Motivation
I’ve been using the iPad exclusively as my main computing machine since June 2022. (This post is, of course, written on my iPad.)
Before then, I relied heavily on a Macbook Pro 13-inch at my previous office and didn’t have my home computer for the last two years after I gave my one to my friend’s son who aspired to study online.
I do serious software development with Python, Typescript, Kotlin, Golang, and Rust. And thus, I was wondering if I could do serious web development with the iPad.
After a quick online research, I found that even programming seems possible on the iPad with its keyboard as well as well-known touch-screen creative activities. So, I bought and tried using the iPad for light development and learning experience.
Spec Details
- 11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi 128G
- Magic Keyboard (Not Smart keyboard)
The 13-inch screen was a bit too heavy to carry, and Smart Keyboard was too thin for a heavy typing workload.
What happened in the first month?
1st week: programming seems impossible!! Just watch Youtube!
2nd week: a code fix is possible, but serious devevelopment is not.
3rd week: entire software development works with cloud IDEs and cloud services! AWS, GCP, Gitpot!
Pros
- Stateless! No dependency and data are left in the local computer!
- It is so lightweight that I can be anywhere with it! I flew to a couple of vacation places and enjoyed coding at hotels and cafes.
- The touch screen is terrific when I want subtle and interactive maneuvers. For instance, I showed my journey map to my friends.
Cons
Need to know alternative tricks to local machine development.
- No terminal (use virtual machine such as ec2 and gce)
- No local Git (use cloud machine or Working Copy)
- Limited local IDEs (Gitpod, Stackblitz, Code Server)
Overall
- Coding is definitely possible
- Serious software development is limited due to the heavy reliance on cloud IDEs and cloud services. You need to bear with its inconvenience in exchange for lightweight device benefits.
- This setup is not recommended for beginners. It is better to learn computer basics with standard computers.
Cloud IDE articles
A guide to writing code on an iPad
We tried 10 online code editors
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