AskHN:Does monitor size influence your performance when you code?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5866858

by jimgardener • 13 years ago

4 11 13 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I use Eclipse as IDE.On my Dell Inspiron laptop computer,I often have to hide some windows to see the debug information properly..I have heard that many programmers use multiple monitors -one to code and another to view docs while coding.Sometimes I think I should use a bigger screen.. but this is less practical when you move from one place to another.How do you guys deal with this?(ie,if you think this affects your performance)

ibudiallo• 13 years ago

Use two monitors and you will never go back

brotchie• 13 years ago

Night and day. Vim on one screen and a multitude of things on the other: Matlab, a Windows VM, Web Browser, Terminal, etc. Combine dual screens with a tiling window manager (XMonad, Awesome) and you're laughing.

As far as physically managing two screens: I have a laptop dock at my desk which has a display port. Drop my laptop in and instant additional screen. Come home and sit on my couch, plug in HDMI and use my TV as a monitor, really great for web development.

jlengrand• 13 years ago

Using Eclipse, having a second screen is almost a requirement. You get surrounded by so many windows! So I use my laptop screen for all those windows, and my 24' is dedicated to the actual code.

I always work with two tabs of code, simply because a class is rarely interacting with itself so you want both sides of the pipe :).

Without Eclipse, It's a linux, terminator with 4 terminals in there and a two-paneled sublime text. I don't need my second screen for that, alt tab does the job. :)

I tried to work on Eclipse with a 9' laptop in an airport once, thought I would die before the plane take off :).

rajahafify• 13 years ago

Not having to Alt-Tab to see code and browser really improve my workflow. I have set the tilde key to show terminal so that's to my benefit as well. I just hope tilde (the terminal that I use) can have multiple viewport in it like terminator.

meerita• 13 years ago

I absolutely recommend it. A big screen or double monitor is a must. And much better if you use live refresh stuff while coding.

eip2• 13 years ago

If you get paid to code then invest in your tools.

I use a 50" 4k monitor and a 42" 1080p monitor.

The time it saves easily covers the cost.

daven11• 13 years ago

A 50"? How close do you sit to that? I have a 27" Dell which is a beautiful monitor and a couple of 24" monitors - but I'd probably just get 2 or 3 x 24" next time, I find the 27 a bit big, 50" I'd find overwhelming.

eip2• 13 years ago

About 4ft.

I wouldn't use less then 2 x 30" monitors.

stevejalim• 13 years ago

I'm a big fan of two screens, but do make sure they're positioned well and have windows sensibly arranged to minimise repeated small corrections of your head/neck. I'm no occupational therapist/ergonomist (if that's even the correct term), but anecodatally, if I have a busy IM day on my 'side' screen, I can feel it when by the end of the day.

hatchoo• 13 years ago

On a laptop I can never work efficiently on anything with less than FHD resolution.

stevoo• 13 years ago

Two screen increase performance dramaticaly.

At work i use a laptop with a 24 inch display. I have the laptop to display Eclipse debug and other info that i might need and have Eclipse mainly on my 24inch.

At home, doing web dev i have a 27 and a 22. It is a lot more usefull there as i have my eclipse on the larger screen and have the browser and shell on the 22 inch. No need to switch between windows and tabs.

It safes a lot of time and increases performance drastically.

AskHN:Does monitor size influence your performance when you code?

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