Introduction:

Setting up a new macOS system can be an exciting yet daunting task. There are numerous configuration options and software choices available, making it crucial to tailor your setup to your specific needs. In this post, I will share my initial macOS setup, which includes essential applications and configurations that have helped me boost productivity and enhance my overall user experience.

System Preferences:

• Appearance: I prefer using the “Dark” mode for a sleek and minimalistic look.
• Dock: Position it on the left side of the screen for better screen utilization.
• Hot Corners: Assign useful actions like activating Mission Control or putting the display to sleep by moving the cursor to specific corners of the screen.
• Trackpad > Tap to click
• Keyboard > Key Repeat > Fast (all the way to the right)
• Keyboard > Delay Until Repeat > Short (all the way to the right)

Essential Software:

• Homebrew: A package manager that simplifies the installation of various command-line tools and applications.
• iTerm2: A powerful replacement for the default Terminal application with advanced features like split panes and customizability.
• Neovim: It has been my favourite editor since last 2 years and I really love it’s versatile ecosystem.
• Firefox: My preferred web browser due to its speed, stability, focus on privacy and extensive range of extensions.
• Docker Desktop: I use docker containers all the time to run services like Postgres and Redis locally for my work. So let’s setup these essential softwares.

1. Install homebrew

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

2. Install neovim

brew install ripgrep neovim

3. Install Firefox and iterm2

brew install --cask firefox iterm2

4. Install Docker Desktop

brew install --cask docker

The above command will install both docker desktop and docker daemon.

Terminal Setup:

• Oh My Zsh: A framework that enhances the default Zsh shell with helpful plugins, themes, and auto-completion capabilities.
• Nerd Font: Jetbrains Mono
• Theme: I use Powelevel10k because of its speed and out of the box experience.

1. Install Oh My Zsh

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh/master/tools/install.sh)"

By the way these are some recommended plugins that you should install to improve your terminal experience.

 brew install zsh-autosuggestions zsh-syntax-highlighting

2. Install Nerd Font

brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts
brew install font-fontname-nerd-font

Replace fontname with your preferred nerd font. 3. Install Powerlevel10k

brew install powerlevel10k
echo "source $(brew --prefix)/share/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme" >>~/.zshrc
echo "ZSH_THEME="powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k"" >>~/.zshrc
# Restart zsh and configure the theme
exec zsh
p10k configure

Essential Development Tools

Since my work is mostly related to creating softwares so I have to install certain tools. Here are the tools I use on a regular basis

1. Install NodeJs

brew install nodejs

2. Install Python

macOS already comes with it’s own version of python. To prevent conflicts we will install pyenv to install and different python versions.

# Recommended dependencies before installing pyenv
brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib
brew install pyenv
echo 'alias brew='env PATH="${PATH//$(pyenv root)\/shims:/}" brew'' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo '[[ -d $PYENV_ROOT/bin ]] && export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.zshrc
# Replace x with your preferred version of python
pyenv install 3.x.x
pyenv shell 3.x.x

3. Install rust

 brew install rust

4. Install git

brew install git

So this was how I did my initial setup. I hope this post helps you to setup your own macOS for software development.