The stuff I actually use, not a wishlist.
Languages are Python and TypeScript, mostly. Some of everything else when a project needs it.
On the backend I reach for FastAPI or Node with Express, Postgres as the default database (usually through Supabase), and Redis when something needs to be fast or queued. On the frontend it’s React, Next.js when the project wants a framework, and Tailwind for styling. Docker keeps it all reproducible.
When something in my workflow gets repetitive, I’d rather build my own tool for it than wire up an off-the-shelf automation platform. A tool I wrote fits my exact process, and I understand every line, so when it breaks I know why. Usually that’s a small script or a CLI, not a whole app.
For deploys, Vercel for anything frontend-shaped, Render when I need a real server, Cloudflare for the edge and DNS.
Nothing exotic here. Boring, well-understood tools let me spend the interesting hours on the actual problem.