Is RAM more important than CPU performance or As the number of cores? Would be z.Bsp. A 16GB RAM dual-core laptop better than an 8GB quad-core RAM? Would do so mainly data science, machine learning and big data stuff.
The requirements for programming itself are quite low (large IDEs excepted). At ML this looks quite different again. For ML you need a lot of RAM. 8 GB is the absolute minimum, I would say, but 16 GB or even 32 GB can already offer considerable advantages.
The CPU should also be neat. Whether dual-core or quad-core hardly plays a role. There are dual-core CPUs that are better than some quad-core CPUs.
Much more important is the GPU. The GPU should count for ML. For example, Nvidia has CUDA for it. A GPU can significantly speed up the learning process. What takes several hours on the CPU, is done with the support of the GPU in a few minutes. This is because the GPU is optimized for such calculations (such as matrix operations).
And another important side is the storage space. ML generates huge amounts of data. In a few days you can easily get 1 TB full. You should already have a large hard drive.
ML is pretty much the most demanding thing you can do with a calculator. Do not underestimate that!
I myself would say that both depending on what you programmed times more, sometimes less important, so a quad-core with 8gigs in my opinion would be more suitable for your plans.
For the actual programming almost no performance is required.
