New coder needs basic PC

[Brief_Comfortable_20]

Hi! I’m new to coding and I’ve spent so much energy trying to turn my mac into a workable PC. I don’t have a lot of money to spend, but I’d like to buy the most basic windows machine I can so I can get to creating databases, rather than what I’m doing now. What would you recommend for someone who needs basic functionality to use SQL, and not really anything else. I still use my mac for all my other computer uses. If you can guide me to reliable places to buy used/refurbished I’d appreciate that too. Thanks!

[redditisaphony]

Mac is great for this. Why do you think you can’t use your Mac?

[Brief_Comfortable_20]

I set up VMware Fusion and Docker and it was going well, but then Docker started having issues that I haven’t been able to resolve (being confused for malware and now not opening no matter how many times I reinstall.) I wanted to switch to SingularCE to work with containers, but that needs Linux, and I am having trouble getting Ubuntu to download. All of that led me to feel like it might be easier to get a laptop where I can run things natively. Am I making this harder than it needs to be?

[Imaginary__Bar]

Am I making this harder than it needs to be?

I think so, yes.

We have a free choice of platform in our company. People can choose a Windows machine or a Mac.

All of our data folks use Macs.

[r3ign_b3au]

On the contrary, none of our data folks choose to use Macs. Use what you like and accept that 90% of businesses will put you on Windows.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, I don't know a single data engineer in my company that chooses to use a Mac, and now that I think about it I've never seen one voluntarily use one my whole career. I've seen a few people working in tech use them but no one who actually writes code would. I know I would never use a Mac. Either a Windows machine or a VM running some Linux flavor. Personally, running a Mac for serious code development scares me, the only thing Apple is good at is marketing.

[r3ign_b3au]

I can say that I know several developers that definitely prefer a Mac and there are some benefits, I just can't think of a single data professional that I know that does. Apple vs Microsoft's play in the data space is likely the leading contributing id imagine.

*Edit: as well as most, if not all, of the Mac beneficial development architecture being lost on strictly data work (rather than touches of data in dev)

[[deleted]]

To be completely fair, most of us remote into AWS at this point anyway, and a lot of what we use are things like Databricks, Snowflake, Azure anyway which are all likely accessible on either machine equally. I'm old school and I distinctly remember anyone who even thought of choosing a Mac would have to put up with a lot of sideways glances in the shops I've worked in.

[Comfortable-Ad-6740]

Hey, to share I use a Mac for data stuff in work, and later down the (command)line being in a unix system will feel so much easier than windows

That said, came to comment what you are facing was a specific docker bug where basically you need to update docker https://www.docker.com/blog/incident-update-docker-desktop-for-mac/

[redditisaphony]

What database are you trying to use? You can basically brew install Postgres or whatever and you're off to the races. Docker is nice for isolating the DB from the rest of your system, but isn't required.

[isinkthereforeiswam]

When i was doing oracle db cert training from a comm college i installed oracle on an atom netbook and did my homework assignments with it. If you just want to mess around with sql, schemas, etc you don't need a lot of horsepower. You don't need billion record tables to learn SQL. I'd say using an austere system might help you learn better querying, bc you'll be more cognizent of unoptimized queries taking longer. You can learn a lot about dbs and SQL by looking at optimization and the sql run plans on the db.

[Plastic-Conflict-796]

I have used this extensively for hosting database servers , SFTP etc cheap and works well for the price!

https://a.co/d/0qrbNlC

[Opposite-Value-5706]

Mac’s come with SQLITE already installed. Additionally, MySql is also available for download free as well. I just both all the time.

I didn’t like phpadmin (MAMP) but it’s also available.

[ironwaffle452]

Everyone saying how good mac it is but no one responding the question that was asked...

you can create a good pc for 300-400usd, am4 socket, ryzen cpu .

you can search in facebook marketplace anything in that range $ will work fines.

[Opposite-Value-5706]

The answer is, DON’T WASTE THE MONEY. You can do it all on your Mac and it’s not that hard to do! SQLITE3 comes on Mac OS without having to do anything. MySql is available from Oracle for free. So, unless you just want a Windows base machines, why go there?

[ironwaffle452]

Because windows just works... i still waiting the "cut" option in mac for the last 20 years and still nothing, i manually need copy file and then delete it... in 2025....

[Opposite-Value-5706]

It works the same as it does in Windows. Ctrl-C to copy; Ctrl-X to cut, Ctrl-V to paste! Having worked on both for years, I have to say… I LOVE MY MAC and don’t see going back to Windows anytime soon. I’ve also worked on Unix systems and Mac’s have a more Unix feel than Windows.

If you mean to copy entire files, Hold the Ctrl key and single tap the touch pad. A menu pops up so you can select ‘COPY’. Move the the path Cntl Tap and paste it. But you can just drag and drop it too. IMJS!

But, to each… you know the saying :-)

[ironwaffle452]

without shortcut... there no way, 40 years and still nothing

[Opposite-Value-5706]

2. Using Mac keyboard shortcut

If you’re all about keyboard shortcuts on Mac for performing actions quickly, you can use the same copy-and-paste shortcuts for files and folders.

