There’s a lot of value in using an IDE, from just general formatting stuff to being able to tell what class functions do without having to dig into the class itself. Not to mention autocomplete.

There’s lots of free solutions out there now, so if you’re curious I’d give it a shot. I think you’ll find once you start using one it’ll be hard to go back to just a plain text editor.

I like vs code a lot, if you’re looking for specific recommendations. It’s lightweight and can be upgraded to do pretty much anything via extensions.

I use duckduckgo with Google as a backup for when what I’m searching for is too specific. I’ve had to use Google less and less lately though

Save everything that comes in your motherboard box. Don’t be the fool (me) who needs to buy m.2 screws on Amazon.

The bright side of all of this is finding out more about the Fediverse and how cool it is