How much RAM do I need for development in 2025?

16GB is the new baseline. Docker alone eats 4GB, VS Code with extensions takes 1-2GB, terminals add half a gig, and a dev server adds another gig — you’ll hit 8GB fast. 8GB works for isolated scripts, but modern dev with containers, language servers, and a browser with 30 tabs will stutter. Upgrading to 16GB is cheap and buys you five more productive years.