Best Coders Computer in 2023?

[@busyrand]

Took the leap into Linux Mint as my daily driver after my Windows 10 setup crashed... Much of it is over hyped in terms of ease of use because everything has a learning curve... However, it's made me a better developer because you'll have to think like a programmer in order to even get the basic tools needed for codit up and running. I had to learn enough to be an intermediate professional user of the command line so I can understand error messages, and troubleshoot ownership and read/write/execute permissions on files and folders.

[@abdelrahmandwedar]

I have somewhat similar experience here.

[@bdkamil95]

True. It’s the same story for any Unix like environment. That makes macOS another great option. And being able to use system shell is super helpful and really necessary for any (especially backend) dev. You just have to know how things work in Unix. That’s not really the case for windows which is totally different and not compatible with others.

[@wchristian2000]

Finally someone said it

[@BrianKarmo]

The only perk I see with an apple is the built-in features as well as never getting a virus Apple has some very well securities in place in terms of getting viruses or hacks etc otherwise like this man said it makes us a better programmer to have a Windows computer because you have to actually go out and find the tools needed and set up those files and programs within the windows ecosystem which is a lot better in my opinion compared to Apple especially since you got the ability to upgrade the CPU and add additional RAM and change out your GPUs etc

[@bdkamil95]

@@BrianKarmo none of those things you said makes any sense. Really. You’re just starting with CS, right?

[@aneesahthequeen]

We’re blessed to have you thanks for all you do❤️

[@StefanMischook]

I appreciate that

[@thelouiscastillo1358]

That Mac Mini M2 is such a great value for programmers if you're not looking to get a laptop!

[@redpillsatori3020]

I watched that recent Marques Brown video on it. Really does seem like a great value for the price.

[@CristianDatu]

For flexibility, I'd go for Windows + WSL. Macs are not bad, but compiling docker containers for use in AWS is, for now, not smooth. I always compile for my colleague that's on a mac, because of the architecture. Based on this, I recommend a laptop, with 32-64G ram (for running Docker without trouble). My old machine had 16, still works, but it struggles and a lot of swapping involved. Also, if you can, treat yourself to something you desire. There's nothing worst than working 8-12 hours a day with things that you don't like. Happy coding! :D

[@vargonian]

I’m a game developer and gamer so I always lean toward a desktop for more power for the money. You can build a small form factor PC if you need to move it now and then.

[@guilherme5094]

For my personal use, Linux, openSUSE Leap 15.4. For work, whatever it takes.

[@bradgermain]

The real kicker here is the build quality of the devices themselves. I think the OS is less of an issue. Many of them can run VMs efficient enough to do work on any OS. If you're going with a laptop I think a MacBook is really hard to beat atm. The battery life and build quality is just insanely better than other PC builds.

[@michaelastl]

depends what you are doing. If you are more on the C#, .NET, C++ side... Windows machines are the best choice simple because of Visual Studio and the ecosystem that comes with it, just not worth going through the loops and hoops of seeting this stuff up on Linux or MacOS. For most everything else it does not really matter if you use MacOS or Linux. For beginners I would suggest a Windows machine because everything will run on it and you can focus on learning how to code instead of learning how to master the OS. Alltough it is in most cases important to have a bsiic understanding of Linux when it comes to devop stuff and deployment. (Linux is also free and open source - I love it!)

[@bdkamil95]

Actually learning on windows machine can be worse for beginners since a lot of things are different on the platform. Also not everything will easily work on it. It’s completely different than any Unix like OS (which is like 99% of machines running as servers). It’s actually more painful for developers - for example when you setup a tool, there’s always common manual for Linux and macOS and a completely different one for windows.

[@redpillsatori3020]

@@bdkamil95 .yeah and I think setting up a local web server is way easier on a UNIX-based machine. On Windows I think you have to use Putty and deal with that. Also, I don't know why (maybe it's the bad DPI scaling on Windows), but I think everything just looks all 90s-era, pixelated, and crappy on Windows--especially the Command Prompt terminal.

[@bdkamil95]

@@redpillsatori3020 agree. Windows shell is a nightmare. And windows cmd/powershell syntax is totally not compatible with anything that’s running on the web. It’s a pain. Everything is messed up starting with backslashes…

[@JDMorris81]

I run both Windows and Linux and 16gb ram performs just fine for my needs.

[@redpillsatori3020]

Depends on your use case. I think people who do 4K video rendering, or daily use Blender or something, would probably do well to get 32GB, although I agree that 99% of users should be OK with 16GB of RAM in 2023.

