The place where I keep my best coding tools updates and news.
A comprehensive, curated collection of development tools across 20+ categories, complete with statistics, trends, and recommendations from the 2024-2025 developer landscape.
- INDEX.md - Complete site navigation and overview
Explore 20 major categories of development tools:
Core Development
- Code Editors & IDEs - VS Code v1.97+, JetBrains, Vim
- AI-Powered Development - ChatGPT, Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, Gemini Code Assist
- Version Control - Git, GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket
DevOps & Infrastructure
- CI/CD & Automation - Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI
- Containerization - Docker, Kubernetes, Podman
- Cloud Platforms - AWS, Azure, GCP
- Infrastructure as Code (coming soon)
Quality & Testing
- Testing & QA Tools (coming soon)
- Debugging Tools (coming soon)
- Code Analysis & Quality (coming soon)
- Security & Vulnerability Scanning (coming soon)
Collaboration & Productivity
- Project Management & Collaboration (coming soon)
- API Development & Testing (coming soon)
- Documentation Tools (coming soon)
Data & Monitoring
- Database Management Tools (coming soon)
- Performance & Monitoring (coming soon)
Build & Development
- Build & Package Management (coming soon)
- Terminal & CLI Tools (coming soon)
- Code Search & Navigation (coming soon)
- Design & Prototyping (coming soon)
(coming soon) - Python, JavaScript, Java, Go, Rust, and more
(coming soon) - Tool releases, version updates, and industry news
(coming soon) - Practical tutorials for specific tools
Based on Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 (49,000+ developers from 177 countries):
- VS Code: 2x more popular than nearest competitor, now with v1.97+ AI features
- ChatGPT for dev: 2x more popular than GitHub Copilot
- AI tool usage: 82% of developers use OpenAI GPT models
- Claude adoption: 45% of professional developers use Claude Sonnet models
- Python growth: +7 percentage points in adoption (accelerating for AI/ML)
- AI sentiment shift: Positive sentiment decreased to 60% (from 70%+ in 2023-2024)
- AI frustration: 66% struggle with "almost right, but not quite" AI solutions
- Azure growth: 26% → 28% usage
- GCP growth: 24% → 25% usage
- Stack Overflow visits: 82% visit monthly, 25% daily; 35% visit due to AI-related issues
- Agentic IDEs - Cursor, Windsurf, and Claude Code lead autonomous coding
- AI Coding Agents - GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, Background Agents, auto-debugging
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) - OpenAI, Google, AWS adopt standardized AI integration
- Python Acceleration - +7% growth, dominating AI/ML and backend development
- Cloud-Native Evolution - Containers, Kubernetes, and GitOps maturity
- AI Skepticism Growing - Developers more cautious (60% positive vs 70%+ in 2024)
- Next-Gen AI Models - Gemini 2.5, Claude 4, GPT models with 2M+ token context
Every modern developer should have:
- Code Editor - VS Code (used by 2x more devs than alternatives)
- Version Control - Git/GitHub (non-negotiable)
- AI Assistant - GitHub Copilot (#1 trusted) or Claude (#1 quality)
- Containerization - Docker (industry standard)
- CI/CD - GitHub Actions (native integration)
- Cloud Platform - AWS/Azure/GCP (pick one)
- Testing Framework - Jest/Pytest/JUnit (language-specific)
- API Testing - Postman (standard)
- Terminal Tools - iTerm2/Windows Terminal
- Monitoring - Prometheus/Datadog (production essential)
AI-Powered IDEs & Editors:
- Cursor - Background Agents, Bugbot PR review, 2M context with Max Mode
- Windsurf (by Codeium) - Free agentic IDE, Cascade AI agent, Tab to Jump prediction
- GitHub Copilot - Most trusted (50% of devs), Agent Mode, Next Edit Suggestions
- Claude Code - Best code quality (45% professional dev preference), MCP integration
- Gemini Code Assist - Now GA, powered by Gemini 2.5, free for individuals
Emerging in 2025:
- VS Code Copilot Chat - Being open-sourced under MIT license (2025)
- Google Stitch - AI-powered UI design to frontend code generator
- Bolt & Replit - Rapid prototyping platforms gaining traction
Note: Only 3% highly trust AI output. Always review before merging (75% of devs do this).
