# Software Dev Flow Tools
> Modern developer tooling ecosystem: from local dev to cloud, covering IDEs, linters, formatters, testing, CI/CD, project management, and collaboration in 2026.

---

## 1. IDEs & Code Editors

| Tool | Best For | Key Features |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **VS Code** | General, Python, Web | Extensions, Copilot, DevContainers |
| **Cursor** | AI-first coding | GPT-4o/Claude inline, codebase chat |
| **Zed** | Speed-focused | GPU-accelerated, Rust-native, fast |
| **JetBrains IDEs** | Enterprise Java/Python | Deep refactoring, IntelliJ/PyCharm |
| **Neovim + LazyVim** | Terminal power users | LSP, Treesitter, fully configurable |

### VS Code Power Tips
```
Ctrl+P             -> Quick file open
Ctrl+Shift+P       -> Command palette
Ctrl+`             -> Toggle terminal
Ctrl+K Ctrl+S      -> Keyboard shortcuts
Ctrl+B             -> Toggle sidebar
F12                -> Go to definition
Shift+F12          -> Find all references
Ctrl+.             -> Quick fix / refactor
```

---

## 2. Version Control & Git Workflows

### Git Flow vs Trunk-Based

| Approach | When to Use | Key Principle |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Git Flow** | Versioned releases, large teams | `main`, `develop`, `feature/*`, `release/*` branches |
| **Trunk-Based** | CI/CD-heavy, fast teams | All devs push to `main` daily, feature flags for WIP |
| **GitHub Flow** | Web apps, frequent deploys | `main` always deployable, PR per feature |

```bash
# Trunk-based setup
git checkout -b feat/my-feature
git commit -m "feat: add search"
git push origin feat/my-feature
# -> Open PR -> merge to main -> deploy

# Conventional Commits (standard format)
feat: add login page         # new feature
fix: resolve auth token bug  # bug fix
chore: update deps           # maintenance
docs: update README          # documentation
refactor: extract user model # code restructure
```

### Git Tooling
```bash
gh pr create --title "feat: add search" --body "closes #42"   # GitHub CLI
gh pr list                       # list open PRs
gh issue create --title "Bug: ..." --label bug

git log --oneline --graph --all   # visual branch graph
git bisect start                  # binary search for regressions
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good v1.0
```

---

## 3. Package & Environment Management

### Python Environment Tools

| Tool | Use Case | Command |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **uv** | Ultra-fast pip/venv replacement (2024+) | `uv pip install pandas` |
| **Poetry** | Dependency + packaging | `poetry add requests` |
| **pyenv** | Python version management | `pyenv install 3.12` |
| **conda/mamba** | Data science envs | `mamba create -n ml python=3.11` |

```bash
# uv (fastest Python package manager in 2026)
uv venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate   # Linux/Mac
.venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows
uv pip install -r requirements.txt
uv pip freeze > requirements.txt

# Poetry
poetry init
poetry add pandas numpy scikit-learn
poetry shell      # activate env
poetry run python script.py
```

### Node Package Managers
```bash
pnpm install   # faster, disk-efficient alternative to npm
bun install    # Bun runtime - fastest JS package manager
```

---

## 4. Code Quality Tools

### Linters & Formatters

| Tool | Language | Purpose |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Ruff** | Python | Ultra-fast linter + formatter (replaces flake8+black) |
| **Black** | Python | Opinionated formatter |
| **isort** | Python | Import sorter |
| **mypy / pyright** | Python | Static type checking |
| **ESLint** | JS/TS | Linting |
| **Prettier** | JS/HTML/CSS/JSON | Opinionated formatter |
| **Biome** | JS/TS | Fast linter+formatter (Rust, replaces ESLint+Prettier) |

```bash
# Ruff (Python - fastest, recommended 2026)
ruff check .              # lint
ruff check --fix .        # auto-fix
ruff format .             # format (like black)

# mypy type checking
mypy src/ --strict

# Pre-commit hooks
pip install pre-commit
# .pre-commit-config.yaml:
repos:
  - repo: https://github.com/astral-sh/ruff-pre-commit
    rev: v0.4.0
    hooks:
      - id: ruff
      - id: ruff-format
```

---

## 5. Testing Frameworks

| Tool | Language | Type |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **pytest** | Python | Unit, integration, fixtures |
| **hypothesis** | Python | Property-based testing |
| **Playwright** | Python/JS/TS | E2E browser testing |
| **Vitest** | JS/TS | Unit tests (fast, Vite-native) |
| **pytest-cov** | Python | Coverage reporting |

```python
# pytest basics
# tests/test_utils.py
def test_add():
    assert add(2, 3) == 5

def test_raises():
    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
        parse_age("abc")

# Fixtures
@pytest.fixture
def db_connection():
    conn = create_connection()
    yield conn
    conn.close()

# Run
pytest tests/ -v
pytest tests/ --cov=src --cov-report=html
pytest tests/ -k "test_login"   # run specific tests
```

