Operating Systems vs Virtual Machines

Developers should learn operating systems to understand how software interacts with hardware, optimize application performance, and troubleshoot system-level issues meets developers should learn and use virtual machines to create isolated, reproducible environments for testing applications across different operating systems without needing separate physical hardware, which is crucial for cross-platform development and ci/cd pipelines. Here's our take.

Operating Systems

Nice Pick

Developers should learn operating systems to understand how software interacts with hardware, optimize application performance, and troubleshoot system-level issues

Pros

• This knowledge is essential for system programming, embedded development, cloud computing, and ensuring cross-platform compatibility in applications
• Related to: linux, windows

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Virtual Machines

Developers should learn and use Virtual Machines to create isolated, reproducible environments for testing applications across different operating systems without needing separate physical hardware, which is crucial for cross-platform development and CI/CD pipelines

Pros

• They are also essential for running legacy systems securely, optimizing resource utilization in cloud computing, and ensuring consistency in deployment scenarios, such as in DevOps practices
• Related to: hypervisor, containerization

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Operating Systems is a concept while Virtual Machines is a platform. We picked Operating Systems based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Operating Systems wins

Based on overall popularity. Operating Systems is more widely used, but Virtual Machines excels in its own space.