- Next Edit Suggestions (Preview) - Copilot predicts your next edit
- Auto Accept Edits - Automatically accept edits after configurable timeout
- Reposition Command Palette - Drag to new positions
- Extension Publisher Trust - Enhanced security controls
- Compound Logs - Combine multiple logs into aggregated view
- TypeScript 5.7.3 - Latest recovery release included
- Coding Agent (May 2025) - Assign GitHub issues directly to Copilot for autonomous fixes
- Agent Mode (Feb 2025) - Iterates on output, self-heals errors, suggests terminal commands
- Next Edit Suggestions - Predicts next edit based on previous changes
- BugBot - Automatically reviews PRs, catches bugs, suggests fixes
- Copilot Chat Open Source - VS Code extension being open-sourced under MIT license
- Custom Instructions - Tailor responses with project-specific context
- Auto Model Selection - Intelligently picks best model for each task
- Background Agents - Parallel autonomous coding, 2x faster startup
- Bugbot - Automatic PR review with "Fix in Cursor" integration
- Memories Feature - Persistent knowledge base for project context
- Max Mode - 2M+ token context for hardest problems
- MCP Support - One-click server setup with OAuth authentication
- Jupyter Integration - Create and edit notebook cells directly
- Linear Integration - Start Background Agents from Linear issues
- Custom Commands - Reusable prompts via .cursor/commands/
- Multi-Root Workspace - Index multiple codebases simultaneously
- Wave 4 (March 2025) - MCP discoverability, drag & drop files, Claude 3.7 Sonnet
- Voice Input - Speak into chat instead of typing
- Auto-Continue - Cascade automatically continues if hitting limits
- Tab to Jump - Predicts and navigates to next edit location
- BYOK Support - Bring your own API key for Claude 4 models
- Granular Rules Files - Always-on, @mention-able, or glob-attached rules
- Free for Individuals - Full IDE capabilities at no cost
- Generally Available - Free version for individuals, Standard/Enterprise editions
- Powered by Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash - Latest model integration
- 2M Token Context Window - Available for Standard and Enterprise users
- Inline Diff (GA) - Real-time code suggestions in VS Code
- Streamed Chat Responses (GA) - Live responses in IntelliJ and VS Code
- Code Customization (GA) - Personalized assistance
- Agent Mode - Arrived in June 2025 updates
- Gemini 2.5 in Google AI Studio - Native code editor integration
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that connects AI assistants to external systems—think of it like USB-C for AI applications. Just as USB-C provides a standardized way to connect devices, MCP standardizes how AI applications interact with data sources, tools, and workflows.
The Problem it Solves: Even sophisticated AI models are isolated from real-world data—trapped behind silos and legacy systems. Each integration traditionally required custom code, creating an "N×M integration problem" where complexity grows exponentially with each new AI tool and data source.
