By Dr. Farshid Pirahansiah — computer vision & embedded edge AI consultant, Berlin, Germany · 12+ years. Updated 2026-09-19.

Developer Tools & Setup Guide

Curated developer tools, shell essentials, Docker tips, and GitHub tricks.

Recommended Tools

NeoHtop — Modern htop alternative
Cap — Open source Loom alternative for screen recordings
RustDesk — Open source remote desktop
Helix Editor — Post-modern modal editor
Blender MCP — Blender + MCP integration
RX Resume — Resume builder
Practical Computer Vision — CV learning resources
CUDA Codes — CUDA flash attention algorithms
Intel RealSense HDR — HDR depth cameras
Apple ML-GBC — Apple ML framework
Python CLI — Python CLI tool
Data Structures for Image Processing — Newsletter

Shell Essentials

Echo & Variables

echo "value is $foo" → value is bar (variable expanded)
echo 'value is $foo' → value is $foo (literal)
foo=bar — no space around =
$PATH — environment variable
cd - — go to previous directory

/ — root directory
~ — home folder
. — current folder
.. — parent folder
Absolute path starts with /, relative path starts with folder/file

Shortcuts

Ctrl+L — clear terminal
Ctrl+R — reverse search history
!! — repeat last command

Pipes & Redirection

; — run commands sequentially
&& — run next only if previous succeeded
| — pipe output to next command
>> — append to file
# — root/sudo prompt

Useful Commands

xdg-open file — open with default app
ulimit -a — show memory limits
htop — process monitor
tldr — simplified man pages
locate / ripgrep (rg) / fzf / broot / nnn — search & file managers

Custom Functions

mcd () {
    mkdir -p "$1"
    cd "$1"
}
source mcd.sh

Python One-Liner

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys
for arg in reversed(sys.argv[1:]):
    print(arg)

Vim Quick Reference

Key	Action
`i`	Enter insert mode
`Esc`	Exit insert mode
`r`	Replace character
`k`	Move up
`s-v`	Visual line select
`c-v`	Visual block select
`:`	Command mode

Docker Tips

Shrink WSL Disk

wsl --shutdown
diskpart
select disk file="C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Local\Docker\wsl\disk\docker_data.vhdx"
compact disk

GitHub Tips

Quick Access

Press . on any GitHub repo to open web-based VS Code editor

GitIngest

Turn any GitHub repo into readable text for LLMs. Replace "hub" with "ingest" in the URL: - Repo: https://github.com/user/repo - Ingest: https://gitingest.com/user/repo

PR Code Review

Add .diff to the end of any PR URL to see raw changes. Paste into ChatGPT/Grok for AI code review: - PR: https://github.com/user/repo/pull/42 - Diff: https://github.com/user/repo/pull/42.diff

GitSummarize

Replace "hub" with "summarize" in any GitHub URL for AI-powered documentation: - Repo: https://github.com/user/repo - Summary: https://gitsummarize.com/user/repo

Source: Pirahansiah, F. “Developer Tools & Setup Guide”. pirahansiah.com, updated 2026-09-19. Canonical URL https://pirahansiah.com/farshid/content/note-developer-tools/ · markdown source note-developer-tools.md · how to cite, quote and link this site.