Why do programmers need Operating Systems?
Most of the professionals in the computer science field, like software developers, software engineers, web developers, etc., start their careers as a programmer. There is no particular Best Operating System for programming that can be said as the perfect operating system since the choice of an O.S. depends on some factors like O.S. used in one’s career path or workplace or simply just one’s personal preference.
The two major types of programmings that programmers need operating systems for are:
Coding Language (Using languages like C, C++, JAVA, Python, etc.)
The language a programmer uses doesn’t restrict him to use a particular operating system. This is because, in programming, the focus is essentially on writing code in a cross-platform IDE. Hence, if you are using an Operating System just for coding purposes, the choice really boils down to other factors rather than the necessity to use a particular O.S.
Operating System Level
Programming for a particular operating system requires you to code dedicatedly on that O.S. While technically it is possible to code for one O.S. on another O.S. with the help of Virtual Machines, doing so is not advisable since it is better if you get more acquainted to the O.S. you program for.
Also see, Difference Between Bit and Byte , Demand Paging in OS
Popular Operating System Options for Programmers
The three most popular O.S. options used by programmers are Windows or the UNIX-based macOS (formerly OS X) or Linux. Either of these O.S. can be used to perform almost all the functions you want, however, your goal should be to find the O.S. that will help you perform your tasks most efficiently.
Let us deep-dive into the pros and cons of each of the popular types of O.S. to understand which one suits our needs the best.
Operating System #1: Windows
Being the most popular and widely-used O.S. in the market, Windows might be a tempting option for a lot of beginners.
Advantages of Using Windows O.S
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User Friendly: Windows interface is very intuitive and familiar to most
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Large User Base: Being the most popular O.S., it is the most targeted O.S. for the developer to launch their software. In fact, many software support only Windows O.S.
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Active Developer Community: Windows has an active developer community that helps provide the programmers with a wide array of options by providing a wider choice of tools, making their work easier. Even hardware manufacturers prefer to support Windows O.S. before the others.
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Comparatively Pocket Friendly: Generally, Windows O.S. provides most of the capabilities of macOS at a comparatively user-friendly rate. Though it is expensive than Linux, given the range of features, Windows O.S. is a pretty sweet deal.
Disadvantages of Using Windows O.S.
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Security: Though Windows O.S. has a range of built-in antivirus programs, being the most widely-used O.S., it also attracts a lot of attention from hackers, making it very vulnerable to security attacks.
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Drivers: Though you can customize your Windows O.S. to a great extent, it might get too problematic to get all the components to work in sync with each other.
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Forced Automatic Updates: Windows O.S. tends to automatically update itself in order to provide you with the latest O.S. capabilities. While this might seem a useful feature, it gets pretty annoying to wait for the automatic update to finish before you begin your work.
- Speed: Since Windows O.S. helps provide the most intuitive UI, this also means additional overhead to achieve the same functionality. Hence, it is comparatively slower than its O.S. counterparts.
Operating System #2: Linux
Linux is presumed to be one of the most acclaimed operating systems for programmers since it is very lightweight and allows you to customize the O.S. according to your needs and likings.
Advantages of Using Linux O.S
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Pocket Friendly: Since Linux is Open Source Operating System. it is available free of cost.
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Speed: Being very lightweight enables Linux to be very fast and efficient. Since programs and scripts run faster in Linux, it is one of the most widely used O.S. for scripting programmers.
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Performance: Linux needs lesser computing resources to perform a particular function, making it an extremely efficient O.S.
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Security: Linux allows you to encrypt your drive and it also provides network security, making it very a secure O.S.
- Active Developer Community: Since Linux is open-source and has various distributions, it has a very active community constantly contributing packages to different Linux distributions.
Disadvantages of Using Linux O.S
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Buggy: Since Linux is open-source, developers do not spend a lot of time testing edge cases and end-to-end scenarios, making it quite buggy.
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Unavailability of Tech Support: Since Linux is free, there is not enough funds for providing a tech support in case any issue arises in Linux, as opposed to it’s other counterparts.
- UI is Not Very Intuitive: Linux’s UI is very basic and not very user-friendly. It requires one to have a good knowledge of computers to understand the various constructs available.
Also see, mv command in linux
Operating System #3: macOS
macOS is also a UNIX-based O.S. with a variety of built-in or easily available development tools along with good tech support which makes it one of the best O.S. options for a programmer. Most organizations prefer to provide a macOS to its developers because of the ease of programming in macOS.
Advantages of Using macOS
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Simple UI: macOS has a very clean UI and some very powerful in-built applications.
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Multitasking Capabilities: macOS handles multitasking brilliantly, helping you seamlessly browse through multiple programs simultaneously.
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Tech Support: Apple has dedicated tech support for macOS, should you feel the need to use it.
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Apple Ecosystem: Apple users are generally more comfortable sticking to other apple products since it helps them create an ecosystem that is easily able to synchronize files and data between various devices and apple cloud servers.
- Security: macOS is considered to be the most secure O.S. because of its complex architecture and restricted use of resources.
Disadvantages of Using macOS
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Inflexible Customisations: macOS users face a tough time with customizations or hardware upgrades hence one has to be sure about the configurations they want in their PC before purchasing one.
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Not Pocket Friendly: macOS is comparatively the most expensive O.S. However, despite the huge cost, programmers feel the investment is justified because of the performance boost, multitasking capabilities, and tech support.
Must Read Multiprocessing Operating System
Hybrid Operating Systems
Many programmers prefer different O.S. for achieving different tasks. Hence, they prefer to get the best of all worlds by running a split partition with Windows and macOS along with an external Linux drive.
There are literally hundreds of operating systems in the market. Having personally used all the above-operating systems during various phases in my programming career, we would recommend choosing the Best Operating System for programming that you are most comfortable using and which provides all the capabilities that you would need to make use of.
If you don’t have any restriction on choosing a particular Best Operating System for programming, try your hand on different operating systems, going through most of the functionalities that each O.S. provides, and finally, choose the one which you think suits your current or future needs.
Read about Batch Operating System here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which O.S. is best for programming?
The three most widely used operating systems for programming are Windows, Linux, and macOS. Though either of these can perform most of the tasks, you should look into the pros and cons of each O.S, to understand which would be the best O.S. that would suit your needs.
Is Linux best for programming?
Linux is widely used for programming since it provides a lot of freedom to the programmers to customize the O.S. according to the needs of the programmer.
Is Apple or Windows better for programming?
Depending on your preference and target O.S. for your application, Windows might be better in certain use-cases, while macOS in the rest. Though most of programmers prefer to use macOS for programming because of the speed, reliability, and multitasking capabilities.
Is Ubuntu good for programming?
Ubuntu is probably the most popular Linux distro for programming because it has one of the most intuitive UIs amongst all other Linux distros without taking a hit on the capabilities that a Linux environment provides.
Conclusion
There are many different kinds of operating systems. So, which O.S. is the best for programming? While this might seem to be a simple question to answer, it really isn’t. Different O.S. has different pros and cons. The choice of your preferred operating system for programming should depend on many different factors. You can also consider our Operating System Course to give your career an edge over others.
Recommended reading: Components of Operating System
Also read - features of operating system, R Programming language
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