How Much RAM Does a Programmer Need?

You need a machine with a decent amount of RAM that can comfortably allow you to work while programming, whether you call yourself a web developer or a budding programmer. RAM (random access memory) alone is not the only velocity decision-maker on your computer. Second, make sure that the RAM is what your machine needs for better results. Know that there are other variables that can have a significant effect on the speed of your machine.

 

  • Available space on your hard drive
  • RPM on your hard drive (rotation per minute)
  • Built-in memory of your graphic card
  • Model, brand and bus speed of your motherboard
  • Your CPU make, model and usage
  • Your operating system

And more—and more…

Now, see the use cases below and compare them with your everyday use. If your RAM is within the recorded use case range below, before upgrading your RAM for programming, you will need to optimize the other above-mentioned stuff.

Generally speaking, the software itself doesn’t take too much of your RAM, but during your everyday machine use, it’s the other stuff you have constantly open and running.

RAM Consumption by Programming Languages (MB):

Pascal 1.00 (c)

Go 1.05 (c)

C 1.17 (c)

Fortran 1.24 (c)

C++ 1.34 (c)

Ada 1.47 (c)

Rust 1.54 (v)

Lisp 1.92 (c)

Haskell 2.45 (i)

PHP 2.57 (c)

Swift 2.71 (i)

Python 2.80 (c)

Ocaml 2.82 (v)

C# 2.85 (i)

Hack 3.34 (v)

Racket 3.52 (i)

Ruby 3.97 (c)

Chapel 4.00 (v)

F# 4.25 (i)

JavaScript 4.59 (i)

TypeScript 4.69 (v)

Java 6.01 (i)

Perl 6.62 (i)

Lua 6.72 (v)

Erlang 7.20 (i)

Dart 8.64 (i)

Jruby 19.84

RAM Consumption by Common Daily Tasks:

Use Case 2GB    

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4GB 

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8GB

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16GB

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32GB

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Basic Document Editing YES YES YES YES YES
Large Documents and Multitasking No No YES YES YES
Basic Web Browsing No YES YES YES YES
Heavy Web Browsing (20+ tabs) No No YES YES YES
Media Playing No YES YES YES YES
Photo Editing No No YES YES YES
Full HD Video Editing No No No YES YES
Mid-Range Gaming with Old GPU No No YES YES YES
High-End Gaming with Latest GPU No No No YES YES

Yet, you should know that price is not of that importance when it comes to laptops. Here are a couple of tips to take into consideration when seeking to buy a perfect laptop for your web development and programming needs:

Go for 8GB of RAM

8gb ram for programmingVengeance 8gb ram for programming
How Much RAM Does A Programmer Need

 

Your computer would get quicker and have a better processor as the amount of RAM increases. As a programmer, you don’t really need to spend hundreds of dollars more on a RAM capacity of 32 GB unless you also run several applications simultaneously for multiple tasks. So the response is that for the key programming and development job, most programmers won’t need more than 16 GB of RAM. Nevertheless, RAM of around 12 GB might be required by those game developers or programmers who prefer to work with higher graphics requirements. For a device with 8 GB physical memory, 16 GB of RAM would fit best for only graphic designers and video editors as rendering videos and some high-resolution graphics can be very consuming.

Choose an SSD

  • Solid State Drives (SDDs) are faster than all of the normal hard drives.
  • On condition that other specs are also in sequence, HDD is also appropriate. You can not be able to afford an SSD while you’re on a budget and can only afford an HDD.
  • SSDs will truly support programmers, but the lack of storage space is its only limitation. Up to 1TB of storage space is available for HDDs, and SSDs can be limited to 256GB or 512GB.

Analysis

  • Focus on the amount of RAM for quick multi-tasking if you’re an aspiring programmer searching for the right laptop.
  • One of the most important factors to remember is the volume of RAM. Being a programmer implies that heavy IDEs and virtual machines will need to be run. Running such huge apps would take up a great deal of memory. Working with them together will hurt your laptop at the same time. So, you have to make sure that you pick a laptop with a lot of RAM for that purpose.
  • RAM might not be seen by web developers as a major concern, since the tools they work on are not that heavy and there is little compiling to do: 4 GB of RAM should be enough.
  • However, application or software developers working with virtual machines, emulators and IDEs would need a lot more RAM for compiling large projects: at least 8 GB of RAM would be enough.
  • It will need better systems to deal with game development environments and level design: 16 GB of RAM, or a little less, but with the potential to extend to 16 GB later on.