[@ohwow2074]

What OS is best for coding? The answer is pretty obvious: RubyOS

[@MadalinIgnisca]

I've been doing web development for ~13 years professionally and I'm into system engineering for like ~16 years now. Been using Linux since 1998... This year, when I'm next into some mobile application stuff, I'm about to say, I must switch to a mac, mini mac preferable. Although, using Linux for desktop, forced me in constantly learning and getting a lot of extra knowledge faster, my personal feeling.

[@notanomba4598]

I don't know much about Chrome OS ... but it sounds just like Ruby

[@StefanMischook]

LOL

[@redpillsatori3020]

ChromeOS is just a neutered, stripped-down, limited, locked-down, Google-owned, distro of Linux. Why anyone (aside from grandmas who just need to check their email once a day) uses it is beyond my comprehension.

[@driversteve9345]

I love my Dell XPS (9700) 17" laptop!! It has a 4k 100% Adobe RGB LED screen that has a matte finish and I think is comparable to the beautiful MacBook displays but without the glare! I bought the minimum 8Gb of ram and 500Gb ssd drive and the upgraded it myself to two 1Tb SSD's (yes, there's room for second M.2 slot) and 32Gb of ram. Still cost me $2,😭😭😭 but I never looked back! Still an awesome laptop that can do whatever you want!

[@bdkamil95]

Macs have HDR miniLED - it’s not comparable

[@driversteve9345]

@@bdkamil95 My display is HDR but not MiniLED as I think that came out after I bought the laptop. It doesn't matter to me anyways because what I got is a gorgeous looking screen that is crisp and has really excellent contrast and doesn't give me eye strain in the least! Again, I'm happy with it!

[@bdkamil95]

@@driversteve9345 it’s a very nice display, sure

[@haliszekeriyaozkok4851]

I use Asus Expertbook and i'm happy with it. It has 24 gb ram, It never warm up much, even if it runs through 2-3 days. It couldn't play ac valhalla properly though, except that that computer works fine. I made full-stack development with javascript without any problem.

[@aneesahthequeen]

😍😍❤️❤️💙💙Hey Stef! Noti-gang❤️

[@TheIgory1]

I used to be anti laptop for a while. I like a big screen and a good mechanical keyboard and mouse. But now days I just hook up my laptop to a external monitor (48" 4k tv) and have the best of both worlds. I would highly recommend a large screen. I usually have half of my screen with the editor open then a quarter with my database, and the other quarter has a browser. No more alt tab. One other thing I noticed when I move my eyes around the screen I don't get eye strain as on the small laptop screen.

[@dakoderii4221]

Laptops used to weak, unless you wanted a heavy laptop with poor battery time. They've come a long way.

[@TheIgory1]

@@dakoderii4221 Pricing out a desktop system now days I can't do much better than a gaming system from costco. Only thing about the gaming laptops is why are they so ugly?

[@dakoderii4221]

@@TheIgory1 Yeah but if I build my own computer, I know it is built right. A lot of these pre-built skimp out on things such as RAM by only providing one stick which forces the computer to operate in single channel mode. They skimp out many other ways too but the average consumer won't have any idea they left performance and value on the table.

[@cesarlapa]

The best computer for programming is mine: a Fujitsu Siemens Amilo Pro V3205, running Lubuntu.

[@nicosoftnt]

I had a different experience with the apple silicon macbooks. I was first using windows, a 32gb ram computer, I was using around 20gb of ram of daily usage. Then I moved into Linux Mint and the usage dropped to around 12 gb of ram. When I moved to a macbook Pro M1, I was using an average of 25 gb of ram and I had to get a macbook pro with 64 gb of ram. The reason for this (probably), is that software is not yet optimized for arm based macbooks. I've went through these changes between 2022 and 2023.

[@bdkamil95]

Prove or didn’t happen. Whole industry is already on ARM and everything works smoooooth. Also you don’t really understand how memory works on those SoCs, do you? You probably just overpaid and could even go with a 16gb one. The only exception would be if you run dozens of docker containers on a regular basis.

[@nicosoftnt]

@@bdkamil95 At the time I was using 2 docker containers, one for frontend and another one for backend, it's a shame I cannot prove this to you, I could have gotten a lot out of that, right? Well at least you can sleep tightly tonight, knowing that your 8gb/16gb mac runs smooooooth.

[@bdkamil95]

@@nicosoftnt lol

[@redpillsatori3020]

ARM/RISC architecture does tend to use more memory, which is why CISC (x86 machines) became the standard that we have today, since memory was way more expensive just 15 years ago. People say that Apple Silicon machines are efficient with memory, but I find that just having a browser and Docker Desktop running eats up most of my 16GB of RAM.

