Programming C++ on Mac...?

Hello all,

Im new to this forum and just got a few questions.

I will soon be embarking on a Computer Science Bsc course.

The focus of this will be programming (windows based i imagine) and im looking at getting a Macbook for my studies.

At the moment on my windows machine im using Microsoft Visual Studio 08 which is not available on mac at the moment.

If im running bootcamp with windows, am i going to be able to compile programs using Visual Studio on the Mac (using bootcamp obviously)?

Also, if its a 4gig ram macbook, is there going to be any performance impact whilst running windows?

Thanks in advance

Mike120 said:

Hello all,

Im new to this forum and just got a few questions.

I will soon be embarking on a Computer Science Bsc course.

The focus of this will be programming (windows based i imagine) and im looking at getting a Macbook for my studies.

At the moment on my windows machine im using Microsoft Visual Studio 08 which is not available on mac at the moment.

If im running bootcamp with windows, am i going to be able to compile programs using Visual Studio on the Mac (using bootcamp obviously)?

Also, if its a 4gig ram macbook, is there going to be any performance impact whilst running windows?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

If your program is going to be heavily biased towards Windows development, you might be better served (at least your wallet will) by a Windows machine. I'm not trying to deter you from getting a Mac, just trying to give you the best solution.

Running Windows through Boot Camp installs Windows just like on any other machine. So, you can do what you can on a Windows machine through Boot Camp. This goes for the RAM too - there is no performance hit because Windows is installed to the disk and run just like Windows would be on any other machine.

Also, as an aside, you can get VS Professional through Microsoft DreamSpark for free if you don't already have it. All you have to do is prove that you are an eligible student.

@Vansmith Yeah i had thought about that, but i really love the style of mac's. Plus theyre portable and lightweight...well more so than my current laptop.

Brilliant, do you know if you are able to run Vista from it? And whats average battery life for a new White Macbook?

And yeah thanks, i came across that earlier today, ive got the cracked version of it at the moment, ill deffinitly download it from that site tho, just because its free & from microsoft haha

Mike120 said:

@Vansmith Yeah i had thought about that, but i really love the style of mac's. Plus theyre portable and lightweight...well more so than my current laptop.

Brilliant, do you know if you are able to run Vista from it? And whats average battery life for a new White Macbook?

Click to expand...

Battery life (and more info) here.

To quote Apple, "You can install Windows XP or Windows Vista on your Macintosh using Boot Camp Assistant..."

Mike120 said:

Hello all,

Im new to this forum and just got a few questions.

I will soon be embarking on a Computer Science Bsc course.

The focus of this will be programming (windows based i imagine) and im looking at getting a Macbook for my studies.

At the moment on my windows machine im using Microsoft Visual Studio 08 which is not available on mac at the moment.

If im running bootcamp with windows, am i going to be able to compile programs using Visual Studio on the Mac (using bootcamp obviously)?

Also, if its a 4gig ram macbook, is there going to be any performance impact whilst running windows?

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Are you sure that windows is required? The Mac comes with very capable development tools. I'd be a bit surprised if a CS program used windows exclusively. Much of the early coursework should be OS agnostic. Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, and other OSes use gcc. It is a much more standards compliant implementation of C++ than Visual Studio.

You might also consider running windows in a virtual machine. Less of a hassle that rebooting to run Windows. VirualBox is free. VMware Fusion can be purchased for $20 after rebate.

I'd recommend sticking with the Mac and running virtual machines to experience windows and Linux. That way you can learn to program on all three. You won't be limited to any platform. A 4GB Mac will run either VM very, very well.

I use a Mac every day. The company I work for develops software that runs on Linux, windows, and Solaris. We only support running on OS X internally. All of our developers use VMs to support multiple OSes on a single computer. To be honest, learning to use virtual machines is another good skill to pick up. Many, many companies use them.

rsmithgi said:

Are you sure that windows is required? The Mac comes with very capable development tools. I'd be a bit surprised if a CS program used windows exclusively. Much of the early coursework should be OS agnostic. Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, and other OSes use gcc. It is a much more standards compliant implementation of C++ than Visual Studio.

You might also consider running windows in a virtual machine. Less of a hassle that rebooting to run Windows. VirualBox is free. VMware Fusion can be purchased for $20 after rebate.

Click to expand...

Agreed. The first year CS class I took was Java. C++ is also platform agnostic to a point depending on library usage. Check with your program supervisor what languages are used.

