5 ms·

> Get a real machine to work on. That MacBook Air you love for meeting hopping? Not it. Why do you think he said that?

by elwell 13y ago

victorhooi 13y ago
Maybe it depends on the sort of coding you're doing? And also how you use the computer. I have both a Macbook Air and Macbook Retina - I have to say, I much more enjoy the Retina - more RAM (16Gb) and it feels snappier to multi-task. I also tend to have a fair amount of browser tabs open (docs and stuff), so personal usage will influence things. The author is the CTO of MongoDB - which is written in C++ - so speculation - maybe waiting 3x longer for a compile (or whatever the multiple is) is annoying?
crazygringo 13y ago
Because he doesn't know what he's talking about. Some people say they need dual 30" monitors to code, I'm not going to disagree with their personal preferences. But other people (like myself) see zero difference in productivity between that and a 13" Macbook Air screen, which I've been coding on for years. The whole "real machine" thing is just ridiculous cowboy posturing, unless you're doing video game development or something. A Macbook Air is just fine for web development.
- elwell 13y ago
  Random question: I like "Test Your Vocab". Is it monetized in any way for you or just a good way to get your name out there?
  - crazygringo 13y ago
    Ha, thanks. Yes, for Brazilians (only, so far), at the end it leads to my language-software site, http://flipidiomas.com/us/en/ http://flipidiomas.com/us/en/
- Thirdegree 13y ago
  I love my macbook pro for coding, way better than doing it on my gaming windows machine.
- seivan 13y ago
  Five years now. It's perfect. One screen, one touch pad, one keyboard.
  - markrages 13y ago
    Yes, it's about focus. I'm never more productive than "emacs -fs" on my five-year old X60.
- shubb 13y ago
  Tiny screens, especially high res ones, are fine for coding. But working on laptops all day isn't great. If you code all day, you will probably develop back problems if you don't sit with good posture. You need to sit straight in a good chair, and look at a monitor at eye level about 2 arms lengths away. You need to type on a keyboard with good typing posture. If you don't, then you will be okay for a few years, and then you won't. I've seen RSI write off good programmers. It's pretty horrible - they build their lives and self esteem around a job, and then they can't do it. Bad RSI means that you can't touch a keyboard.
  - dreamdu5t 13y ago
    I've never seen any solid research linking slouching to back problems later in life. There's plenty of studies that correlate "bad" posture with discomfort, but none that I'm aware that correlate slouching with future back problems controlled by a group that does not slouch. I'd love to be corrected though.
    - shubb 13y ago
      You are right - I am basing this on my subjective experience. Also, I suspect that this is a problem if 80% of your time you are at a desk typing, but if you move around a lot, it's not going to be such a problem. That said, if you are coding at a desk all the time, a quick google finds research that backs up the posture -> injury thing.
- dinkumthinkum 13y ago
  No, I think you are coding on a budget or something. I have no idea. But you can increase your productivity once you move beyond coding in this small screens. You are being limited. Now, can you code amazing things on small screens and bad things on big ones? Well, this is a juvenile point. But, there is a difference and it is not cowboy posturing.
icedchai 13y ago
Probably because he's out-of-touch? You can get a MacBook Air with 8 gigs of RAM, Core i7, and an SSD, making it a real machine.
michaelochurch 13y ago
I found that ridiculous as well.
bhousel 13y ago
Because it's Dr. Dobbs Journal. They have been a joke for the past 15 years, imo.
- gaius 13y ago
  Ever since they stopped the print edition. Actually before that, since they had the sci-fi guy on the back page who every week would change the colour scheme of his wordprocessor and write a whole article about it.
Mikeb85 13y ago
Does seem a little strange, especially since it has a Unix environment and all the developer goodness that's available on *nix systems...

> Get a real machine to work on. That MacBook Air you love for meeting hopping? Not it. Why do you think he said that?

by elwell 13y ago

> Get a real machine to work on. That MacBook Air you love for meeting hopping? Not it. Why do you think he said that?

Maybe it depends on the sort of coding you're doing? And also how you use the computer. I have both a Macbook Air and Macbook Retina - I have to say, I much more enjoy the Retina - more RAM (16Gb) and it feels snappier to multi-task. I also tend to have a fair amount of browser tabs open (docs and stuff), so personal usage will influence things. The author is the CTO of MongoDB - which is written in C++ - so speculation - maybe waiting 3x longer for a compile (or whatever the multiple is) is annoying?

crazygringo 13y ago

Because he doesn't know what he's talking about. Some people say they need dual 30" monitors to code, I'm not going to disagree with their personal preferences. But other people (like myself) see zero difference in productivity between that and a 13" Macbook Air screen, which I've been coding on for years. The whole "real machine" thing is just ridiculous cowboy posturing, unless you're doing video game development or something. A Macbook Air is just fine for web development.

elwell 13y ago
Random question: I like "Test Your Vocab". Is it monetized in any way for you or just a good way to get your name out there?
- crazygringo 13y ago
  Ha, thanks. Yes, for Brazilians (only, so far), at the end it leads to my language-software site, http://flipidiomas.com/us/en/ http://flipidiomas.com/us/en/
Thirdegree 13y ago
I love my macbook pro for coding, way better than doing it on my gaming windows machine.
seivan 13y ago
Five years now. It's perfect. One screen, one touch pad, one keyboard.
- markrages 13y ago
  Yes, it's about focus. I'm never more productive than "emacs -fs" on my five-year old X60.
shubb 13y ago
Tiny screens, especially high res ones, are fine for coding. But working on laptops all day isn't great. If you code all day, you will probably develop back problems if you don't sit with good posture. You need to sit straight in a good chair, and look at a monitor at eye level about 2 arms lengths away. You need to type on a keyboard with good typing posture. If you don't, then you will be okay for a few years, and then you won't. I've seen RSI write off good programmers. It's pretty horrible - they build their lives and self esteem around a job, and then they can't do it. Bad RSI means that you can't touch a keyboard.
- dreamdu5t 13y ago
  I've never seen any solid research linking slouching to back problems later in life. There's plenty of studies that correlate "bad" posture with discomfort, but none that I'm aware that correlate slouching with future back problems controlled by a group that does not slouch. I'd love to be corrected though.
  - shubb 13y ago
    You are right - I am basing this on my subjective experience. Also, I suspect that this is a problem if 80% of your time you are at a desk typing, but if you move around a lot, it's not going to be such a problem. That said, if you are coding at a desk all the time, a quick google finds research that backs up the posture -> injury thing.
dinkumthinkum 13y ago
No, I think you are coding on a budget or something. I have no idea. But you can increase your productivity once you move beyond coding in this small screens. You are being limited. Now, can you code amazing things on small screens and bad things on big ones? Well, this is a juvenile point. But, there is a difference and it is not cowboy posturing.

icedchai 13y ago

Probably because he's out-of-touch? You can get a MacBook Air with 8 gigs of RAM, Core i7, and an SSD, making it a real machine.

michaelochurch 13y ago

I found that ridiculous as well.

bhousel 13y ago

Because it's Dr. Dobbs Journal. They have been a joke for the past 15 years, imo.

gaius 13y ago
Ever since they stopped the print edition. Actually before that, since they had the sci-fi guy on the back page who every week would change the colour scheme of his wordprocessor and write a whole article about it.

Mikeb85 13y ago

Does seem a little strange, especially since it has a Unix environment and all the developer goodness that's available on *nix systems...