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I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

yieldthought.com

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Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#12

One fateful day, VMWare and OS/X conspired to trash my shared filesystem, losing several days of uncommitted code in the process. Several days of uncommitted code? We need to have a heart to heart talk about your process.

This is really true. Back then we were still using CVS, and I was writing a feature that I thought wasn't quite big enough to branch and remerge for, but turned out to be a bit more involved to get right than I'd thought.

Now we're on Mercurial and life is better.

Edit: A nice win with the Linode is that they back it up for me for $5 a month. Sure, there are solutions for the desktop too, but somehow I never got around to using one of those.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#13
post #3

I'm a big fan of tmux* and vim but there's a limit to the complexity of system that you can develop efficiently with vim. A good graphical IDE used by a skilled operator will be more likely to generate correct, consistent code faster. If you're using vim and think you're developing as well and as fast as you can, you're probably wrong. * 17 years of screen and I've finally switched over to tmux. None of the features…

I respectfully disagree, or partially, anyway.

I've been developing software in Vim, Netbeans, and Visual Studio (with about a year or so of Eclipse thrown in for good measure).

I've worked on projects in all three ranging from tiny 1kloc one-offs to several million line systems, using C, C++, Java, Bash, and a smattering of Perl and Python.

For Java and C++ code bases beyond a few thousand lines, I certainly agree that language aware tools are invaluable. It's sad that C++'s nature makes such tools so difficult to build. Going from Netbeans/Java to Netbeans or VS C++ is like going back in time - not quite laser scalpel to flint knife, but sometimes it feels like it!

Fortunately, I spend the bulk of my time in C, where I find myself at least as effective in Vim as in either Netbeans or VS. Granted, I obviously do use a few additional tools - primarily ctags and make.

If vim only had fully language aware navigation and search, I think I'd be just as effective in it as in any IDE. Exuberant ctags comes close, but just isn't quite there, and cscope is just too clumsy and slow.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#15
Looking at the setup of the iPad on your table with the keyboard gave me neck ache. I can't imagine what that does to you on a daily basis.

Interesting experiment, I don't think I could ever move to doing something like that permanently.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#16
Anyone tried to do this as a web developer? I know theres an app or two geared towards being a web dev environment, the one good one i found (its called Gusto on the app store) i didnt get to test properly because it didnt support SFTP yet (due to apple requiring some permission from the gov or something, not technical limitation).

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#17
post #3

I'm a big fan of tmux* and vim but there's a limit to the complexity of system that you can develop efficiently with vim. A good graphical IDE used by a skilled operator will be more likely to generate correct, consistent code faster. If you're using vim and think you're developing as well and as fast as you can, you're probably wrong. * 17 years of screen and I've finally switched over to tmux. None of the features…

tmux: is it faster because it's more efficient about sending updates to the terminal, or are you talking about server-side resource usage?

I certainly wouldn't say no to a more responsive terminal.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#18

Can you really write code efficiently on such a small (9.7") screen?

I've written many tens of thousands of lines of C on my netbook, which has a 10.1" screen, also using Vim, so I believe it's possible.

Still, I'd really like just a smidge more space, especially in the vertical. At least 168 pixels, to be specific.

That's one advantage he has with the iPad - he can easily switch between portrait and landscape, depending upon his needs.

I'd love to be able to occasionally turn my netbook screen to portrait!

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#20

One fateful day, VMWare and OS/X conspired to trash my shared filesystem, losing several days of uncommitted code in the process. Several days of uncommitted code? We need to have a heart to heart talk about your process.

This is really true. Back then we were still using CVS, and I was writing a feature that I thought wasn't quite big enough to branch and remerge for, but turned out to be a bit more involved to get right than I'd thought. Now we're on Mercurial and life is better. Edit: A nice win with the Linode is that they back it up for me for $5 a month. Sure, there are solutions for the desktop too, but somehow I never got arou…

There are two kinds of programmers: Those who’ve earned their experience the hard way, and insufferable know-it-alls who parrot whatever was in the last witty blog post they read.

There’s zero shame in being the first kind :-)

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