[15yearoldCoder]

I'm new here. My mentor who is teaching me programming told me to join this site in case I needed some answers for questions that he couldn't answer. I have a questions that he couldn't answer. Do I use a mac or PC to develop my programs? I keep seeing more programmers and CS students around my town using macs and I am confused. Is it easier to develop on the mac? I have a MacBook and a laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit. Can someone help me? Mac or PC?

[macosxnerd101]

Hi 15yearoldCoder, and welcome to Dream.in.Code! I'm going to move your topic to the Corner Cubicle for more discussion.

As for your question, it really depends on the language. Macs support a number of languages well, including Python, Ruby, PHP, and Objective-C. Apple is no longer going to be producing JVM's for the Mac platform, but you won't have a problem working with Java 6 (the most current, non-beta release of Java). There are also many other languages out there with tools to allow you to develop on a Mac. If you are working on the .NET platform, I'd lean more towards Windows, as Microsoft designed the .NET platform to be Windows-specific. Note that you can develop in the above-mentioned languages on Windows, though you might find it more difficult to find good tools to work with Objective-C on.

What language do you want to work in?

[15yearoldCoder]

I just finished learning Small Basic since I'm a beginner but I'm beginning to learn VB. I plan on learning more languages as I go on. I learn in Windows more than I do in mac. I don't really use my mac that much, just for media editing and some applications. Thanks for the help. The thing I'm just confused on is why some CS students choose mac instead of PC. I'm in high school and just wanna know so I can prepare for college.

[macosxnerd101]

Personal preference, I guess. Some colleges have certain requirements or recommendations for computers, also. In CS departments, Java tends to be the predominant language taught, so platform isn't a big deal there.

If you're working in VB.NET, then Windows is the better choice.

[no2pencil]

If you are coding system programs, then the platform that you are coding for would dictate the machine to use. Obviously you wouldn't want to code on a PC for mac & vise versa. If you are coding for the web then it's 100% completely personal preference.

It wouldn't hurt to code in an IDE on the system that your target audience would use. But this is more of a browser consideration.

[Dogstopper]

If you are using VB and are more comfortable with a Windows machine, I would go for VB.NET and C# (both are .NET technologies) and since you are using Windows, as you said you liked, you will enjoy it more.

[15yearoldCoder]

I'm learning VB.Net and I wanted to learn programming for web coding and developing applications. Thanks for all the help by the way. I was going to get rid of my mac but I think I might keep it around for a while in case I will be developing mac programs since I want to learn on both platforms and I already know Linux inside out.

I was watching a video on careers at Facebook and it seemed like every employee had a mac which started my question. Are mac used in companies to develop software more than pc or are they used equally?

[macosxnerd101]

You'll probably see Windows more for desktop development, Macs for iPhone/iPad app shops, and Linux for servers.

[nooblet]

no2pencil, on 11 December 2010 - 06:22 PM, said:

If you are coding for the web then it's 100% completely personal preference.

I somewhat disagree with this statement. For the most part, you certainly can code for the web on either Windows or Mac but there is a reason the majority of the valley chooses to use a Mac (a pretty staggering number when you look at most of the valley coders). There are some key advantages on coding for the web on a Mac including simple things like having terminal built into the OS, etc. It's not really 100% personal preference although a large portion of it is. There are some advantages regardless and they shouldn't be ignored.

[no2pencil]

In regards to coding for Web Development, what can I do at a Mac OSX terminal that I couldn't do at my Linux or FreeBSD terminal?

What does a Mac provide that my Linux or FreeBSD PC does not?

I think there is some general disregard of operating system choice when talking about a Personal Computer. If the subject (of argument) is in fact Windows, then it should be said in such as MacOSX vs Windows, & not Mac vs PC. They are two separate discussions.

[Gorian]

@No2 Thank You!
Any computer that is not merely a workstation or terminal to a mainframe is a PC (Personal Computer) A Mac (Proprietary Personal Computer running an OS sold by Apple) is a PC. A computer running Windows is a PC. A computer running Linux is a PC. A computer running OpenSolaris, is a PC. Etc Etc Etc.

Should be: Mac vs. Windows

[Sergio Tapia]

Personally, if you're going to learn to lead into web development, I'd go for a Linux Mint install.

Get some PHP on that thing, install Aptana Studio / Geany and get coding. Plus you'll learn how to use Linux, a very necessary skill to have.

[15yearoldCoder]

nooblet, on 11 December 2010 - 10:49 PM, said:

no2pencil, on 11 December 2010 - 06:22 PM, said:

If you are coding for the web then it's 100% completely personal preference.

I somewhat disagree with this statement. For the most part, you certainly can code for the web on either Windows or Mac but there is a reason the majority of the valley chooses to use a Mac (a pretty staggering number when you look at most of the valley coders). There are some key advantages on coding for the web on a Mac including simple things like having terminal built into the OS, etc. It's not really 100% personal preference although a large portion of it is. There are some advantages regardless and they shouldn't be ignored.

I was puzzled at that when I saw the amount of people using mac for a company that I thought would be using windows.

Sergio Tapia, on 12 December 2010 - 04:52 AM, said:

Personally, if you're going to learn to lead into web development, I'd go for a Linux Mint install.

Get some PHP on that thing, install Aptana Studio / Geany and get coding. Plus you'll learn how to use Linux, a very necessary skill to have.

Thanks. I keep that in mind

I'm sorry if anyone got confused. I was leaning to learn which platform was better for developing mobile, web and desktop applications and why it seems more programmers are using Macs to develop those apps. This is not a which computer is better, it is which platform is better to use for developing the said applications. Web, Mobile and Desktop.

I will be taking Linux into consideration. The languages I am learning and want to learn are VB.Net(learning). The rest that I want to learn are Perl, Java, Python, Lisp, Ruby, PHP, HTML, ASP, Javascript, SQL, C++, C#, C, XML, CSS, MYSQL, Objective-C, and XHTML. They are in order in which I will learn so after learning VB.Net, I'm moving on to Perl which I think Linux comes in handy during that time. I want to know which platform/s can handle all those languages and offers the best development experience.

[moopet]

no2pencil, on 12 December 2010 - 06:05 AM, said:

In regards to coding for Web Development, what can I do at a Mac OSX terminal that I couldn't do at my Linux or FreeBSD terminal?

What does a Mac provide that my Linux or FreeBSD PC does not?

I think there is some general disregard of operating system choice when talking about a Personal Computer. If the subject (of argument) is in fact Windows, then it should be said in such as MacOSX vs Windows, & not Mac vs PC. They are two separate discussions.

The OP states that he has a Mac and a Windows machine. So regardless of whether another OS would work, he already has and is comfortable with those.

Personally I'd say get used to coding in both environments. You'll need Windows for some of the MS-specific things, OSX for the APple-specific things. All other things being equal, the Mac is in my opinion a much better development environment, but there you go.

[SpeedisaVirus]

Think you guys are getting a litle off focus. The op has a penchant for VB...which means he needs to learn VB.NET which will always be better on windows. Don't say mono. Its not complete.

The mac v windows thing is a no win. Both have their pluses and minuses. It petty much evens out. I like having the terminal built in on mmac but its nothing I. Can't resolve in windows through either installing the terminal tools or using a Linux vm\dual boot.