Uses
The tools I actually work with, and one honest line on why. No affiliate links.
Editor & terminal
- IntelliJ IDEA
- Java and Spring Boot work — still the best refactoring tools in the business.
- VS Code
- TypeScript, React, and everything that isn't Java.
- Claude Code
- AI pair engineer for well-specified transformations and first drafts — always reviewed like a PR.
- Windows Terminal + Git Bash
- Daily driver terminal setup.
Backend stack
- Java 17 + Spring Boot
- The default for services: mature, typed, and boring in the good way.
- PostgreSQL
- System of record. EXPLAIN ANALYZE is open in a tab somewhere right now.
- Apache Kafka
- Events between services — always through a transactional outbox.
- Redis
- Caching and hot facets, after the queries are right, not instead of it.
- Testcontainers
- Integration tests against real infrastructure; mocks lie.
Frontend stack
- Next.js + TypeScript
- This site runs on it — static generation, App Router, MDX content.
- Tailwind CSS
- Design tokens in CSS variables, utilities everywhere else.
Infrastructure
- Docker + Kubernetes
- Local parity with Compose, production on k8s.
- GitHub Actions
- CI/CD — build, test with containers, deploy.
- AWS
- EC2, RDS, S3, SQS — the boring, reliable subset.