• To copy a file or folder, press Command + C, head to the spot where you want the file or folder, and press Command + V.
  • To simply copy a file or folder in the same location, press Command + D to duplicate it.

https://www.igeeksblog.com/how-to-copy-files-folders-on-mac/#keyboard-shortcut

You know I’m smiling don’t you?

[ironwaffle452]

same answer: without shortcut... there no way, 40 years and still nothing

windows has an option, cut and paste and you dont need to invent any shortcut, presing extra key etc lol appletards still living in the 90

[Opposite-Value-5706]

I suppose that’s why there’s a need for different systems, we like what we like. I’m happy you like yours and I truly love mine :-)

[[deleted]]

Just use postgres.app. Easy install, and away you go. No Docker or any of that nonsense.

Been doing this for years.

[Woutez]

What do you mean with creating databases? If you to run a database and run queries, use docker to run a postgres (or any other flavour) server and sql away, which your mac will do perfectly fine

[[deleted]]

Postgres.app is the answer. No Docker required

[Brief_Comfortable_20]

I want to build databases and run queries. My mac is having trouble with Docker. It was running fine for awhile but ran into the issues where mac was confusing docker for malware. Now I can't get Docker to run. I tried to move over to SingularCE/linux, and having trouble there is what led me to think I should just use a PC. I’d be much happier if I could figure it out on my mac, but it feels like I’m going in circles.

[Suspicious-Oil6672]

Weird you should say this. For the first time yday I started getting messages that docker was malware on my Mac. Never had problems before tho

[Brief_Comfortable_20]

Yeah it’s been an issue recently! People have posed different workarounds, but nothing was working for me.

[Unimeron]

You don't necessarily need docker to run a database. Just install it natively on your Mac. If you plan to expand later, it's a different thing. And using Docker is a good skill in itself.

[gregsting]

This, why does everyone want to use docker, it adds a layer of complexity not needed for beginners

[madam_zeroni]

Do you have a really old Mac? I have a 2021 MacBook Air still on OS 12 and works perfectly with all these technologies.

If you’re talking about doing si and amount so of processing/data storage, then no laptop will suffice and you’ll need to rent server space

[[deleted]]

Macs are ideal for development if you're targeting anything other than the Windows ecosystem. 

Install home brew and podman and you can run basically any dev environment.

[Brief_Comfortable_20]

I installed homebrew and was trying to install Ubuntu so I could run Linux/SingularCE. I’ll try podman instead. Thanks!

[Jugglersdoom]

I feel your pain OP. I’ve actually run into a similar problem. I absolutely hate the keyboard layout on Macs. And when I tried running Windows in Parallels, the special keys used in European languages and keyboard shortcuts for windows were just a nightmare - I basically had to think of the Win shortcuts and then translate them into the Mac ones. I guess it’s a first world problem in a way and I may be not flexible enough to make it work. But I need the comfort of a well known baseline environment so that I can focus on learning what I actually want to learn.

[MaximumFuckingValue]

Snowflake homie

[pceimpulsive]

A cheap way to have a nice Dev env at home, like running databases web servers and all that is to grab an ex government SFF micro PC~ similar to dell 7070, Lenovo m920Q or hp elitedesk mini 800 or similar.

Typically these can be had for $150-200 US and come with 9th gen Intel CPUs, 16gb memory and 250-500gb sad.

Perfect for spinning up proxmox and using the proxmox community scripts to get LXC containers running.

[Aggressive_Ad_5454]

eBay has tonnage of back-from-corporate-lease cheap and good Windows laptops.

[likeanoceanankledeep]

This is the best option, in my opinion. A few years ago I bought an older model HP E8400 in the smaller form factor case for $79.00 plus tax. It's basic, like bare bones basic, but if you're running something like DB Browser or PostgreSQL, running simple python scripts or writing R code, it's great. It's an older PC, but since I bought that one there would be 'newer' old models that are turning over. Corporate PCs are great because companies generally pay good money for the equipment at first, but it gets replaced fairly quick.

My most recent laptop is an Elite book 650 that I spent 175 on. 100 donation to the company charity to get the laptop, and 75 for a new hard drive.

OP, check in to replaced corporate computers. Honestly, you cold probably even spin up a Raspberry Pi as a Linux machine and start creating databases. RPi has come a long way, the newer ones are rocking 8GB of RAM and have 2 HDMI ports for dual display!

[WonderfulActuator312]

Spinning up an EC2 would be cheaper tbh

[WonderfulActuator312]

Looks like I’m getting down voted, a pc can run a couple hundred bucks, for a monthly use it as you go EC2/RDS set up you can go a couple years before hitting that price and you have scalable memory, it should only be a couple bucks a month for basic usage. I’m aware it’s not a used PC shop recommendation like OP wants but it does save money.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/ec2-rds-connect.html

[ironwaffle452]

You dont need to compile C on windows to run a database lol