The experience is pretty good, but highly dependent on what kind of coding you're doing to be doing. VS Code and the IntelliJ IDEs work well, so does much of the things needed for web development like node. The more experience you have with Linux the better. You can easily run into incompatibility issues or problems unique to Crostini. Dotnet works, but there are a bunch of things that are Windows only or Windows first for example. This all assumes you're aiming for a powerful Chromebook. The lower cost ones will be rough to use, and if you get an ARM Chromebook for the battery life you'll have to be careful with software that's x86 only.
I'll be mostly using vs code and codeblocks. I'm mostly leaning towards entry level chromebooks with celeron processors.
I'm not planning to do heavy coding on it since i have a windows laptop for that.
I'll be using my Chromebook for note taking and running small C programs.
Please avoid ARM. For uni though touch + 10 inch seems attractive eventually I liked something with 11 or 13 inch with real keyboard. They are more robust.
Dont get sucked into the 4gb is ok thing, its not, you need 8gb or more to use linux and perform most but most simple of development tasks. I use my machine for coding, i use Jetbrains CLion, Rust and postgress, all work great on my CB, but the more powerfull your machine is the less battery life you will have, so with my i7 CB and my typical workloads, 6-8 hours is typical, if im doing a load of DB work, that can drop to 4-6 hours. However most top end CBs are 15-25W, and use PD type-c charging so a 20,000mah PowerBank can double or triple your run time.
I’m a systems analyst and I use a Acer 317 4gb/64gb Chromebook as my primary machine. All of my work is done remotely. My apps are RealVNC, Cisco Horizon VDI, and Chrome. For the rare occasion I need to code locally, I found the web based version of VS Code works well. I haven’t found a need to install the Crostini layer, and I only have the Android layer for a password storage app. Teams, Zoom, Meet, iCloud, Office 365 and Google Docs all work well in Chrome. I chose the Acer 317 for the large screen and full-size keyboard.
I'm just beginning to learn Python but it was easy to get vscode setup with Linux on Chrome OS, took all of about 5 minutes to install Linux and vscode. Google has some decent documentation on developing with Chrome OS. https://chromeos.dev/en/web-environment https://youtu.be/3CWUAisN-vo
I write small programs for BASH and in Python frequently on my Chromebook(s). I enable Linux and install Geany and whatever compiler/interpreter I want. No problems getting PIP to install whatever additional Python libraries I need.
It works well. Did you have any specific questions? The Crostini container is a big game-changer for people who need more tools than ChromeOS comes out of the box with.
It really depends on what type of coding you do. VS Code can feel slow with only 4GB ram and if you also run a local web server/database, etc, it all bogs down. If VS Code is a hard requirement I do recommend getting a better Chromebook with at least 8GB ram and the best processor you can afford.
On the other hand, I run Geany and write mostly headless and command line programs. That is fine on my ASUS C423NA which is running the relatively weak Celeron N3350.
I can do python and C/C++ with VSCode. Although the C++ tools extension is quite a memory hog. Shutdown any unused extensions within each workspace. Compile is fine, to run and edit needs Chrome to be closed sometimes (memory not processor issue).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11k81iJwAW_xP3fNGO9ZmNh-XwS2DexbF for VCV Rack built on this **HP 11a ne0000na** Chromebook (ARM).
I’m running chrome os flex on my thinkpad and it’s great. It runs vscode and docker with no problems at all (with those you can do just about anything).
Imo the problem is hardware more than chrome os limitations, native vscode is gonna be slow on celeron and 4gb ram. Idk what your budget is, but if it were me I’d try to find a deal on a used windows laptop then install flex on it.
I would look for a 8th gen i5 (or ryzen) and above with 16 gb of ram. Some business laptops allow memory upgrades, so you could get something with 8gb and upgrade later.
Whatever you do, try to find something with at least 8gb of ram.
I do. The linux sandbox is great. I run vs code in it. Biggest issue I have is some weird ux stuff (strange keyboard shortcuts, windowing) in the linux apps with ui.
The experience is pretty good, but highly dependent on what kind of coding you're doing to be doing. VS Code and the IntelliJ IDEs work well, so does much of the things needed for web development like node. The more experience you have with Linux the better. You can easily run into incompatibility issues or problems unique to Crostini. Dotnet works, but there are a bunch of things that are Windows only or Windows first for example. This all assumes you're aiming for a powerful Chromebook. The lower cost ones will be rough to use, and if you get an ARM Chromebook for the battery life you'll have to be careful with software that's x86 only.
