iPad Pro iPad Pro + MKB for learning to code/coding. Possible? Ideas?

[nStyle]

I have a 14” MBP but use my 12.9” iPP + MKB combo for everything. Writing/drawing/YouTube/games/whatever. I just prefer the iPad because I love having the touch screen and the ability to undock when I want to.

It can literally do everything I want to do and do it better and more comfortably than with a laptop so I use it 95% of the time.

The only problem I’m having is I want to be a little more productive and finish learning to code (front/back end web development to be specific) ano eventually coding on it. I just don’t know if it’s possible. I suppose if all I use is Wordpress and modify themes then it would be doable but I don‘t really know where else to start besides that.

Anyone doing this and have any ideas? I know having developer tools in an actual browser is very useful but is there anyway around that? I just want to avoid having to lug around the 14” MBP if possible and I’m thinking of selling it if I can make this work.

It’s just so frustrating to have a device that can do basically everything but being locked down to a point that makes certain things so annoying.

 

[Basic75]

I suppose if all I use is Wordpress and modify themes then it would be doable but I don‘t really know where else to start besides that.

That's not exactly coding. In my opinion if you are serious about coding you'll eventually want or need Terminal.app which pretty much rules out the iPad. Your 14" MBP on the other hand is perfect, perhaps with a larger monitor when at your desk.

 

[TJ82]

I’d love to be able to learn python, Linux, powershell and SQL on the iPad Pro. Had a brief look online re: python and it didn’t look hopeful. Need to take another dive in and see how realistic any of those possibilities are.

 

[Basic75]

I’d love to be able to learn python, Linux, powershell and SQL on the iPad Pro.

None of these run well on an iPad, if at all.

You should really get a "full" computer, a Mac or a PC with Linux. If you don't already have one and don't want to spend a lot of money, get a Raspberry Pi 4 or 400.

Not sure that it will run PowerShell, but other than that you can do a lot of coding, and run a real database on it (within size limits of course).

 

[rui no onna]

You should really get a "full" computer, a Mac or a PC with Linux. If you don't already have one and don't want to spend a lot of money, get a Raspberry Pi 4 or 400.

The Raspberry Pis have skyrocketed in price (at least the in-stock ones).

Nowadays, it’s usually cheaper to buy x86-based Mini PCs with Intel N5095, N5105, N95 or N100. Better performance as well albeit higher power consumption.

 

[macfacts]

I’d love to be able to learn python, Linux, powershell and SQL

Get a Chromebook.

 

[TJ82]

Get a Chromebook.

Would that be better than say a Thinkpad? Saw a lot of Linux users go down that road, was wondering why!

 

[Slartibart]

for python you have a few options:
a-Shell - basically full-featured Unix terminal with Python and many other tools.
Carnets: A local Jupyter client with Python, NumPy, pandas, and other stats and data science packages.
Juno: A Jupyter client that also includes Python and many scientific and data-related packages. There is also Juno-Connect to connect to and use a remote server as others already mentioned.

Codeanywhere Cloud IDE: VS Code-inspired IDE (with extensions) and sharing your environment live with teammates, with Google Docs-like collaboration tools.

Then there is e.g. Visual Studio for the Web. For other things like HTML, CSS, C#, javascript, etc. there are differently capable apps (e.g. Koder, Processing, CodeSandbox).

IMHO you are for sure able to learn e.g. Python, Shell scripting, etc. locally using the iPad; possibilities extend when you go online. Even rapid prototyping of complexer things is possible to some extend (YMMV). But there are intrinsic properties/design characteristics of iPadOS 16/17 that even with StageManager you might run into something which will at least slow you down when you progress - e.g. trying to run things in the background, like a web frontend connected to some kernel, sometimes might simply pause/stop the task.

Otherwise there is a long running thread here on MR where people discuss - sometimes loosely 😄- the possibilities of an iPad replacing a laptop/desktop.

nota bene: programming on the ipad - wether it’s e.g. Python, Swift, R, etc. - is often restricted (type of binaries, available libraries/frameworks, iPadOS design, etc.). And using some (if there are any) workarounds feels like moving through a viscous liquid compared to other platforms - for certain when you have reached a certain knowledge, but again: YMMV.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

I have a 14” MBP but use my 12.9” iPP + MKB combo for everything. Writing/drawing/YouTube/games/whatever. I just prefer the iPad because I love having the touch screen and the ability to undock when I want to.

It can literally do everything I want to do and do it better and more comfortably than with a laptop so I use it 95% of the time.

The only problem I’m having is I want to be a little more productive and finish learning to code (front/back end web development to be specific) ano eventually coding on it. I just don’t know if it’s possible. I suppose if all I use is Wordpress and modify themes then it would be doable but I don‘t really know where else to start besides that.

Anyone doing this and have any ideas? I know having developer tools in an actual browser is very useful but is there anyway around that? I just want to avoid having to lug around the 14” MBP if possible and I’m thinking of selling it if I can make this work.

It’s just so frustrating to have a device that can do basically everything but being locked down to a point that makes certain things so annoying.

I am a software developer. I love my iPad Pro and MKB but you would make life hard and frustrating for yourself if you try to develop on it using native iPadOS apps and iPad local storage. Whether you are considering backend or frontend, you will hit a brick wall.

If you really want this to work, then consider: 1) remote desktoping into a machine such as your MBP, so you can use the Mac ecosystem, the IDEs, the libraries that you want to use. I have done this on my iPad Pro without difficulties (using Jump Desktop to use both Windows and Mac). Or alternatively you can pay to access a virtual machine and run a development environment on it.

If you really want to be a developer, then I urge you to use a Mac, Windows or Linux machine to run the environment. Don't cut yourself off from the ecosystem of the packages, frameworks and tutorials for these operating systems.

 

[madgibbon]

I am a software developer. I love my iPad Pro and MKB but you would make life hard and frustrating for yourself if you try to develop on it using native iPadOS apps and iPad local storage. Whether you are considering backend or frontend, you will hit a brick wall.

If you really want this to work, then consider: 1) remote desktoping into a machine such as your MBP, so you can use the Mac ecosystem, the IDEs, the libraries that you want to use. I have done this on my iPad Pro without difficulties (using Jump Desktop to use both Windows and Mac). Or alternatively you can pay to access a virtual machine and run a development environment on it.

If you really want to be a developer, then I urge you to use a Mac, Windows or Linux machine to run the environment. Don't cut yourself off from the ecosystem of the packages, frameworks and tutorials for these operating systems.

This comment is spot on, I'm also a developer and tried using my iPad for hobby projects (could never use it for projects which pay the bills). It just doesn't work, I found myself allowing the tools to dictate the project rather than the project dictate the tools. Everything was so much harder and more time consuming using an iPad.

If you're serious about development, stick to your Mac, or at least use Remote Desktop from the iPad into a "proper" desktop OS.

 

[rappr]

I’ve been using Swift Playgrounds for some hobby projects and it’s actually been working really well. For anything outside of the Swift/Apple ecosystem you’d want to use something running a laptop or desktop operating system.

 

[macfacts]

Would that be better than say a Thinkpad? Saw a lot of Linux users go down that road, was wondering why!

I only recommend a Chromebook cause it's cheaper and easier to install Linux on it.