Why is a macbook seen as best for programming?

anything I don't mind · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:12

OSX does not even have case sensitivity in the file system.

I heard that if you try to compile anything that works on other bsd on macosx it will not work. It is a different fork. Look at this picture.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Unix_history-simple.svg

Vonhelmet · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:16

groen said:
OSX does not even have case sensitivity in the file system.

I heard that if you try to compile anything that works on other bsd on macosx it will not work. It is a different fork. Look at this picture.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Unix_history-simple.svg

The default file system is case insensitive, but you can switch case sensitivity on or even use a different filesystem.

arknor · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:17

whats so special about trackpads that one of those drawing tablets or a touchscreen cant replace?

anything I don't mind · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:20

Vonhelmet said:
The default file system is case insensitive, but you can switch case sensitivity on or even use a different filesystem.

I heard if you switch it on it breaks everything.

Hades · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:21

arknor said:
whats so special about trackpads that one of those drawing tablets or a touchscreen cant replace?

A drawing tablet is used with a pen and will be far more accurate but less 'usable' for someone typing. A touchscreen you have to reach out to touch. But a trackpad is already right by your hands.

The Macbook trackpads are absolutely huge and are multitouch. You can use them as a normal trackpad to move the cursor, or use two fingers to scroll up/down, tap them with one or two fingers (two for right click), page back or forward in a browser, use three fingers to move to the top or bottom of the page, use four fingers to bring up all windows or roll everything up to dislay the screen. There's probably more. But once I got used to it I found I preferred it to using a mouse (for most functions, but not all). And if you prefer to actually click them rather than tap them then nearly the whole pad clicks down rather than having a separate button.

qqg3 · 17 Oct 2011 at 14:56

Hades said:
It has both of those.

You're missing the point that there is no physical right-click, it's a nuisance having to for ctrl every time I want to right-click.

Vince · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:08

D.P. said:
I don't know anyone who has this view. About 70% of my friends develop in Linux, about 25% in windows and about 5% in Mac.

You must run in some "crazy, mad" circles if 100% of your friends are developers

I can just imagine the conversations now

LordSplodge · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:15

Docaroo said:
No Alt-Tab, no right-mouse click, windows horribly organised and difficult to find.

Notsureifserious.jpg or Trollface.jpg I'm not sure. Alt Tab (Cmd Tab actually) and Right Mouse clikc are both in OS X.

Sounds like operator error - not good for a Comp Sci student.

LordSplodge · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:16

Vonhelmet said:
Interestingly, Wikipedia says that FreeBSD is not fully POSIX compliant, but that OS X is. Hmmmmm.

It's based on NetBSD if memory serves me right.

Pixel · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:21

VinceB1 said:
You must run in some "crazy, mad" circles if 100% of your friends are developers I can just imagine the conversations now

Those conversations might go something like this:

mrk · 17 Oct 2011 at 15:23

Marky said:
In my opinion yes - But I would recommend going to an Apple store and trying it yourself first.

The keys are flat though unlike Logitech's in-curve type keys which have the same action as the Mac keyboards but with the curve that cushion your finger so typing comfort over long periods is no problem.

Like with all things like this though, use it for long enough and you get used to it and it becomes the best thing ever and anything else is rubbish. If it's ergonomics then there are better keyboards though, that's for certain

Hades · 21 Oct 2011 at 19:42

qqg3 said:
You're missing the point that there is no physical right-click, it's a nuisance having to for ctrl every time I want to right-click.

No, you just gently tap the touchpad with two fingers instead of one finger. It's just as simple as clicking a physical button. In fact tapping the touchpad is far easier than clicking a button.

uvarvu · 21 Oct 2011 at 19:46

Hades said:
No, you just gently tap the touchpad with two fingers instead of one finger. It's just as simple as clicking a physical button. In fact tapping the touchpad is far easier than clicking a button.

Agreed. I can right click faster on my MBA than I can on my Lenovo work laptop. I've tried developing on this but didn't get very far, I found Linux to be much more accommodating. The ease of environment configuration and software support sells it for me.

Hairybudda · 21 Oct 2011 at 20:31

Programmers who have access to vim arguing about how best to utilise a trackpad in their workflow? What the ****?

MrMoonX · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:07

apple are clearly popular at the moment, the twitter account for my uni's IT department said that 74% of devices registered on its network were iOS or OSX, thats pretty impressive

LabR@t · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:14

its not is it?

dasyad · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:17

Hairybudda said:
Programmers who have access to vim arguing about how best to utilise a trackpad in their workflow? What the ****?

Do people actually use VIM? I'm sure people only use it so they can claim they're "hardcore"

MrMoonX said:
apple are clearly popular at the moment, the twitter account for my uni's IT department said that 74% of devices registered on its network were iOS or OSX, thats pretty impressive

Student discount probably plays a big part. Saying that though the cheapest Apple laptop must still be like ~£700 with a discount.

UK-AL05 · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:22

dasyad said:
Do people actually use VIM? I'm sure people only use it so they can claim they're "hardcore"

Student discount probably plays a big part. Saying that though the cheapest Apple laptop must still be like ~£700 with a discount.

Since VIM can vastly out perform traditional editors, yes, yes they do.

When I use other editors, i install plugins that give me vim style input =P

"andy" · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:39

qqg3 said:
You're missing the point that there is no physical right-click, it's a nuisance having to for ctrl every time I want to right-click.

some sort of fail image needs inserting here

if you 'need' to click just click the right hand side of the trackpad... or set it so 2 finger touch is right click (very natural feeling)

i havent pressed control to right click in atleast 3 years

dasyad · 21 Oct 2011 at 21:40

UK-AL05 said:
Since VIM can vastly out perform traditional editors, yes, yes they do.

When I use other editors, i install plugins that give me vim style input =P

Crazy! I've not tried to use it but I've seen someone use it, and it just seems so difficult to use