Choosing a computer for programming

samy888

Hi,

Having always believed my son was not academically inclined, I was recently amazed by the comments from his IT teacher during parents evening. He is an A* pupil. His teacher would like to push him to do computer programming and coding (python), like autopilot on planes.
He is in year nine so will begin GCSEs next year.

I know absolutely nothing beyond the basics. I need to buy him a computer or laptop to help him as he currently uses school computers.

Please could you advise me on what to buy him? I haven't got a clue as to what he needs.

Budget is whatever is needed as my family have all agreed to put in and help, but ideally between £300 to £1000

I was told he needs a passport with about 2 to 4 TB, which I can get from PC world.

What specs am I looking for?
Websites?
Software?
Brands?

Any help you can offer would be massively appreciated.

Thank you x

closed

anything, £300 laptop maybe or £30 raspberry pi


passport portable hard disk?

£1000 is way OTT

radu_

Hi Samy,

Have you considered getting a Raspberry Pi?
I got one for my 8 years old nephew and he loves it. It looks like you can learn Python on it too. Because I am a new user I cannot post links but do a Google search for Raspberry Pi Python and you will find some info.

In terms of other websites for him to learn from I recommend Codecademy. Again just do a Google Search for Codecademy Python and you will find a free course.

Hope this was helpful.

googler

The passport is a portable hard drive - what on earth will he need 4TB for...?

As closed said, pretty much anything should do

vuvuzela

I think in your position I would consider something like :
a cheapish laptop with HDMI out (example Core i5 for £430 http://www.ebuyer.com/579678-asus-x552cl-laptop-x552cl-sx047h)
a (largeish) external monitor with HDMI, DVI and VGA inputs (eg £120 http://www.ebuyer.com/461618-acer-24-wide-s241hlbid-hd-led-5ms-dvi-hdmi-monitor-um-fs1ee-001)
a Raspberry Pi (£30 basic, but £50 including SD card, case, keyboard and mouse and HDMI cable)
and an external drive (under £100). You don't have to get a 'Pasport' drive, this is restricting the choice. I'd just gind one of around 2GB with decent reviews.

The monitor will give connections so both devices can be plugged in simultaneously. The laptop for general work and IT work, and the Raspberry Pi for learning coding.

[Deleted User]

He can learn to code Python on pretty much any old PC - so to make it practical, you'd be best getting a laptop; since that'll be more useful than a Raspberry Pi (it's a £25 'computer', but needs a screen, keyboard, mouse ect and will need a bunch of extra stuff before it becomes useful) since he can make use of it for other subjects (e.g. writing essays for homework)

But basically, learning to code doesn't need a high-spec machine. I learned to code on a BBC micro, then a PC that is less powerful than my phone. A passport drive is useful - god knows why you'd need 2 - 4 terrabytes! That's massive and completely overkill, he probably will need something like a 300-500gb passport drive at very most.

I'd be aiming for under £450 as a budget. Honestly, these things don't last (at work, we refresh our laptops every 3 years), so you'd be better off buying one now, then by the time he's off to uni, you could get another one.

Mr_Toad

To add to the other advice.

As said you can code on just about anything but, as a programmer, I'd say that a good sized monitor is really important.

On a decent monitor you can have your coding environment and the run-time environment open side by side which can be an enormous help.

Even better than one monitor is two, I have two 24" monitors.

Also a full sized keyboard. Laptop keyboards are OK but not great for loads of typing and as a programmer you'd be surprised at the amount of use a numeric keypad gets.

Programmers get attached to their keyboards, it's the main tool of their trade and a very personal choice. Mine has mechanical switches and is heavily customised, different keys have different weighted switches.

As he progresses he'll tell you what he needs.

So, even if you buy him a laptop I'd recommend a big monitor and a full sized keyboard and mouse. Neither of which need be expensive and he'll have the best of both worlds.

samy888

Wow, thanks guys, there's enough information for me to sink my teeth into and start shopping around x

I've never heard of a Rasberry Pi, will google and investigate, thanks x

Shopping check list: Any decent laptop, with HDMI, large monitor and full size keyboard, external HDD 1TB will do, intel core i5.

Will feedback what I find xx

A.Penny.Saved

I agree with Mr_Toad, the monitor could be very important and limiting your child with a laptop would be a very short-sighted idea IMO. Getting a "proper" computer with a decent sized monitor would be more beneficial. It would allow expansion and allow adding more storage as necessary. If he moves up to programming in one of the C derivatives such as C++ or C# etc then something which can compile quickly would be helpful.

It might be worth building him a PC and allow him to choose certain parts such as the case which might help him take to it better and make it more personal.

It is much easier to replace and upgrade parts on a PC than a laptop. If the keyboard starts to fail or the child finds it limiting the keyboard can be replaced. The same with the mouse etc.

Ant555

samy888 - its quite remarkable how much your question matches my situation too.

I don't have too much to add to the excellent replies, more, a confirmation of them.

As already suggested a Raspberry Pi is an excellent place to start. I bought one about 2 months ago when we started looking at GCSE subjects and my son enjoys the challenge of it not being a 'real' PC and wants to show me stuff all the time.
It doesn't run the latest version of Python (which is 3.x) but I understand from many internet forums that it doesn't really matter.
I have found many sample scripts for him to look at in version 2.x

He is, however, trying to convince me that he needs a £1000 gaming PC to further his knowledge next year but that's a conversation for another day.

Python is available on many platforms for free and I have just downloaded it for my Android tablet - although I admit to not trying it out yet.

I am going to wait until the summer, or even into the first term before making a decision on any upgrade or new PC.
1) To make sure he actually gets his GCSE Computer Science in his options
2) I will have a talk with his teacher and see what they recommend, others have surely asked this question in previous years.

Oh, and a drive of 2-4Tb is massive and probably not needed at the moment, especially for this course - i'd suggest a usb pen drive of 8Gb for now. If it was a media course that required HD movies to be transported and edited then thats a different issue but Python projects that your son will be working on are going to be relatively tiny.

Hope this helps.

Herzlos

If you don't need the portability then get a desktop - it'll result in a bigger/better monitor and keyboard, and you'll get a higher spec machine for the same money with more upgrading potential in the future.

Really anything off the shelf these days will be fine for python programming, but I'd go for the biggest monitor you can get away with (I'm also using 2x24" monitors for my day job) as you can never have too much screen real estate.

Don't worry about a 2-4TB passport, that's enormous. Like easily a thousand times bigger than he's likely to need. A USB stick of at least 4GB will suffice (and cost you a fiver), and should prove more durable.

But essentially; get a good monitor and keyboard, and don't worry about anything else as it'll be plenty good enough.