My goal is to become a freelancer web developer, so that I’ll be able to travel and fund it by working remotely.
One solution is to use an ultrabook , but I’m always looking for other creative solutions.
I stumbled on these two articles:
which made me wounder: how many of you tried developing web code using a tablet , and using YII in specific?
Cheers,
Mark.
I tried (for fun) and will not try again.
You don’t have convenient input on tablets, so the development process slows down significantly.
Also I see no reason to use tablet instead of, say, Macbook Air.
Me too… I ended up using a Mac wireless keyboard and mouse with my iPad and it was ok, but very cumbersome. Will not try again except in case of emergency. 
Btw now I use my iPad as a second display 
Hmm, you guys don’t try enough…
This is my development toolkit:
Really…
Huh.
What I meant is to use a Bluetooth keyboard with the tablet.
This combo should be much cheaper than the Macbook Air and lighter.
However I do agree that tablets don’t offer as much functions as a PC , yet.
But maybe it may work as a secondary development tool after desktop or laptop. . .
In my experience with the iPad and Apple BT keyboard and mouse, I still had to tap on the iPad’s screen to do some things. Kind of defeats the purpose…
Hi,
This is really a great idea and looking into the future given that tablets are also increasing its computing power, it maybe possible soon. Like in our office we installed apache server in android tablets and run Simple DTR application using Yii.
One of the bigger problems I see here is not having access to a local development environment. If you will be traveling and attempting to work remotely, this might be even more important - as I have found with my last year on the road that hotel and coffee shop wifi is not as reliable as you would hope, and losing development time due to a 6hr plane ride (without wifi) can really be an interruption. You must be fully aware of what it means to rely on being connected 100% of the time.
Granted, with the right tablet, and the right amount of work, I’m sure you could stand up a workable environment, and in the absence of connectivity, find some tasks that will be valuable.
When comparing a tablet to an ultrabook as a primary development device, I only see drawbacks. Maybe a Surface Pro is in your future
Indeed , thus I’m planning to use some 3g/4g internet portable modems/cellphones
Yep
Cheers ,
Mark.
I have tried it too on my tablet. Unless I am really desperate and I have no other chance in hell I guess it can be done. But it is a pain. Best bet would probably be to connect remotely to your PC and do the development on it, but without a proper webserver, unit testing etc… I am not sure tables are up to it yet.
I agree with you, I am also facing the same issue and looking for a solution.