Nathan Lazo

Software I use, gadgets I love, and other things I recommend.

I’m always trying out new software, gadgets, and apps. Here are some of my favorites.

Front-end

  • HTML/CSS/JS

    I’ve been building websites since 2018 and I still love building things with just HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I think it’s important to understand the fundamentals.

  • React

    React it’s still my favorite way to build UIs. I’ve used it for years and I’ve built a lot of stuff with it. I’m also a big fan of Next.js and I’m excited to see React Server Components.

  • Tailwind

    I love the simplicity of Tailwind and how it makes it easy to build custom designs without having to write a bunch of custom CSS. I’m also a big fan of the Tailwind UI components.

  • Framer motion

    I’ve tried a bunch of different animation libraries over the years and Framer Motion is by far my favorite. It’s super flexible and the API is really intuitive.

  • Vue

    I don’t use Vue as much as I used to but I still love it. I think it’s the best choice for most people who are just getting started with front-end development.

Backend

  • MySQL

    I’ve used MySQL for years and it’s still my go-to choice for relational databases. I’ve built a lot of stuff with MySQL clusters on AWS and it’s been great.

  • tRPC

    tRPC has been a great experience. It’s a really nice abstraction over Next.js API routes and it makes it easy to build APIs that are easy to use from the client.

  • MongoDB

    MongoDB is great for a lot of use cases and I’ve used it for a bunch of different projects. It’s quick and easy to scale. Thanks to Mongo Atlas data analysis is also easy.

  • Google fire-services

    Firebase, Firestore, and Firebase Auth are great for building simple apps quickly. I’ve used them for a bunch of different projects and they’re always a pleasure to work with.

  • Amazon Web Services

    I’ve used AWS for some of my biggest projects and it’s been great. I’ve used a bunch of different services but my favorites are probably EC2, Lambda, and S3.

  • Prisma ORM

    Prisma is an ORM for Node.js. It’s super easy to use and it makes it easy to build my whole database schema in code.

Web3

  • Solidity

    I’ve been building smart contracts with Solidity for a few years now and I love it. It’s a great language and the community is awesome.

  • HardHat

    HardHat for building smart contracts and deploying them to the Ethereum blockchain. It’s a great tool.

Design

  • Figma

    I started using Figma as just a design tool but now it’s become our virtual whiteboard for the entire company. Never would have expected the collaboration features to be the real hook.

  • Photoshop

    Photoshop is still my go-to tool for editing photos. I’ve tried a bunch of different tools but I always come back to Photoshop.

Productivity

  • Notion

    I use Notion for all of my personal notes and I love it. Taking notes in Notion with AI is a game changer.

  • Linear

    Linear is my favorite tool for managing tasks. It’s simple and easy to use but still has all of the features I need.