Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

news.ycombinator.com

1–10 of 38 posts

Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#1
I have seen many developers from Google, Facebook and other companies and noticed that they were using Apple laptops. Why are they using only Apple laptops?

I will be using it for mainly Front End development and no, I won't use it for gaming. looking forward to hear from you guys (:

Re: Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#3
If you want to do any OSX or IOS development, you need a Mac. You could try to build a hackintosh but it's not easy to find a laptop that will fit the bill. MacBooks are a premium machine, nice hardware and keyboard. But they're not perfect. I've had trouble with them, and so have people I know. I use a hp machine, and it does quite nicely, but then I mostly develop windows software.

Re: Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#4
Most of the developers that build web/dev tools(@ Google, FB, Dropbox etc), cater so much for the Mac & linux. They neglect windows.

Just make sure you are not on Windows. For example I am on windows and have failed to start using Tensorflow because its developers (Google guys) claim the build system they use (Guava) does not support windows.

Re: Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#6
post #4

Most of the developers that build web/dev tools(@ Google, FB, Dropbox etc), cater so much for the Mac & linux. They neglect windows. Just make sure you are not on Windows. For example I am on windows and have failed to start using Tensorflow because its developers (Google guys) claim the build system they use (Guava) does not support windows.

Exactly this. Apple hardware might be nice, but the reason developers use OSX/Linux is for the software ecosystem. A lot of really useful tools do not work properly on Windows. And when they do, the supporting documentation, tutorials, and stackoverflow answers are lacking on Windows.

An example: A few years ago, the guide to install Django on Windows was a three-page tutorial, but for OSX all you had to do was run a single script. It was clear the devs had put much more effort optimizing and simplifying the OSX route vs the Windows one.

I used to use Windows for dev but after two years of getting annoyed when people kept recommending tools that only work on *nix, I bought a mac and don't regret that decision.

Re: Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#7
Having recently switched to a Macbook (from a _beastly_ Linux workstation) for Python and Mac development, it just feels ... better. It's better in most of the non-programming ways: docker is better on linux, and I miss focus follows mouse, but everything works quite well, and feels stable. I like it a lot better than I expected.

This is the first laptop that I've touched and felt, "this is quality hardware". The touch gestures on the trackpad are so natural feeling that I swipe to change desktops rather than use keyboard shortcuts that I had set up. There is much irrational developer happiness at my workstation. ;) Sit down and play with one for a day, and you might be sold (I was).

You can drive two 4k monitors (at 30 hz, not 60) with it, too, which nets you three screens. That lets me have code/terminals on the monitors, and a browser or Slack instance open on the Mac. Code editors and dev tools are often native for the Mac (aside from Docker, which has some decent support but not perfect).

It doesn't hurt that its screen is gorgeous. I spent a year with dual 4k monitors, and this thing looks even better.

Re: Ask HN: Is it necessary that a developer own an Apple laptop?

#8
post #6
post #4

Most of the developers that build web/dev tools(@ Google, FB, Dropbox etc), cater so much for the Mac & linux. They neglect windows. Just make sure you are not on Windows. For example I am on windows and have failed to start using Tensorflow because its developers (Google guys) claim the build system they use (Guava) does not support windows.

Exactly this. Apple hardware might be nice, but the reason developers use OSX/Linux is for the software ecosystem. A lot of really useful tools do not work properly on Windows. And when they do, the supporting documentation, tutorials, and stackoverflow answers are lacking on Windows. An example: A few years ago, the guide to install Django on Windows was a three-page tutorial, but for OSX all you had to do was run a…

But if the issue is O/S rather than CPU, why not run *nix in a VM, or dual-boot Linux/Windows if you have to?
Post reply on HN