RAM

  • For Data and Programs. Even, via the disk caching operating system.
  • More RAM installation: facilitates transfers between the CPU and both the RAM and hard drives.
  • The use of the hard drive as virtual memory can be substituted for running short of RAM (slow substitute).
  • RAM loses its content when the machine is shut down, but for years to come, magnetic storage retains data.
  • RAM is faster than magnetic or SSD storage; its velocity is measured in nanoseconds that are billionths of a second; storage of magnetic and SSD is measured in milliseconds that are thousandths of a second.
  • As the operating systems and applications become stronger and more functions are applied to them, more quantities of RAM are required.
  • Since RAM is one of the most common improvements to be introduced during its lifetime to any laptop or desktop device, you need to understand the differences between the RAM types that exist.

5 Types of RAM

1. SRAM: Static random-access memory (SRAM)

Does not need periodical memory refreshing.

Used as:

  • Buffers within hard drives
  • Cache memory for CPUs
  • Temporary storage for LCD screens
  • Automatically soldered to a printed circuit board (PCB), or quickly integrated to a chip: You won’t be replacing it.
  • Faster and found in smaller quantities than DRAM.

2. SDRAM: Synchronous DRAM (SDRAM)

  • First type of memory to run in sync with the processor bus.
  • 168-pin DIMM modules use its memory.
  • SDRAM modules contain a one-bit prefetch buffer and undergo one transfer per every clock cycle.
  • PC133 modules may be used at times on systems created for PC100 modules.

3. DDR SDRAM: The second generation of systems running synchronous DRAM

  • Uses double data rate SDRAM.
  • Makes two transfers per clock cycle.
  • Features a two-bit prefetch buffer.
  • 184-pin DIMM memory modules use its chips.

     Speeds for DDR SDRAM:

  • PC1600 (200MHz/1600Mbps)
  • PC2100 (266MHz/2100Mbps)
  • PC2700 (333MHz/2700Mbps)
  • PC3200 (400MHz/3200Mbps)

4. DDR2 SDRAM: Double data rate 2 SDRAM

  • Successor to DDR SDRAM.
  • Runs external data bus 2x the speed of DDR SDRAM.
  • Features four-bit prefetch buffer, allowing for even faster performance.
  • Has greater latency than DDR SDRAM memory.
  • Typical latency values are: CL=5 and CL=6; in comparison to CL=2.5 and CL=3 for DDR memory.
  • 240-pin memory modules use it.
  • Memory clock speed x4 or the I/O bus clock speed x2
  • DDR2-533 is used in PC2-4200 modules, which have a throughput of more than 4200Mbps.

5. DDR3 SDRAM: Double data rate 3 SDRAM

 

  • Runs at lower voltages
  • Twice the internal banks
  • Most versions run at faster speeds than DDR2.
  • Eight-bit prefetch bus. Greater latency than DDR2.
  • Typical latency values: CL7 or CL9, in comparison to CL5 or CL6 for DDR2.
  • The memory clock speed x4 or the I/O bus clock speed x2.
  • DDR3-1333 is used in PC3-10600 modules, that contain a throughput of over 10,600MBps or 10.6GBps.

 

TABLE OF COMPARISON FOR RAM TYPES:

RAM Type Pins (DIMM) Pins (SODIMM) Common Type & Speed Defining Characteristic
DDR SDRAM 184 200 PC3200 = 400MHz/3200Mbps Double the transfers per clock cycle compared to regular SDRAM
DDR2 SDRAM 240 200 DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) = 800MHz/6400Mbps External data bus speed (I/O bus clock) is 2x faster than DDR SDRAM
DDR3 SDRAM 240 204 DDR3-1333 (PC3-10600) = 1333MHz/10600Mbps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

External data bus speed (I/O bus clock) is 2x faster than DDR2 SDRAM (4x faster than DDR SDRAM)
DDR4 SDRAM 288 260 DDR4-2400 (PC4-19200) = 2400MHz/19200Mbps External data bus speed (I/O bus clock) is 2x faster than DDR3 SDRAM (8x faster than DDR SDRAM)
UniDIMM – 260 DDR3 or DDR4 Designed for use with Intel Skylake (6th generation Core i-series CPU); memory controller on motherboard/ processor must support both DDR3 and DDR4 memory

 

 

 

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