Top Developer Experience tools (2024)

This blog was originally published in the Typo blog.

In the software development industry, while user experience is an important aspect of the product life cycle, organizations are also considering Developer Experience.

A positive Developer Experience helps in delivering quality products and allows developers to be happy and healthy in the long run.

However, it is not always possible for organizations to measure and improve developer experience without any good tools and platforms.

What is Developer Experience?

Developer Experience is about the experience software developers have while working in the organization. It is the developers’ journey while working with a specific framework, programming languages, platform, documentation, general tools, and open-source solutions.

Positive Developer Experience = Happier teams

Developer Experience has a direct relationship with developer productivity. A positive experience results in high dev productivity, leading to high job satisfaction, performance, and morale. Hence, happier developer teams.

This starts with understanding the unique needs of developers and fostering a positive work culture for them.

Why Developer Experience is important?

Smooth onboarding process

Good DX ensures the onboarding process is as simple and smooth as possible. It includes making them familiar with the tools and culture and giving them the support they need to proceed further in their career. It also allows them to know other developers which helps in collaboration, open communication, and seeking help, whenever required.

Improves product quality

A positive Developer Experience leads to 3 effective C’s — Collaboration, communication, and coordination. Besides this, adhering to coding standards, best practices, and automated testing helps promote code quality and consistency and fix issues early. As a result, development teams can easily create products that meet customer needs and are free from errors and glitches.

Increases development speed

When Developer Experience is handled with care, software developers can work more smoothly and meet milestones efficiently. Access to well-defined tools, clear documents, streamlined workflow, and a well-configured development environment are few ways to boost development speed. It also lets them minimize the need to switch between different tools and platforms which increases the focus and team productivity.

Attracts and retains top talents

Developers usually look out for a strong tech culture. So they can focus on their core skills and get acknowledged for their contributions. Great DX increases job satisfaction and aligns their values and goals with the organization. In return, developers bring the best to the table and want to stay in the organization for the long run.

Enhances collaboration

The right kind of Developer Experience encourages collaboration and effective communication tools. This fosters teamwork and reduces misunderstandings. Developers can easily discuss issues, share feedback, and work together on tasks. It helps streamline the development process and results in high-quality work.

Best developer experience tools

Time management tools

Clockwise

A powerful time management tool that streamlines and automates the calendar and protects developers’ flow time. It helps to strike a balance between meetings and coding time with a focus time feature.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with third-party applications such as Slack, Google Calendar, and Asana.
• Determines the most suitable meeting times for both developers and engineering leaders.
• Creates custom smart holds i.e. protected time throughout the hold.
• Reschedules the meetings that are marked as ‘Flexible’.
• Provides a quick summary of how much meetings and focus time was spent last week.

Toggle track

A straightforward time-tracking, reporting, and billing tool for software developers. It lets development teams view tracked team entries in a grid or calendar format.

Key features

• ‘Dashboard and Reporting’ feature offers in-depth analysis and lets engineering leaders create customized dashboards.
• Simple and easy-to-use interface.
• Preferable for those who avoid real-time tracking rather than track their time manually.
• Offers a PDF invoice template that can be downloaded easily.
• Includes optional Pomodoro setting that allows developers to take regular quick breaks.

Software development intelligence

Typo

Typo is an intelligent engineering management platform used for gaining visibility, removing blockers, and maximizing developer effectiveness. It gives a comparative view of each team’s performance across velocity, quality, and throughput. This tool can be integrated with the tech stack to deliver real-time insights. Git, Slack, Calenders, and CI/CD to name a few.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with third-party applications such as Git, Slack, Calenders, and CI/CD tools.
• ‘Sprint analysis’ feature allows for tracking and analyzing the team’s progress throughout a sprint.
• Offers customized DORA metrics and other engineering metrics that can be configured in a single dashboard.
• Offers engineering benchmark to compare the team’s results across industries.
• User-friendly interface.

Code intelligence tools

Sourcegraph (Cody)

An AI code-based assistant tool that provides code-specific information and helps in locating precise code based on natural language description, file names, or function names.

Key features

• Explain complex lines of code in simple language.
• Identifies bugs and errors in a codebase and provides suggestions.
• Offers documentation generation.
• Answers questions about existing code.
• Generates code snippets, fixes, and improves code.

GitHub Copilot

Developed by GitHub in collaboration with open AI, it uses an open AI codex for writing code quickly. It draws context from the code and suggests whole lines or complete functions that developers can accept, modify, or reject.

