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Programming in Java on my MacBook Air takes so much time

 
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Hi there.
I have a MacBook Air(13-inch, Late 2010) and want to program in Java on OS X(Yosemite).
The problem is, the Eclipse which is already installed on my Mac is terribly slow.
It is slow not only at start up but also after the start up.
Irritated, I switched to using Terminal instead of using the IDE.
It was okay to write some code with Terminal. I mean, there was no delay whenever I do some coding with it.
But when I type "javac filename.java" on command line to compile a program, it takes looong time even for a very simple program.
I used to use Terminal when I had studied C language and at that time, I hadn't felt any problems using it.
I know C is mostly faster than Java but even then I still don't understand why "hello world" program takes around 10 seconds to be compiled both on Eclipse and Terminal.

The following is the specifications of my Mac

Processor: 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3
SSD: 256GB

Any help would be appreciated..!
 
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It shouldn't take that long. Can you check if your machine is maxed out on CPU or memory when you are trying to compile? I suspect memory.
 
Matthew Park
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:It shouldn't take that long. Can you check if your machine is maxed out on CPU or memory when you are trying to compile? I suspect memory.


Come to think of it, you may be right. I admit that sometimes ,whether I do some coding with Eclipse or Terminal, programs would be compiled in few seconds.
From now on, I will check my memory when I want to compile something. Thank you for your fast reply:)

...but I still don't get it why Eclipse is much, much slower at start up on my Mac than on other PCs at my University even though I double checked that my MacBook's memory's okay.
It usually takes around 5 minutes just to open Eclipse.
 
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There is a program called Activity Monitor in the Applications/Utilities folder that can help you look at CPU and memory usage.

4G isn't a lot of memory, but things still shouldn't be that slow. (That said, I don't use eclipse).

If your Air is expandable, more memory will always help.
 
Matthew Park
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Bear Bibeault wrote:There is a program called Activity Monitor in the Applications/Utilities folder that can help you look at CPU and memory usage.

4G isn't a lot of memory, but things still shouldn't be that slow. (That said, I don't use eclipse).

If your Air is expandable, more memory will always help.



Unfortunately, mine is not expandable but I'll take it into account. Thank you.
 
Bear Bibeault
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Yeah, when buying a Mac to be used for development, I think that maxxing out the memory is the most important aspect of the purchase. Faster CPUs and SSDs help a lot too, but memory is key.
 
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It's also worthwhile looking at what plugins you have running in Eclipse. If you don't need a particular plugin then either delete it or disable it. The more plugins, the slower it is to start, and the more work it does.
 
Jeanne Boyarsky
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As a reference point, I have 8GB RAM and my Eclipse is fine.
 
Matthew Park
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Andrew Monkhouse wrote:It's also worthwhile looking at what plugins you have running in Eclipse. If you don't need a particular plugin then either delete it or disable it. The more plugins, the slower it is to start, and the more work it does.


I already disabled all of them and I guess the problem I'm experiencing is due to 'lack of memory'. Anyway thank you for your advice ;)
 
Matthew Park
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Jeanne Boyarsky wrote:As a reference point, I have 8GB RAM and my Eclipse is fine.


So the 8GB would be enough for using Eclipse. I may consider buying a new Mac in the near future with higher RAM. Thanks.
 
Bear Bibeault
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If you purchase a new Mac, I'd go with 16GB. You will not be sorry.
 
Jeanne Boyarsky
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Bear Bibeault wrote:If you purchase a new Mac, I'd go with 16GB. You will not be sorry.


Yeah. My computer is about 4 years old. If I were buying a new one, I'd have more. (I routinely add RAM when I buy a computer so it lasts longer).
 
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Heh. I bought a new Mac (Book Pro) in the fall with 16GB RAM. I am not sorry!
 
Matthew Park
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Michael Matola wrote:Heh. I bought a new Mac (Book Pro) in the fall with 16GB RAM. I am not sorry!


Good for you, Michael!
It's a surprise to found out MacBook with 16GB RAM.
How much did you pay for it? What about the processor? SSD size? or other specifications?
 
Michael Matola
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So I got the 13-inch with the base processor (2.7GHz) and the 256GB of storage. You see such a model on this page, priced at $1499

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/

That page shows standard configurations that they stock at Apple stores and are generally available for immediate shipping when purchased online.

But if you go ahead and start the purchase process by clicking the Buy Now link or just going to this page

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro

then clicking Select, you get Built to Order (BTO) options, where, for example, you can increase the RAM to 16GB for $200, which is what I did. So the final price was $1699. (Actually it was lower for me because I'm eligible for the educational discount.) You can bump up the processor on that screen too. If you want more storage, you'd need to pick that a few screens back. BTOs generally take a few weeks to arrive. Note that you can have them delivered to your local Apple store, and they'll let you know when it arrives at the store.

I tend to use a computer for a long time before replacing, so it makes sense for me to bump up the memory on initial purchase, especially when dealing with a computer whose memory is not upgradeable.
 
Matthew Park
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Michael Matola wrote:So I got the 13-inch with the base processor (2.7GHz) and the 256GB of storage. You see such a model on this page, priced at $1499

http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs-retina/

That page shows standard configurations that they stock at Apple stores and are generally available for immediate shipping when purchased online.

But if you go ahead and start the purchase process by clicking the Buy Now link or just going to this page

http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro

then clicking Select, you get Built to Order (BTO) options, where, for example, you can increase the RAM to 16GB for $200, which is what I did. So the final price was $1699. (Actually it was lower for me because I'm eligible for the educational discount.) You can bump up the processor on that screen too. If you want more storage, you'd need to pick that a few screens back. BTOs generally take a few weeks to arrive. Note that you can have them delivered to your local Apple store, and they'll let you know when it arrives at the store.

I tend to use a computer for a long time before replacing, so it makes sense for me to bump up the memory on initial purchase, especially when dealing with a computer whose memory is not upgradeable.



Wow..Thanks for the detailed reply, Michael.
I really appreciate your help.
 
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