G1Joshi Homebrew
Homebrew is the standard package manager for macOS. v4.2 (2025) is faster (JSON API) and supports declarative Brewfile.
When to Use
- macOS Dev Setup: Installing Node, Python, Git, Docker, Postgres.
- Casks: Installing GUI apps (VS Code, Slack, Chrome).
- Dotfiles: Automating machine setup.
Quick Start
# Install wget
brew install wget
# Install VS Code (Cask)
brew install --cask visual-studio-code
Core Concepts
Formulae
CLI tools compiled from source (or bottles).
Casks
macOS native applications (drag-and-drop apps automation).
Brewfile
Dependency list. brew bundle installs everything listed.
Best Practices (2025)
Do:
- Use Brewfile: Commit a
Brewfileto your dotfiles repo.brew bundle dumpgenerates it. - Cleanup:
brew cleanupfrees up GBs of old versions. - Pin versions: If you need stability, use
brew pin postgresql@14.
Don't:
- Don't run as sudo: Homebrew manages permissions.