Computer hardware.
What's the minimum spec computer you need
to go through a typical programming course
and just to programme in general?
Let's talk about that in today's video.
(lively music)
Welcome back, my name is Tim Buchalka
with another programming tip of the day.
And we're talking computer hardware
and what a typical configuration is
or the minimal configuration
to be able to go through a typical programming course
and just to programme in general.
Well I'd say in general these days
that most modern computers that have been manufactured
over the last three or four years
be they Windows machines, Linux machines or a Mac
you should be fairly safe with those.
The only stipulation I would make there
is to try and aim to have at least
eight gigabytes of RAM in your computer.
Now a lot of computers these days still come
with four gigabytes as a base
but with today's software using lots of memory,
they're quite complex tools
'cause they help you to produce rich applications
they need a lot of memory to operate.
So try and make sure that you spec'd sufficiently
for eight gigabytes or even more of RAM.
I got a bit crazy I guess because I'm a geek
I've got 128 gig of RAM in my computer
which is definitely overkill for most people.
But eight gigabytes of RAM
I would say to me that's the minimum amount of RAM
you wanna have just to make it a no-brainer
that you're not gonna have problems.
So if you running less than that
if you've got like four gigabytes of RAM
what's gonna happen?
Well depending on the platform you're targeting
you might find things are really really slow.
So things will take a long time to load,
there will be noticeable delays when you type
and it will just be a very frustrating experience.
So it's not to say that you won't be able to programme
but the experience won't be nice.
So I would suggest for that reason eight gigabytes of RAM
and a relatively modern computer and you'll be good to go.
Now if you're talking specific configurations of Windows,
I'm not gonna go into video cards
or processes any more than to say
that a relatively modern CPU perhaps an i5 or higher
something like that of that nature will be fine.
And if you don't know what that means
just try and target a relatively recent computer
and make sure you're not choosing
the bottom of the rung computer.
In terms of laptops I would go for a relatively new one
but it's got basically got enough memory
that's the most important thing.
And if you're on a desktop I would do the same thing
again make sure that your memory's there
but also getting back to the desktop and laptop,
screen size is important as well.
This is a factor when you're learning how to programme,
the more screen real estate you've got
in other words the larger the screen,
the better it's going to be.
So you've got to factor in that too
you're gonna be watching a video and hopefully typing along.
So it would be great if you had a monitor
in a sufficient resolution to be able to watch the video
and to have enough space left on your screen
to be able to type it in.
Now it's not to say you can't watch a bit of the video,
pause it and tab over to your IDE, the editor you're using
to type in the code and do it that way
but it's a lot better if you've got a large monitor.
So if your budget can afford to spend extra on a monitor
I would certainly recommend you do that.
If you're on a laptop consider
buying a cheap external monitor and plugging that in.
That way you can actually watch the video
on the external monitor and do your programming
on the laptop screen itself.
And likewise for a desktop
if you haven't got a large monitor
consider getting a second one or invest in a large one
but obviously see how you go first.
But in an optimal scenario
I would suggest you had two monitors
or one monitor large enough
that you can actually see both things at once.
All right so that's important, memory is important
but also to a degree it's dependent on what you're targeting
so in other words if you're targeting Apple's iOS
so in other words the iPhone, the iPad
or even targeting Mac itself to write Mac applications
that would generally necessitate the need
for you to have a Mac
and that's because the Apple development tools
to produce iPad, iPhone and Mac applications are Mac-based.
So keep that in mind, do some research
before you basically know what you're going to programme in
or programme for, make sure that you've got the right hardware
for that so in the case of Mac,
buy a Mac if you wanna target Mac, iPhone or iPad.
There are exceptions to that part I just really quickly
I don't wanna get too far off track,
you can build something called a Hackintosh
which is a cheap way to get into a Mac
but there is legal issues there which I won't go into
but you can search for the term Hackintosh
if you want more information on that.
But memory is really the most important thing
I would focus on that first and your screen size
and other than that if you've got a relatively
modern computer you should be good to go.
Right and if you've got any other questions
relating to computer hardware
feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best
to address those here as well.
All righty so I hope that helped.
If you've got any questions feel free to leave a comment
and I'll get back to you.
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