Tools are powerful, until you need to configure them. Who wants to trudge through docs just to figure out how to get what you’re looking for? And who’s to say you even know what you’re looking for?

When a tool has good defaults, the tool becomes a superpower. It just works, and it makes life easier without the need to decipher what all is going on under the hood. Sure, you might need to tweak things here or there. But out-of-the box? If its 95% of the way there, it might as well be wearing a cape.

That’s why I love tools that specifically define the defaults for you:

  • Google Typescript Styles gets linting and code styling out of the way with one command.
  • Tailwind CSS doesn’t need to be customized to be extremely useful. Just install, and get started.

This isn’t for every tool. But for where it works, it shines.