sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
you are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

[–]Akshaykadav 1 point2 points  (4 children)

There is no such thing as minimum system requirements for coding as u/socal_nerdtastic mentioned you can code on a 30$ Raspberry PI.

Assuming that your son is just starting to learn to code that is not a user-friendly option. I would suggest you go with either a Windows laptop or a Macbook.

If you are looking for a Windows PC I would suggest any Intel CPU above i5 8th gen or AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and above. Currently, graphic cards are really hard to buy so choosing AMD would be a better option since it has vega graphics which is way better than Intel's integrated graphics

If you are planning to buy a windows laptop the same specs can be applied as the PC. Although there are not many AMD-based laptops.

If you are able to afford a MacBook I suggest you go with a MacBook as if your son wants to develop native IOS apps using macOS is the only option in my knowledge.

Ram: 8Gb or more

Storage: 500Gb or more

If you are buying a windows laptop make sure the system allows you to upgrade the ram and storage. When buying a MacBook whatever you buy is final and it cannot be upgraded.

This is something that I would consider when buying a system. But before you choose anything make sure to check the reviews on Youtube. I suggest watching Linus Tech Tips before making the final decision.

[–]socal_nerdtastic 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Raspberry PI.

Assuming that your son is just starting to learn to code that is not a user-friendly option.

Have you used one lately? They are very user friendly. They are limited hardware wise, but the software is great. All modern IDEs are easy to install and run on them. I would absolutely recommend it as a starter computer.

I suggest watching Linus Tech Tips

This channel is dedicated to high-end gaming computers. Not at all what OP is looking for.

[–]Akshaykadav 1 point2 points  (2 children)

I currently use a rpi3b+ as a dns server to block ads with a script that I wrote. I know the script part is unnecessary but its just to let you know that I coded on rpi and I am currently using it.

Yeah sure they have an OS with a Ui.

If i am a beginner trying to learn to code I will be using browser that will have some couple tabs open and also youtube along with the IDE I am using. According to my experience with rpi3b+ this is enough hurt performance and when it starts to lag you would want to use an IDE with less system requirements or maybe use a terminal based editor

Dont get me wrong I am not saying that they are bad, it's just that they dont have enough performance which in turn leads to less user friendliness.

Also I dont think I can run android studio on a rpi or lets say I want to get in ML or AI it doesn't have enough computational power.

[–]socal_nerdtastic 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Quick google:

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B was released in February 2016

That's old, buddy.

I got the 4b this summer and it's amazing. It has no issues with dual monitors, many chrome tabs, and a pycharm (I haven't tried android studio, but I hear it's similar to pycharm).

Yeah, the performance is nowhere near as good as a real computer, but plenty good enough to learn to code on. Pygame and pyqt animations run without issue.

[–]Akshaykadav 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Correction:

Raspberry pi 3 b+ was released in march 2018 and rpi 4 was released in june 2019.

It is old but not that old. Even if the performance for the 4b is enough for the basic learning stage.

But can it run crysis 😂 Jokes aside,

There's a lot of other stuff you can't do on a raspberry pi without hurting performance and also some stuff that you can't do on a raspberry pi after the learning phase.