion/Workstation/Player, Parallels Desktop for Mac, KVM (kernel-based virtual machine), Hyper-V, AWS EC2 Container Service or Azure Container Service.
The first time you use Vagrant with one of these providers it will automatically download some software packages called "boxes," which are essentially all the software required to run an operating system in a contained environment.
10. Terraform Infrastructure as Code Toolset
Terraform is an open-source tool for building, changing, and versioning your infrastructure safely and efficiently. Terraform can create an entire infrastructure stack from scratch or incrementally update existing resources based on changes to configuration files.
Terraform is an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tool that allows you to create an entire infrastructure stack. Once the code is written it can be used to instantiate resources in an AWS environment. This means that you don't have to worry about the resources being in the right state when they're created; Terraform handles this for you behind the scenes.
With a plethora of softwares, tools and technologies at your disposal, it can be hard to know exactly what you need on any given day. Hopefully, my list has helped you figure out which tools will work best in different scenarios. There’s no right or wrong answer when choosing the right tool for a job even if some are more popular than others. Just remember that whatever path you take should have some logic behind it: the more successful programmers prioritize ease of use, time saved, and cost reduction above all else when choosing which tools they employ in their workflows.
BusyQA is your one-stop shop to learn everything you need to have a successful career in IT. We offer a variety of courses and best of all, our paid co-op program gives you valuable job experience with Canada's top companies, and the opportunity to be hired by them. Take part in our next software development training to gain the experience and exposure you need to survive as a software engineer, click here to get started.
Comments