Quick question: Coding requirements

Hi, I have just started a course to become computer engineer and I plan on becoming a coder.

What hardware is needed for coding? My university choose to teach people mostly about Java and mathematical software (graphs and such). And what screen size is ideal for this type of work? I really want a smaller laptop than 15-17 inch since they weigh much and take a lot of room. Is 12 or 14 inch a bad idea?

 

12" is probably pushing it.

14" is probably bad for your eyesight in the long term (assuming a high resolution screen of 19xx by 10xx or so).

While you could get by with 4GB RAM, 8GB will be beneficial. An SSD can help make your libraries/projects a thought away and a current SNB platform will make short work of turning code into usable programs.

The higher the screen resolution, the less Alt-Tabbing you will need to do (or memorization!) when you have your working project on screen and a sample piece of code to copy/modify - I would be looking at 1920x1200 screen options myself for this type of work - even a 17" system would not be vetoed by me.

The 14" is not a bad idea, but not ideally suited for the work you will require from it (in my opinion). An SNB cpu with the integrated video will be more than enough to handle the screen output/graphs this work requires.

Good luck.

 

I see. Don`t like the idea of dragging that 17 inch behemoth with me along with my books to school though. For java and coding in general, will a 14 inch with lets say 1366x768 resolution involve a lot of side scrolling through the codes? The text wont be too small with that resolution and screen size correct?

Is java heavy CPU bound and supports multiple cores? We will be working on producing programs for android on cell phones too and you can choose between making computer games or coding. So far the computer games seems interesting, but they said it requires some in depth understanding of
programming which I don`t have, so I`m gonna go with coding.

 

In all honesty, you probably don't need much. To run an IDE doesn't take much. Given that most of what you'll be writing will merely be a project with little actual use it doesn't really matter how fast your computer is, whether it works or not is the thing that matters.

As for java being CPU bound and supporting multiple cores, like almost all languages it will run on the CPU when compiled so yes it is CPU bound. It also supports multithreading, it would never have got to where it is now if it didn't.

So while it would probably be nice to have a beast PC to run your programs on, it's by no means essential. Having a high res screen will make life easier though since you'll see more of your project at once. Horizontal resolution isn't much of an issue for the most part though, not that you can get 4:3 screens anymore anyway.

 

Don't think so much of scrolling side-to-side... programming is usually a more than one page (long) at a time and 768 pixels (1366x768??? Yuck!) will have you scrolling up and down (inefficiently...) a lot more than side to side.

What a higher resolution screen will offer you is at least 2 windows, full page, side by side and still readable (maybe even three or more if the other windows are merely for reference).

I agree that you wouldn't need 'a lot of horsepower' to successfully finish this course, but you will spend $800/$900 regardless - may as well spend a couple of hundred more to get something that you'll keep (and want to keep) for the next couple of years or so. Unless of course you know that you'll get rid of this system right after the course is over (how long?).

 

Been away for a while. Thank you everyone for your answers.

Gonna see if I can find a laptop with 14 inch and high resolution although I`m having hard time finding one over 1366x768. Would like to have Sandy Bridge as well. Oh well, maybe I`d settle with first gen i3/5s