Homebrew

What it is

Homebrew is a package manager: a command-line tool that installs, updates and removes software for you. On a Mac, brew install jq fetches and installs a tool, brew upgrade updates everything, and brew install --cask installs graphical apps such as editors and browsers. Its site states that it supports macOS (Sonoma 14 and newer), Linux and Windows Subsystem for Linux, as of 2026-09.

Why developers use it

macOS does not ship a package manager for command-line tools. Without one, you end up downloading installers from many websites, with no easy way to update or remove them. Homebrew gives you one consistent place for all of it, and makes a new laptop quick to set up: many developers keep a list of their brew packages, or a Brewfile, in their dotfiles.

Installing it

The official install command is on brew.sh; you paste it into Terminal and it explains what it will do before it does it. It installs into /opt/homebrew on Apple silicon Macs and /usr/local on Intel Macs. At the end, the installer prints a line to add to your shell profile so the brew command is on your PATH. Skipping that step is the most common reason people see "command not found" afterwards. Homebrew needs the Xcode Command Line Tools and will offer to install them.

Everyday commands

• brew install git jq tree to install tools
• brew update and brew upgrade to refresh and upgrade
• brew list to see what is installed
• brew uninstall tree to remove a tool
• brew doctor to diagnose problems

Is it worth it?

For Mac developers, yes: it is the standard way to install development tools, and almost every setup guide assumes it. On Linux your distribution's package manager usually comes first, though Homebrew can be handy for newer versions of some tools.

Common questions

Is it safe? It is a long-running open-source project with its own maintainers and public source code. As with any installer, copy the command only from brew.sh itself.

Does it cost anything? No. Homebrew is free and open source.

Should I use it for Python or Node versions? It can install them, but many developers use a version manager such as pyenv or nvm when projects need different versions. Avoid installing the same language several ways.