MCP uses a client-server architecture inspired by the Language Server Protocol (LSP):
┌─────────────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐
│ Host App │ ◄──► │ MCP Client │ ◄──► │ MCP Server │
│ (Claude, IDEs) │ │ (Protocol) │ │ (GitHub, DB) │
└─────────────────┘ └──────────────┘ └─────────────────┘
Four Core Components:
- Host Application - AI interfaces (Claude Desktop, Cursor IDE, ChatGPT)
- MCP Client - Built into host, translates between app and protocol
- MCP Server - Exposes specific integrations (GitHub repos, databases, APIs)
- Transport Layer - STDIO (local) or HTTP+SSE (remote) communication
Three Core Primitives:
- Tools - Actions AI can take (model-controlled)
- Resources - Context provided to AI (application-controlled)
- Prompts - User-invoked interactions (user-controlled)
- Filesystem - Secure file operations with access controls
- Git - Repository reading, searching, and manipulation
- Fetch - Web content retrieval optimized for LLMs
- PostgreSQL - Database queries and operations
| Server | Stars | Purpose | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub MCP | 15.2k | Issue & PR management | Automate repository workflows |
| Microsoft Playwright | 11.6k | Browser automation | QA, testing, web scraping |
| AWS Labs MCP | 3.7k | AWS service integration | Cloud management, billing |
| HashiCorp Terraform | 575 | Infrastructure as Code | Automate cloud provisioning |
| MongoDB MCP | 202 | Database operations | Secure NoSQL interactions |
| dbt Labs | 240 | Analytics workflows | Data transformation pipelines |
| Sentry | 173 | Error tracking | Monitor app performance |
AWS MCP Servers (May 2025)
- AWS Lambda - Serverless function management
- Amazon ECS - Container service integration
- Amazon EKS - Kubernetes cluster operations
- Finch - Container development tool integration
- Real-time, contextual understanding of AWS Serverless and Container services
Google Data Commons MCP Server (September 2025)
- Standardized access to comprehensive public datasets
- Natural language queries to complex data APIs
- 250+ billion data points across demographics, economics, health, climate
Alibaba Cloud MCP Servers (2025)
- DataWorks - Data development and operations
- AnalyticDB - Real-time data warehouse queries
- OpenSearch - Search and analytics
- RDS - Relational database services
Microsoft & Atlassian (2025)
- Azure DevOps MCP - Pipeline and board management
- Jira & Confluence MCP - Project management and documentation
K2view - Enterprise data access with patented Micro-Database technology for real-time, context-rich data delivery
OpenAPI MCP Servers - Fastest path to AI-readiness for organizations with existing RESTful APIs
Salesforce MCP - Natural language CRM queries ("close this case", "pull customer data")
ActionKit by Paragon - Connect to 130+ SaaS integrations (Slack, Salesforce, Gmail, Notion)
- AI Coding Assistants - Access your entire codebase, Git history, and documentation
- Enterprise Chatbots - Query multiple organizational databases in natural language
- DevOps Automation - Deploy infrastructure, monitor performance, track errors
- Data Analysis - Connect to databases, run queries, visualize results
- Workflow Automation - Integrate calendars, project management, communication tools
For Developers: Reduces custom integration work from weeks to hours. Write once, use everywhere.
For AI Applications: Access to real-time data, tools, and context makes AI genuinely useful beyond simple chat.
For Enterprises: Standardized, secure way to give AI controlled access to business systems.
MCP saw explosive adoption throughout 2025:
- March 2025: OpenAI integrated MCP across ChatGPT desktop app, Agents SDK, and Responses API
- April 2025: Google DeepMind (CEO Demis Hassabis) confirmed MCP support in Gemini models
- May 2025: AWS launched official MCP servers for Lambda, ECS, EKS, and Finch
- August 2025: Visual Studio made MCP generally available
- September 2025: Google released Data Commons MCP Server
- Major adopters: OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Microsoft, AWS, Alibaba Cloud, Atlassian
- SDKs available: Python, TypeScript, C#, Java
- Ecosystem size: 2,000+ servers deployed
- Native IDE support: Claude Desktop, Cursor (one-click setup), Visual Studio, Windsurf
- Implement identity-based access control (tools like Pomerium)
- Use least-privilege principles
- Monitor and audit all AI agent requests
- Never expose production databases directly without authentication
- Use existing servers: Install from official repository
- Build your own: Use SDKs to create custom integrations
- Enable in your IDE: Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other tools support MCP natively
Learn More: modelcontextprotocol.io
If you're Claude Code or another AI assistant, check CLAUDE.md for guidance on working with this repository.
October 2025 - Updated with latest tool releases, Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 results, and comprehensive 2025 feature updates for VS Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf, Gemini Code Assist, and Model Context Protocol ecosystem.
Data sourced from Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2025 (49,000+ developers from 177 countries), official tool changelogs, and industry reports