Looking to invest in computer for relearning programming

Large Farva

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Jan 31, 2015
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Several years ago I attended college for computer science and dropped out without realizing how much I was going to regret that decision. Now I'm in need of a decent job and I'm considering reteaching myself programming because I don't have the time or money to go back to an actual school. I was thinking of taking some online courses and investing in some sort of mobile computer for when I'm on the bus or on breaks at my job. Does anyone know if a tablet or laptop would be more efficient or if I'm just wasting my time and resources either way?
 
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Nothing short of a midsized laptop will work for programming. Comfort is very, very important.

If weight is a concern but price is not, look into an Apple Macbook. These are excellent...

McHenryB

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A tablet is fairly useless for learning programming. You could view the tutorial information on it, but actual programming would be difficult or impossible. A cheap laptop would suit this purpose; it doesn't need to be anything special for simple programming.
 


Nothing short of a midsized laptop will work for programming. Comfort is very, very important.

If weight is a concern but price is not, look into an Apple Macbook. These are excellent development machines.

If price is a concern but you don't mind something a bit bulkier, look into business offerings from Dell or Lenovo.
 
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theCalcaholic

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Feb 6, 2015
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I would recommend a middle sized notebook. Depending on which development environment you will user later on, you might want to have at least a 15'' wide screen (especially if using something like Eclipse or even IntelliJ).

It's not totally on the matter, but I would strongly recommend the free courses of codeacademy.com as an entrypoint (if you're at least partially interested in web development that is).

Good luck!

EDIT: I forgot to mention this: A proper keyboard is essential. So tablets will not bring you very far.