Ask HN: What's a tool you use every day that most developers haven't heard of?
10Sourabhsss1105/28/2025, 5:30:16 AM
Comments (10)
sandreas · 46m ago
I often use the following tools:
fzf - fuzzy finder e.g. files
gdu - tui for disk usage
rga - search file contents
bat - cat with syntax highlight
difft - better diff
lazygit - tui for gut
lazydocker - TUI for dicker
restic - backup tool
rclone - sync tool
f2 - file renaming tool
You can find them all in github.
codegladiator · 22h ago
I've been using this obscure tool called "documentation" for years now. It's this revolutionary concept where the people who created the software actually write down how it works!
Sometimes it even has examples showing how to use the software correctly.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but trust me once you discover documentation, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
bruce511 · 4h ago
I know you jest, but its really interesting to see how people approach documentation. And I hypothesize that how you consume it informs if you create it.
When I was young, documentation came in one form (only). Books. Getting a good reference book was the key to progress. I still have my 3-inch thick C and C++ reference books on my desk today. (They're under the monitors lifting them up 3 inches.) I remember reading them cover to cover multiple times, and using them regularly every day looking up details.
Then came MAN pages, which are hard to read, harder to digest. Quality varies from good to rubbish. Early F1-Help much the same.
Then we got Google, and Stack overflow, and now AI. All of which make for better reference (quick answers to quick questions) but Discoverability harder. (I've started asking AI foe "tell me something I don't know".)
99% of the programmers I encounter don't write docs at all. Programing is Math not English. For my sins I likely write more docs than code. But I've also discovered a hidden truth. Writing docs makes my code better.
When you document you formalize something. If the docs are clumsy that means the thing is clumsy. I cannot count how many times, while writing the docs, I discover "this is harder / uglier / more confusing / inconsistent than it needs to be." Which is a cue to improving the code.
Even the documentation becomes elegant, then the solution is elegant. Not before.
john-tells-all · 4h ago
Back in my yout', I learned tons of commands with curiosity and `man -k`. So much fun! "What does this do? What does that do? What else does this command reference?"
Recommended to frighten the younguns, with their tiktoks and their yootubes.
BobbyTables2 · 5h ago
I was with you on the first sentence, the second seemed hard to believe, and the third is definitely fiction!
You almost had me there…
leonim · 1d ago
One my favorite tools is Visidata (https://www.visidata.org/). It is great for viewing and working with data in the terminal. It is useful if you need to quickly explore data and change some data.
VisiData makes it possible to view a lot of data such as CSV, JSON, databases, etc. All the supported formats are listed in https://www.visidata.org/docs/formats/
In general, I think voice to text for productive work (e.g. prompting cursor) isn't getting much attention. Hex is a great tool, that works locally on top of open models, and is quite reliably.
saulpw · 10h ago
This looks great, but alas, it is for Mac (Apple Silicon) only.
austin-cheney · 1d ago
A pseudo terminal. It provides translation between a shell and a terminal interface for third party access. Third party access can include SSH, application streams, user sessions, web browsers, and more.
TheMongoose · 1d ago
An IDE that doesn't inject AI slop into my work constantly.
Sometimes it even has examples showing how to use the software correctly.
I know it sounds too good to be true, but trust me once you discover documentation, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
When I was young, documentation came in one form (only). Books. Getting a good reference book was the key to progress. I still have my 3-inch thick C and C++ reference books on my desk today. (They're under the monitors lifting them up 3 inches.) I remember reading them cover to cover multiple times, and using them regularly every day looking up details.
Then came MAN pages, which are hard to read, harder to digest. Quality varies from good to rubbish. Early F1-Help much the same.
Then we got Google, and Stack overflow, and now AI. All of which make for better reference (quick answers to quick questions) but Discoverability harder. (I've started asking AI foe "tell me something I don't know".)
99% of the programmers I encounter don't write docs at all. Programing is Math not English. For my sins I likely write more docs than code. But I've also discovered a hidden truth. Writing docs makes my code better.
When you document you formalize something. If the docs are clumsy that means the thing is clumsy. I cannot count how many times, while writing the docs, I discover "this is harder / uglier / more confusing / inconsistent than it needs to be." Which is a cue to improving the code.
Even the documentation becomes elegant, then the solution is elegant. Not before.
Recommended to frighten the younguns, with their tiktoks and their yootubes.
You almost had me there…
VisiData makes it possible to view a lot of data such as CSV, JSON, databases, etc. All the supported formats are listed in https://www.visidata.org/docs/formats/
There is a wonderful tutorial in https://jsvine.github.io/intro-to-visidata/
In general, I think voice to text for productive work (e.g. prompting cursor) isn't getting much attention. Hex is a great tool, that works locally on top of open models, and is quite reliably.