SSD drive are suitable for software developers?

[legolas_w]

Hi,

I am wondering whether SSD drives are suitable for software developers (dealing with lots and lots of small files (source codes) during build...) or it is better to stay with spinning drives?


Thanks.

[3Miro]

Form what I have read, SSD is best for the system root like /. Not very goof for the rest (yet). Even if you only do coding, there are other aspects of your system that may benefit from SSD.

[legolas_w]

Thanks for the comment but the problem is that I cannot put two hard disks in the macbook :-(. Just one and it is either the SSD or spinning drive.

[3rdalbum]

Hi,

I am wondering whether SSD drives are suitable for software developers (dealing with lots and lots of small files (source codes) during build...) or it is better to stay with spinning drives?


Thanks.

For lots of small files, I'd imagine SSDs would be better. No seek times between files.

[MadCow108]

I don't think you benefit in compile times
compiling is usually heavily cpu bound, especially for hard to compile languages like c++

[angryfirelord]

According to this article, the SSDs slow down on 4k block sizes, but do better on 16k.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/patriot-warp-v2-series-128gb-ssd-review/7

But it all depends on what you're doing. Generally, I've found that the CPU is the limit when it comes to compilation.

[Windows Nerd]

SSD's will speed up your system with day-to-day tasks and make your system just plainly more snappy. This is because in most every system today without one, a hard drive is the bottleneck. They are great for boot drives, but if you have mission-critical code that you need to store, use a good-quality hard drive. I don't think an SSD will help compile times, a good CPU is what helps with that.

[Paqman]

I cannot put two hard disks in the macbook

If it's a laptop, you definitely want an SSD. They're shock-resistent, use less power and are a lot faster. If you can afford one, you won't regret it. The Intel SSDs are still the best.