What's the best OS to program in

[NebulaeGuy]

I was just curious what OSes you guys programmed in and why you prefer to use these OSes. I tend to use Windows as I program in .Net languages, like C#, C++, etc. What are your preferences?

[Ivyk]

Depends on the language you're using. If you want to write Swift you need to have OS X.

For the languages you're using Windows is the obvious choice.

[brownninja97]

Ive only used windows and OSX to program in, i know a bit about linux but ive not had enough time with it  to be useful with my code.

[joshuamurphy]

Linux is quite good if you like using the terminal

[NebulaeGuy]

What kind of languages does Linux allow you to program in?

[Blade of Grass]

What kind of languages does Linux allow you to program in?

I'm assuming any language that isn't proprietary (like Apple's), can probably be used with linux.

 

To name a few that I'm certain of:

C, C++, python, perl, java

[reiderj8]

I like to use Linux. Especially when you learn how to use command line controls. You can do almost any language, you might just have to do some searching for a compiler if you want to use a unpopular language. 

[Ryukrieger]

Yes, I agree, Linux would support (or you can get something to support) most languages.

Windows, too, would support most languages and.... it's probably what most people are used to.

Languages that are "locked" (like Apple's Swift) would obviously needs you to bite an apple to have it.

But to the extent of my knowledge and according to what I've seen with programmers I know, there's not really the "best" OS to program in, just one that you're most comfortable using.

 

Personally, I'm in Windows.... but that's just me, I'm still learning and more used to Windows than anything else.

[rockking1379]

I write a lot of Java code, so I use windows and linux since I can get eclipse on both platforms. That's the thing I find is it not the os that makes or breaks your coding but the ide you use. If your gonna use multiple platforms, make sure our ide supports both so that you don't get confused or angry when something you want isn't there.

[AustinB]

The best OS = Is the one you prefer. There is no "Ultimate OS"

[rashdanml]

What kind of languages does Linux allow you to program in?

Everything you can possibly imagine. Most compilers come pre-installed with Linux distributions, and only a few would require you go and get specific compilers (if at all). 

 

edit: Except for proprietary languages like C#, Objective-C, etc, although there are alternative ways to get them working on Linux. 

[Lumi]

I'm assuming any language that isn't proprietary (like Apple's), can probably be used with linux.

 

To name a few that I'm certain of:

C, C++, python, perl, java

and PHP (using php-cli)

[Mojo-Jojo]

I've used both windows and Linux to program with C and C++ in, and they're both good. Something to take into consideration is that in linux you can access all kinds of resources much more easily ( fork() to name one, Signals ).

Both OSes have support for a multitude of compilers and IDE's these days, so there really isn't much of a difference in that respect.

[Guest]

OS X.

 

Swift, plus just the whole ecosystem of OS X is very design and programming-focused. You don't see many programmers or graphic designers sitting at a Windows desktop. (Well, you do, but not nearly as many).

 

Linux is second-best, but outside of programming, it's hard to do much of anything without using a non-official version of an app.

[Blade of Grass]

and PHP (using php-cli)

Well, I didn't say PHP since it's a scripting language, but yeah, I guess it counts.

[Coppercrawler]

As many others have said it is mostly language dependant, I primarily work with C# and so it would be Windows for me.

[Lumi]

Well, I didn't say PHP since it's a scripting language, but yeah, I guess it counts.

NodeJS

[manon_gfx]

Which ever platform you are developing for. If your developing cross platform code, it really doesn't matter.

[Marxtai]

 

Swift, plus just the whole ecosystem of OS X is very design and programming-focused.

 

Could you elaborate on that please? I see a lot of designers/developpers (especially web developpers) using OSX, but I never really understood why. I was considering getting a laptop soon, and before I start shopping it'd be nice to know what more I could get with a Mac.

 

Most of the developpers I see that use OSX use programs that are available on Windows too (or that have a very good equivalent), from time to time they'll use something that is only on OSX (ex: Sequel Pro) but that's about it.

 

Regardless of the other "generic" advantages of a Mac (ex: battery life, design, friendly OS), what are some concrete advantages of using a Mac when programming?

 

[LukeTim]

It entirely depends upon what you prefer. I like a UNIX environment so I tend toward Linux (and I have a MacBook partly for this reason - I really like OSX)... but I do use Windows at work, though I install Cygwin for UNIX emulation...

[Guest]

Could you elaborate on that please? I see a lot of designers/developpers (especially web developpers) using OSX, but I never really understood why. I was considering getting a laptop soon, and before I start shopping it'd be nice to know what more I could get with a Mac.

 

Most of the developpers I see that use OSX use programs that are available on Windows too (or that have a very good equivalent), from time to time they'll use something that is only on OSX (ex: Sequel Pro) but that's about it.

 

Regardless of the other "generic" advantages of a Mac (ex: battery life, design, friendly OS), what are some concrete advantages of using a Mac when programming?

I see it as minaly useability- OS X is great with stability, speed, and programs on OS X tend to be more uniform and quality than their Windows counterparts - I work a ton in Photohop/Illustrator/InDesign, and I just like the OS X versions so much better than the Windows versions, even though they technically do the same thing.

 

But battery life and super-fast SSDs inside all the MacBooks are worth the $399+ extra you'd spend- 12 hour battery life on a 13" MBA! That's insane! And the flash storage gets 800MB/s+ read speed- my brother has one, and tested it. It's ridiculous.

 

But OS X is really nice once you get used to it - sort of like iOS. It's so much more refined and, I guess, premium feeeling that it makes Windows seem like it's a half-assed piece of garbage. I've literally gotten one BSOD (black screen in this case) of my 8 years of using Macs. UNIX is incredibly solid.

[Darko_Nerivar]

When you need to code multiplatform program - you just have to use other OSes.

 

If you want personal preferences - Linux, OS X. Windows - if I have to. For me it's a gaming OS . And you will never see me using Solaris

[Nallown]

Well there isn't really a "best" OS for programming. I'd say it depends on what you're doing and even then it is a matter of personal preference.

 

If you're planning on doing low level programming in like C or Assembly then I'd recommend using Linux since it has the compilers and assemblers available by default without having to do any advance setup.

You could easily get hold of those compilers and assemblers with the package managers that most linux distros use.

 

If you're doing OS restrictive programming like building .net applications then you'd sadly have to use Windows to compile the code and same thing goes for if you were to program for Apple then you'd have to run osx.

 

Otherwise you can do any sort of cross platform programming in any OS and it would depend on you whether you'd want to use the tools available for Linux or osx or possibly Windows.

Have a sniffle around and see what tools are available to each OS's which you like.