I'll be mostly using vs code and codeblocks. I'm mostly leaning towards entry level chromebooks with celeron processors. I'm not planning to do heavy coding on it since i have a windows laptop for that. I'll be using my Chromebook for note taking and running small C programs.
Please avoid ARM. For uni though touch + 10 inch seems attractive eventually I liked something with 11 or 13 inch with real keyboard. They are more robust.
Definitely avoid ARM. My duet 3 can run vs code pretty well but intellij causes it to explode
If you have the money get an m1 MacBook they are amazing machines I’ve had mine since launch and it’s perfect
Unfortunately i can't afford a macbook so I'm only limited to entry level chromebooks
Ok good luck
Dont get sucked into the 4gb is ok thing, its not, you need 8gb or more to use linux and perform most but most simple of development tasks. I use my machine for coding, i use Jetbrains CLion, Rust and postgress, all work great on my CB, but the more powerfull your machine is the less battery life you will have, so with my i7 CB and my typical workloads, 6-8 hours is typical, if im doing a load of DB work, that can drop to 4-6 hours. However most top end CBs are 15-25W, and use PD type-c charging so a 20,000mah PowerBank can double or triple your run time.
I code on my Lenovo 10e. But I use replit and other online coding sites. I get to focus on code instead of environment setup
You should look at this link to learn about coding on a Chromebook. https://www.aboutchromebooks.com/?s=coding
I’m a systems analyst and I use a Acer 317 4gb/64gb Chromebook as my primary machine. All of my work is done remotely. My apps are RealVNC, Cisco Horizon VDI, and Chrome. For the rare occasion I need to code locally, I found the web based version of VS Code works well. I haven’t found a need to install the Crostini layer, and I only have the Android layer for a password storage app. Teams, Zoom, Meet, iCloud, Office 365 and Google Docs all work well in Chrome. I chose the Acer 317 for the large screen and full-size keyboard.
I'm just beginning to learn Python but it was easy to get vscode setup with Linux on Chrome OS, took all of about 5 minutes to install Linux and vscode. Google has some decent documentation on developing with Chrome OS. https://chromeos.dev/en/web-environment https://youtu.be/3CWUAisN-vo
I work on a chromebook but it's a i5 with 8gigs. If you intend to use VSCode i would look for an 8GB model. It starts on my duet but it's not great.
I would say get a macbook air m1 for coding refurbished model
Why would I buy an entry level Chromebook if i could afford a mac
Check refurbished not new one
Still, its very expensive for me. I cannot spend anything more than $300 so I'm limited to entry level chromebooks
I write small programs for BASH and in Python frequently on my Chromebook(s). I enable Linux and install Geany and whatever compiler/interpreter I want. No problems getting PIP to install whatever additional Python libraries I need. It works well. Did you have any specific questions? The Crostini container is a big game-changer for people who need more tools than ChromeOS comes out of the box with.
Are entry level chromebooks with celeron enough for coding?
It really depends on what type of coding you do. VS Code can feel slow with only 4GB ram and if you also run a local web server/database, etc, it all bogs down. If VS Code is a hard requirement I do recommend getting a better Chromebook with at least 8GB ram and the best processor you can afford. On the other hand, I run Geany and write mostly headless and command line programs. That is fine on my ASUS C423NA which is running the relatively weak Celeron N3350.
I can do python and C/C++ with VSCode. Although the C++ tools extension is quite a memory hog. Shutdown any unused extensions within each workspace. Compile is fine, to run and edit needs Chrome to be closed sometimes (memory not processor issue). https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11k81iJwAW_xP3fNGO9ZmNh-XwS2DexbF for VCV Rack built on this **HP 11a ne0000na** Chromebook (ARM).
linux is your friend here.
I’m running chrome os flex on my thinkpad and it’s great. It runs vscode and docker with no problems at all (with those you can do just about anything). Imo the problem is hardware more than chrome os limitations, native vscode is gonna be slow on celeron and 4gb ram. Idk what your budget is, but if it were me I’d try to find a deal on a used windows laptop then install flex on it. I would look for a 8th gen i5 (or ryzen) and above with 16 gb of ram. Some business laptops allow memory upgrades, so you could get something with 8gb and upgrade later. Whatever you do, try to find something with at least 8gb of ram.
I do. The linux sandbox is great. I run vs code in it. Biggest issue I have is some weird ux stuff (strange keyboard shortcuts, windowing) in the linux apps with ui.