[@willalmur]

For anything platform agnostic development that does not require a specific OS or tool like how it is with xcode or windows uwp apps then Linux hands down offers the easiest and most cohesive development experience, especially for new developers. With linux you can get by copy pasting from some blog and most of the time it works. Setting up docker is also easier. There's more to say, but I think you should test it out yourself to get it. Of all linux distros I have seen, Fedora being the most stable and offers smoothest sail. However, I recommend not install the very latest version.

[@jk-fy8on]

Saying Windows machines requires more ram in order to satisfy many different manufacturers is kinda insane. Linux runs on vastly different kinds of machines too, and it takes up way less memory than windows.

[@warrenb2856]

If you are doing web development Dell XPS 13 with Ubuntu is great!

[@lifesfluff]

Thanks for this . Because my brother gave me an old 2017 Mac and everything I looked up said all I can do is email . And all the terrible things about it. But for a beginner wp designer … I’ve had very little issues with it

[@StefanMischook]

Glad I could help

[@redpillsatori3020]

Macbooks hold up well, but I've just heard too many horror stories about 2016-20 Macbooks because of the butterfly keyboard failing.

[@lifesfluff]

@@redpillsatori3020 hmm.. ya so far the only issue ive had is one of the speakers is buzzing and ive had it for maybe 6 moths

[@PaulSebastianM]

Developing on Windows is fine as long as you don't use MS stuff extensively, then you hit tons of configuration issues all the time. That's the only gripe I have with developing on Windows... also, I have already felt the limit of the 32GB RAM configuration... on Windows you probably need 64GB if you want to be future proof.

[@coderlady_]

I chose a desktop, it's way efficient, runs fast, the work is smooth , I can run multiple softwars at once easily without worrying of the crash or lagging .. :)

[@redpillsatori3020]

That's great if you don't have frequent power outages like in the country I live in.

[@coderlady_]

@@redpillsatori3020 no power problems here :)

[@poseidon8510]

Network or cloud , what you chose ?

[@SmileyJack.]

07:03 not fine for win11 very fine taste

[@SavageStephen]

you could code with a $50 computer, and nowadays you can use remote computing for heavy code

[@StefanMischook]

Remote computing ... yes, something I had not considered.

[@catholic_zoomer_br]

I was thinking of getting a 2 in 1, so I can really code on the go. I wish programming was better on mobile OSes

[@bdkamil95]

2 in 1 are poor for that use case. Just pick any 13-14” laptop with real keyboard. With 14 MacBook you get up to 20hrs on battery which is better than most semi mobile devices. And it has great keyboard.

[@paulnielson7007]

Heads up a few of your links are broken along with the landing page for your course. As of the time of this comment.

[@codingfuel]

Thoughts on Java or C# development on Linux?

[@StefanMischook]

You can do both, but Java I think is lower hanging fruit there.

[@redpillsatori3020]

Macbooks circa 2016-2020 were the worst, but ever since they introduced Apple Silicon (and ditched that awful Butterfly keyboard) the newer ones really are the best now for video editing and software development, imo. Just make sure to get an M1/M2 Pro or Max, because I don't think the 8GB RAM is enough if you're using Docker, and it costs $400 to upgrade to 16GB. Docker Desktop (on Windows and macOS) is really bloated and will use up like half of your available RAM. Linux doesn't use Docker Desktop (just CLI Docker), so not an issue there.

[@georgeosborn421]

In my experience u really need 32gb to use docker. I enter into swap memory pretty often running a Magento container

[@megaman2016]

SSDs don't become fragmented

[@StefanMischook]

Hmm … that’s a good point.

[@HotHeadCringe]

❤content

[@flowerofash4439]

why exactly people asking you this? i get it when people ask for keyboards or mouse for developers, but computers?

[@bdkamil95]

Whaaaat are you even talking about? Not a huge deal to install Unix packages on windows? Is that a joke? 😂 Windows architecture is completely NOT compatible with anything Unix related. Ever heard of POSIX? And don’t get me started with WSL… it’s a pain. Developing on windows bring a whole new set of problems. Even developer setup is a pain sometimes.

[@redpillsatori3020]

Yeah. I think if you're a dev in the USA or Canada you're better of using Linux or macOS--especially nowadays.

[@adamwright261]

You must be using a different version of Windows than everyone else

[@bdkamil95]

@@adamwright261 you wanna tell me that windows has anything to do with Unix? 😅

[@bdkamil95]

@@redpillsatori3020 I think that if you’re an engineer on the planet Earth, your better off using Linux or macOS (or any Unix like system). THE INTERNET runs on Unix like machines. And yes. It does matter. A lot.

[@adamwright261]

@@bdkamil95 WSL. It's great. Nothing is perfect.