Top Homebrew packages

Here are some of top packages for software tools and utilities you can install with Homebrew on a Mac.

You may have installed Homebrew because you need a specific language or tool, but don't miss other great tools you can install with Homebrew.

Brewfiles.com leaderboard

Brewfiles.com is a website that tracks the most popular Homebrew packages. The site is a great resource for discovering new tools and utilities you can install with Homebrew. Visit the site to see popular Homebrew packages.

What is Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS (and Linux, too). It is one of the first tools you'll need to set up a local development environment for programming on a Mac. Use it to install (and remove) software programs for the terminal, or command line. It is like an app store for programming tools (but everything is free). MacOS includes some pre-installed programming languages and command line utilities but most work requires newer versions of languages and tools not provided by Apple. Get what you need with Homebrew. Almost every useful open source program (or "package") is available through Homebrew, with a single tool to install and manage each one.

CLI and GUI applications

Homebrew can install both CLI (command line interface) and GUI (graphical user interface) applications. Homebrew has its own terminology, referring to installed CLI packages as "kegs" and installed GUI packages as "casks." It's far more likely you'll use Homebrew to install a CLI package, since that is what Homebrew is known for. Casks were recently introduced to allow scripted installation of macOS GUI applications without the manual steps of downloading a .dmg file and dragging it to the Application folder.

Languages, version managers, databases, and tools

Homebrew is commonly used to install the tools needed to develop software using popular programming languages such as Python, Node, or Ruby.

Homebrew is a package manager that adds a single version of a language such as Python or Ruby to the Mac. It can install one (and only one!) version of a language (the latest version). Installing a language with Homebrew is fine for a student or casual user. However, most professional developers will use Homebrew to install a software version manager that can install and switch between multiple versions of a language. Most developers develop and maintain several applications and each may depend on a different language version. If you are working with multiple languages and multiple versions (for example, Ruby and Node), consider using Homebrew to install Asdf on Mac. You may also use Homebrew to install a version manager for a single language (for example, you can Install Ruby with the Frum version manager).

Developers also use Homebrew to install databases for software application development.

Languages

Node

Python

Ruby

Java

Databases

Postgres

MongoDB

Tools

Xcode

Git

What's next

My mac.install.guide is a trusted source of installation guides for professional developers. Take a look at the Mac Install Guide home page for tips and trends and see what to install next.