Key features

• Creates predictive lines of code from comments and existing patterns in the code.
• Generates code in multiple languages including Typescript, Javascript, Ruby, C++, and Python.
• Seamlessly integrates with popular editors such as Neovim, JetBrains IDEs, and Visual Studio.
• Create dictionaries of lookup data
• Writes test cases and code comments

Communication and collaboration

Slack

A widely used communication platform that enables developers to real-time communication and share files. It also allows team members to share and download files and create external links for people outside of the team.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with third-party applications such as Google Calendar, Hubspot, Clickup, and Salesforce.
• ‘Huddle’ feature that includes phone and video conferencing options.
• Accessible on both mobile and desktop (Application and browser).
• Offers ‘Channel’ feature i.e. similar to groups, team members can create projects, teams, and topics.
• Perfect for asynchronous communication and collaboration.

Project and task management

JIRA

A part of the Atlassian group, JIRA is an umbrella platform that includes JIRA software, JIRA core, and JIRA work management. It relies on the agile way of working and is purposely built for developers and engineers.

Key features

• Built for agile and scrum workflows.
• Offers Kanban view.
• JIRA dashboard helps users to plan projects, measure progress, and track due dates.
• Offers third-party integrations with other parts of Atlassian groups and third-party apps like Github, Gitlab, and Jenkins.
• Offers customizable workflow states and transitions for every issue type.

Linear

A project management and issue-tracking tool that is tailored for software development teams. It helps the team plan their projects and auto-close and auto-archive issues.

Key features

• Simple and straightforward UI.
• Easy to set up.
• Breaks larger tasks into smaller issues.
• Switches between list and board layout to view work from any angle.
• Quickly apply filters and operators to refine issue lists and create custom views.

Automated software testing

Lambda test

A cloud-based cross-browser testing platform that provides real-time testing on multiple devices and simulators. It is used to create and run both manual and automatic tests and functions via the Selenium Automation Grid.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with other testing frameworks and CI/CD tools.
• Offers detailed automated logs such as exception logs, command logs, and metadata.
• Runs parallel tests in multiple browsers and environments.
• Offers command screenshots and video recordings of the script execution.
• Facilitates responsive testing to ensure the application works well on various devices and screen sizes.

Postman

A widely used automation testing tool for API. It provides a streamlined process for standardizing API testing and monitoring it for usage and trend insights.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with CI/CD pipelines.
• Enable users to mimic real-world scenarios and assess API behavior under various conditions.
• Creates mock servers, and facilitates realistic simulations and comprehensive testing.
• Provides monitoring features to gain insights into API performance and usage trends.
• Friendly and easy-to-use interface equipped with code snippets.

Continuous integration/continuous deployment

Circle CI

Certified with FebRamp and SOC Type II compliant, It helps in achieving CI/CD in open-source and large-scale projects. Circle CI streamlines the DevOps process and automates builds across multiple environments.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with third-party applications with Bitbucket, GitHub, and GitHub Enterprise.
• Tracks the status of projects and keeps tabs on build processes
• ‘Parallel testing’ feature helps in running tests in parallel across different executors.
• Allows a single process per project.
• Provides ways to troubleshoot problems and inspect things such as directory path, log files, and running processes

Documentation

Swimm

Specifically designed for software development teams. Swimm is an innovative cloud-based documentation tool that integrates continuous documentation into the development workflow.

Key features

• Seamlessly integrates with development tools such as GitHub, VSC, and JetBrains IDEs.
• ‘Auto-sync’ feature ensures the document stays up to date with changes in the codebase.
• Creates new documents, rewrites existing ones, or summarizes information.
• Creates tutorials and visualizations within the codebase for better understanding and onboarding new members.
• Analyzes the entire codebase, documentation sources, and data from enterprise tools.

Developer engagement

DevEx by Typo

A valuable tool for development teams that captures 360 views of developer experience and helps with early indicators of their well-being and actionable insights on the areas that need attention through signals from work patterns and continuous AI-driven pulse check-ins.

Key features

• Research-backed framework that captures parameters and uncovers real issues.
• In-depth insights are published on the dashboard.
• Combines data-driven insights with proactive monitoring and strategic intervention.
• Identifies the key priority areas affecting developer productivity and well-being.
• Sends automated alerts to identify burnout signs in developers at an early stage.

GetDX

A comprehensive insights platform that is founded by researchers behind the DORA and SPACE framework. It offers both qualitative and quantitative measures to give a holistic view of the organization.

Key features

• Provides a suite of tools that capture data from surveys and systems in real-time.
• Breaks down results based on personas.
• Streamlines developer onboarding with real-time insights.
• Contextualizes performance with 180,000+ industry benchmark samples.
• Uses advanced statistical analysis to identify the top opportunities.

Conclusion

Overall Developer Experience is crucial in today’s times. It facilitates effective collaboration within engineering teams, offers real-time feedback on workflow efficiency and early signs of burnout, and enables informed decision-making. By pinpointing areas for improvement, it cultivates a more productive and enjoyable work environment for developers.

There are various tools available in the market. We’ve curated the best Developer Experience tools for you. You can check other tools as well. Do your own research and see what fits right for you.

All the best!