---

## 6. CI/CD Pipelines

### GitHub Actions (Most Common 2026)

```yaml
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install uv && uv pip install -r requirements.txt
      - run: ruff check .
      - run: pytest tests/ --cov=src
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4

  deploy:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: docker build -t myapp .
      - run: docker push ghcr.io/user/myapp
```

### Other CI/CD Tools
| Tool | Hosting | Best For |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **GitHub Actions** | GitHub | Free for OSS, easy secrets |
| **GitLab CI** | GitLab | Self-hosted, powerful pipelines |
| **CircleCI** | Cloud | Parallelism, caching |
| **Dagger** | Any | Portable pipelines in code |

---

## 7. Containerization

```bash
# Docker essentials
docker build -t myapp:latest .
docker run -p 8000:8000 myapp
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f app
docker exec -it container_name bash

# Dockerfile best practices
FROM python:3.12-slim         # use slim images
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
CMD ["uvicorn", "main:app", "--host", "0.0.0.0"]
```

---

## 8. Project Management & Collaboration

| Tool | Type | Use Case |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Linear** | Issue tracking | Modern, fast, keyboard-first |
| **GitHub Projects** | Kanban + Issues | Native GitHub integration |
| **Notion** | Docs + DB | Team wiki, roadmaps |
| **Obsidian** | Personal knowledge | Local markdown, graph view |
| **Excalidraw** | Diagramming | Whiteboard, system diagrams |
| **Mermaid** | Code-as-diagrams | Flowcharts in Markdown |

```mermaid
graph LR
  A[Feature Request] --> B[GitHub Issue]
  B --> C[Branch Created]
  C --> D[PR Opened]
  D --> E[CI Passes]
  E --> F[Code Review]
  F --> G[Merged to Main]
  G --> H[Auto Deploy]
```

---

## 9. Debugging & Observability

| Tool | Purpose | Use |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **pdb / ipdb** | Python debugger | `breakpoint()` in code |
| **py-spy** | Python profiler | Flame graphs, no code changes |
| **memory-profiler** | Memory usage | `@profile` decorator |
| **Sentry** | Error tracking | Real-time crash reporting |
| **OpenTelemetry** | Tracing | Distributed trace across services |
| **Grafana** | Dashboards | Metrics visualization |

```python
# Python debugging
breakpoint()          # drops into pdb at this line
import ipdb; ipdb.set_trace()  # ipdb (better UI)

# py-spy profiling (no code changes needed)
py-spy top --pid 1234
py-spy record -o profile.svg --pid 1234

# Memory profiling
pip install memory-profiler
from memory_profiler import profile

@profile
def my_func():
    data = [i for i in range(1_000_000)]
```

---

## 10. API Development Tools

| Tool | Purpose |
| :--- | :--- |
| **FastAPI** | Python REST/async API framework |
| **Hono** | Ultra-fast JS/TS API (edge-ready) |
| **Bruno** | Local API testing (Postman alternative) |
| **HTTPie** | CLI HTTP client |
| **Insomnia** | API design + testing GUI |

```bash
# HTTPie (better than curl for humans)
http GET https://api.example.com/users
http POST https://api.example.com/users name="Alice" age:=30
http GET https://api.example.com/data Authorization:"Bearer token123"

# Bruno (local-first API testing)
bru run collection.bru
```

---

## 11. Documentation Tools

| Tool | Format | Best For |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **MkDocs + Material** | Markdown | Python project docs |
| **Docusaurus** | MDX/React | OSS docs sites |
| **Mintlify** | MDX | API docs with auto-gen |
| **Sphinx** | reStructuredText | Legacy Python docs |

```bash
# MkDocs Material
pip install mkdocs-material
mkdocs new my-docs
mkdocs serve       # local preview
mkdocs gh-deploy   # deploy to GitHub Pages
```

---

## 12. Quick Dev Workflow Summary

```
New project:
  git init && uv venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
  uv pip install ruff pytest pre-commit
  pre-commit install

Daily loop:
  git pull origin main
  git checkout -b feat/my-feature
  [write code]
  ruff format . && ruff check --fix .
  pytest tests/
  git add -A && git commit -m "feat: ..."
  git push && gh pr create

Code review:
  gh pr view --web
  [address comments]
  git commit --amend / git push --force-with-lease

Deploy:
  merge PR -> CI/CD runs -> Docker build -> auto-deploy
```