11–17 of 17 posts
Yes, multiple monitors definitely make you more productive. I think employers who provide it win over long term as monitor is relatively cheap to programmer's salary.
- A shortcut key for every major application you use
- A shortcut key to tile the window to the LHS of the screen
- A shortcut key to tile the window to the RHS of the screen
- A shortcut key to select the window on the LHS
- A shortcut key to select the window on the RHS
If your OS doesn't support these shortcut keys, build them into it.
The thing about multiple monitors it's that it's basically just a hack to get around the fact that screens were never big enough to begin with. Trust me, once you use a truly giant screen you'll understand. I use a 34" curved screen by LG. Additionally a single screen lets you sort out your ergonomics problems more easily.
The other thing about multiple monitors is that the thought of regularly configuring them is enough to send a shiver down any experienced Linux user's spine:
If you're working on a single screen, you need the following shortcut keys (think StarCraft): - A shortcut key for every major application you use - A shortcut key to tile the window to the LHS of the screen - A shortcut key to tile the window to the RHS of the screen - A shortcut key to select the window on the LHS - A shortcut key to select the window on the RHS If your OS doesn't support these shortcut keys, build…
If you're working on a single screen, you need the following shortcut keys (think StarCraft): - A shortcut key for every major application you use - A shortcut key to tile the window to the LHS of the screen - A shortcut key to tile the window to the RHS of the screen - A shortcut key to select the window on the LHS - A shortcut key to select the window on the RHS If your OS doesn't support these shortcut keys, build…
How do you set up those shortcut keys? I think I could probably set them up in KDE on Linux but no idea in any other OS or using any other WM.
For Windows, you may be able to get a decent way through the list using AutoHotKey, it's a fairly powerful language (despite being a pretty weird one).
Over on the world of finance where I spend the majority of my time, one laptop and maybe an external screen running at the wrong resolution is commonplace. The development team shares the same standard workstation setup as the non-technical adviser sitting across the room, which to me seems wrong. I much prefer having the extra screen real estate so I purchased a 27" Dell to sit next to the 24" rotated vertically. At…
And here I thought I was the only one with a vertical side monitor. Then again, did you mean that both are vertical?
I have display turned off on the MBA and only use the external main display but I do keep the lid open to use its trackpad.
I resize my communication tools (email, skype) narrowly to the left side of the screen and keep my other main apps (browser, db tools, editors) for the rest of the space. This way, I can look at both without really turning my neck around and the fact that with wide displays, codes/web pages almost start at the center of the screen definitely makes it easier to read instead of having have to move your sight to the left on every line.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that sticking what to concentrate on, on the main display is the way to go instead of splitting them all over your desk.
Static hand position with vim keybinding and with less eye/neck movement, least fatigue you get. (Of course with the chair your body likes.)