A VM is also good (you can also get Windows Server 2003 and 2008 through DreamSpark). I use VirtualBox and run Windows it in and it works really well. In fact, I'm running a Linux VM right now on my secondary monitor (I feel very nerdy). Unless you are doing very intensive compilation or testing, a VM might cut it. That will be for you to decide.

I got my BS in Computer Science in 2003. After the first year, programming was heavily weighted towards C++. I know this is a Mac forum, but if you are going to get a CS degree, you should have a better reason than "style" to go with the Mac. 90% of what you do will be in Windows.
Of course you could get a Mac and use a cheap Windows desktop to compile your programs. I never actually used my latop to write code in class. All of the code work was done as homework.

I am thinking about changing my major to computer science and well yes you will be more aimed towards windows development, if you still wish to go a mac your best bet would be boot camp and VMware. That is my current setup on my iMac. I use my boot camp partition for my VMware, works great.

Ps what specific CS majors are you guys shooting for? Myself if I do change majors it would be for a Computer Science and engineering degree.

I am working toward a BS in Computer Science as well, and mostly using a Mac.

Boot camp will enable you to run XP or Vista or 7 natively, that is just as it would on any PC with the same specs (You'll need the 64 bit versions to recognize all 4 GB of RAM). There is no speed hit at all running with boot camp. In fact, when was first released, the MacBook Pro of the time was actually one of the fastest machines at running it.

Another option is virtualization, which if you are unfamiliar, is essentially running windows in a "virtual computer" with in a window on OS X. There will be a performance hit with this method, as your MacBook will be running OS X, then emulating a second computer on which Windows is running. On my 2 year old iMac, XP ran fine with no noticeable speed hitches in VMWare when I was running Visual Studio. I don't think I would want to run Vista in a virtual machine as it is much more resource hungry.

Then as mentioned, there are many tools that run natively on OS X that you can use to do your beginning courses. I don't recommend this simply because when you get to higher levels and need to do Windows specific stuff, it will help to be already familiar with the tools such as VS that you will be using.

I would recommend the MacBook Pro over the white MacBook if you are concerned about battery life. The price difference is not that much more, $1099 with student discount. But the great thing is that it has the built in battery that lasts a LONG time in my brief experience. Claimed 7 hours by Apple, I got over 5 hours with web browsing and downloading some apps and 3 episodes of Family Guy streamed from Hulu in full screen. I am incredibly impressed with this battery over the one on my HP laptop.

And to the poster that said you shouldn't get the Mac if you are a CS major, I disagree. There are plenty of apps on OS X, they didn't just magically appear, someone had to develop them. A Mac can run Windows at full speed as well as Linux. A PC can only run Windows and Linux. With the Mac you can be familiar with all three and have those extra marketable skills.

claudius753 said:

And to the poster that said you shouldn't get the Mac if you are a CS major, I disagree. There are plenty of apps on OS X, they didn't just magically appear, someone had to develop them. A Mac can run Windows at full speed as well as Linux. A PC can only run Windows and Linux. With the Mac you can be familiar with all three and have those extra marketable skills.

Click to expand...

I'm going to assume you were talking about me.

I suggested a Windows machine for two reasons: it would be cheaper (which is always a plus for students) and if you're going to be doing primarily Windows development, why add the unnecessary step of buying a Mac and then configuring it for Windows? I'm not trying to deter the OP but give them the best solution for what they need.

salexander867 said:

I got my BS in Computer Science in 2003. After the first year, programming was heavily weighted towards C++. I know this is a Mac forum, but if you are going to get a CS degree, you should have a better reason than "style" to go with the Mac. 90% of what you do will be in Windows.
Of course you could get a Mac and use a cheap Windows desktop to compile your programs. I never actually used my latop to write code in class. All of the code work was done as homework.

Click to expand...

90% will be in windows? Dude, I never TOUCH windows

salexander867 said:

I got my BS in Computer Science in 2003. After the first year, programming was heavily weighted towards C++. I know this is a Mac forum, but if you are going to get a CS degree, you should have a better reason than "style" to go with the Mac. 90% of what you do will be in Windows.

Click to expand...

In any worthwhile CS program, 90% of what you do will be done in a generic way, so that you can do the work on Linux, BSD, [Open]Solaris, Mac OS X, AIX, or even on Windows.

(But maybe not that last one; it's a pretty lousy platform for teaching.)