I want to buy a laptop for programming. What is the best spec for this purpose?

Answer 1

It depends on what you want to do. I believe in another post you said you wanted to learn game programming.

Just to learn simple programming you don't need a laptop with a lot of 'high specs'.

For game programming however, eventually you're going to get into using game engines and level editors that can require a lot of 'juice'. So, I would recommend getting something nice, though some people may tell you that you don't need anything spectacular to learn how to program (true). But game programming and the software it can require is different.

I was in the exact same boat as you, trying to decide what kind of system to get for game programming. I've never been happier with this:

ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers)
model: G751JL
Processor: Intel Core i7-4720HQ @ 2.60GHz (Quad Core)
RAM: 8GB, I upgraded to 16GB
17" Touchscreen: I personally have to have a touchscreen. (17" laptops are big so you may want to go smaller for portability)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M

MOST IMPORTANTLY:
Do NOT get anything with "Integrated" graphics. You definitely want to have a decent "Dedicated" graphics card.

It will seem like you're buying a machine to play PC Games on but you'll need this to smoothly run game engines such as Unity and Unreal also.

So far, I've had my machine for a year and I haven't run into anything it can't handle, easily, yet. I run 2 extra monitors for a 3 monitor setup and it doesn't even phase it. I'm a software engineer and I don't even own a 'desktop' computer.

2 Things I'm glad I discovered:
1) ASUS ROG brand
2) Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M

I can't stress enough the graphics card. Make sure it's a GeForce GTX M series of graphics card. Make sure you see "GTX". There is now a GTX 980M.

Get something with GTX M series graphics, at least 8GB RAM and a Core i7 processor and you won't be disappointed. I like the ASUS ROGs also cause they're designed so well, with the cooling fans going straight out the back of the laptop, instead of underneath...very cool and quiet.

Answer 2

You should check the specs of the IDE for your programming language you're going to use in order to have an idea of which laptop to buy but I'd recommend a laptop with at least 4GB RAM.

Answer 3

I wouldn't get less than 8gb.. 4gb might be enough for today, but what about tomorrow? always get the best computer you can afford. same goes for laptops