Dotfiles

A collection of personal configuration files, shell scripts, and utilities used to create a consistent development environment across multiple machines.

The goal of this repository is to make setting up a new workstation simple and repeatable while keeping configuration under version control.

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Purpose

This repository contains:

• Bash configuration files
• Git configuration
• Shell aliases and helper functions
• Personal command-line utilities
• Project creation templates and automation scripts

Rather than storing copies of software-provided files (such as Git's git-prompt.sh), this repository only contains personal configuration. Whenever possible, it references tools already installed on the system.

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Repository Layout

dotfiles/
│
├── bash/
│   ├── .bash_profile
│   ├── .bashrc
│   ├── .bash_aliases
│   └── bin/
│       ├── create-python-project.sh
│       ├── pullall
│       └── ...
│
└── git/
    ├── .gitconfig
    └── .gitignore_global

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Included Components

Bash Configuration

The shell configuration follows the standard Bash startup process.

• .bash_profile

  • Entry point for login shells
  • Loads .bashrc

• .bashrc

  • Interactive shell configuration
  • Adds personal ~/bin directory to the PATH
  • Loads Git completion and prompt support
  • Loads .bash_aliases

• .bash_aliases

  • Personal aliases
  • Shell helper functions
  • Development shortcuts

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Personal Scripts

The bin directory contains reusable command-line utilities.

Examples include:

• create-python-project.sh

  • Creates a standardized Python project structure
  • Initializes Git
  • Creates a virtual environment
  • Installs common packages
  • Generates starter files

• pullall

  • Updates all Git repositories contained in child folders.

Additional utilities may be added over time.

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Git Configuration

The git folder contains user-specific Git configuration files, such as:

• .gitconfig
• Global .gitignore

Git-supplied helper scripts (such as git-prompt.sh) are not stored here. Instead, the Bash configuration references the versions installed with Git for Windows.

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Development Environment

This repository is primarily intended for:

• Windows 11
• Git for Windows (Git Bash)
• Visual Studio Code
• Python
• PostgreSQL
• SQL Server (when required)

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Installation

Clone the repository.

Copy the desired configuration files into your home directory.

Typical files include:

~/.bash_profile
~/.bashrc
~/.bash_aliases
~/bin/

Reload Bash:

source ~/.bashrc

or simply open a new Git Bash session.

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Design Philosophy

The repository follows a few guiding principles:

• Keep configuration separate from installed software.
• Automate repetitive setup tasks.
• Use standard Unix/Bash conventions whenever practical.
• Favor portable, reusable scripts over machine-specific configuration.
• Keep the repository clean, documented, and easy to extend.

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Future Plans

Planned additions include:

• Additional project creation templates

  • Python + PostgreSQL
  • Python + SQL Server
  • API projects
  • Command-line utilities

• Additional developer utilities

• Database helper scripts

• Backup and restore scripts

• Improved shell prompt customization

• Workstation bootstrap documentation

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License

This repository is intended for personal use, but portions may be reused or adapted for other development environments as needed.