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4K is for programmers

tiamat.tsotech.com

51–60 of 342 posts

Re: 4K is for programmers

#51
post #28

This seems like flaunting your budget more than improving your environment. Maybe I just need to get my eyes checked again, but for some reason my code just doesn't perform any better or write itself any faster with more screen real estate and I'm as productive on my laptop as I am on my big screen. 4K is not for programmers, code is for programmers.

I use two 27" monitors at work and would definitely feel a productivity hit if I were to go back to smaller or fewer monitors. I dedicate one entire monitor just to a full-screen terminal with tmux running inside. It's trivial this way for me to edit and view and compare multiple files at once. I typically dedicate half of the second monitor to a browser, for testing, and the other half to administrative applications…

For me, just turning my attention (and my head) to a second monitor is too much. I greatly prefer multiple workspaces/virtual desktops to multiple screens. I'm fine with completely switching contexts when the cost of context switching is 0.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#52
post #12

This is quite the opinionated "article". "4k isn't for couch potatoes", "you should buy a $500 monitor", "if you are programming on something so old, [you suck]", etc... I am fairly surprised to see this style of wording upvoted to the top of HN, actually.

I took this as a bit ironic because my writing style was tamer in years past and I feel it has become more blunt (to use another euphemism) since I started reading more Hacker News postings. But yes, it's opinionated. I'm quite strongly of the opinion that in general larger desktop displays increase productivity. They are finally arriving, and at prices that are almost affordable. With several important caveats and w…

Hey, no worries!

There is a time and place for everything.

I am not criticizing your writing style. I just found it odd to find one like it at the top of HN is all.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#53
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took this as a bit ironic because my writing style was tamer in years past and I feel it has become more blunt (to use another euphemism) since I started reading more Hacker News postings. But yes, it's opinionated. I'm quite strongly of the opinion that in general larger desktop displays increase productivity. They are finally arriving, and at prices that are almost affordable. With several important caveats and w…

Hey, no worries! There is a time and place for everything. I am not criticizing your writing style. I just found it odd to find one like it at the top of HN is all.

You and me both. Not that I'm complaining. :)

Re: 4K is for programmers

#54
I don't see how anyone could use a 30hz panel for a productive length of time. At 40hz, which is what my laptop goes to when it's in power save mode, even something as simple as scrolling a web browser looks like a torn, jagged mess.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#55
post #33

This seems like flaunting your budget more than improving your environment. Maybe I just need to get my eyes checked again, but for some reason my code just doesn't perform any better or write itself any faster with more screen real estate and I'm as productive on my laptop as I am on my big screen. 4K is not for programmers, code is for programmers.

$500 is such a small amount to pay, it is easily recouped over the course of a year. $100k to pay a developer? Just 0.5% to break even through reduction in time spent, or increase in comfort, or decreased eye strain, additional time spent working, or improved retention. It can be a signal to potential hires that you spend money where it counts, instead of fancy foosball tables or a 75" plasma in the reception area. I…

You seem like a very nice employer :)

For many of us that have in the past (or still do) work for less-than-very-nice employers, or ones without as much money available to spend on hardware for their team, there was/is always hope in improving your own practices. I have spent a lot of time investment improving my own practices and I wouldn't give up CLI, workspaces or dvorak for enough 4K monitors to line a conference room with.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find I am much more productive at home (1x 30" monitor + laptop display) then I am at work (1x 24" 1080 monitor + laptop display). The screen size absolutely makes a difference when you are working on a large project with lots of disparate pieces. When you jump between project-wide search, debugging, showing git diffs, and so on. This is especially true if you do graphics work and code. When you need to move graphi…

I do all these things in a terminal. I used not to. But once I started doing things the CLI-way, I never looked back and have yet to discover a tool offering even half the productivity gained from keeping my fingers firmly planted on the home row. However, if you are locked into using an environment where doing the things you've said requires mousing or multiple windows with tons of resolution, then you have my sympa…

While I do a lot on the terminal, not everything is faster there.

Jumping between symbols in your IDE is not going to happen faster on the command line because it's a spatial operation. You've located the symbol visually, clicking it to jump to definition is far faster than keyboard-navigating to it, or even typing it.

Merging is better with a dedicated merge tool than a command line merge. I have to resolve conflicts one to three times per day and I couldn't imagine a non-visual merge interface for complex files where manual edits from both sides are necessary. Being able to see it all at once helps.

There is nothing quite as good as Xcode's instruments on the command line — providing easy to navigate visual representations of your performance and memory use, graphs and other metrics. Having the instruments panel on a second screen is incredibly useful, the extra screen real estate is of real value here. Having to keep switching on a single laptop display is a pain in the ass.

Obviously there are many tasks that cannot be easily sped up on the terminal, saving slices out from Photoshop (when your designer hasn't done it properly). And then getting the resulting assets into your pipeline. This stuff is benefited by extra screen space.

But the main benefit is being able to see more code at once. And it is especially helpful in large re-factoring operations or with extensive debugging / performance profiling. As I said, it depends on the type of work. I can code just fine on my laptop but I tend to prefer coding focused features, or fixing isolated bugs.

I find the previously mentioned profiling and architectural changes are better suited to large screens where more code / graphs / visual assets can be seen at once.

You simply can't do "all these things" in a terminal. You can do a hell of a lot, but sometimes you need visuals and sometimes you need space. When you can see more code you don't have to hold as much in your working memory, your eyes can flick back and forth over your code and it makes it easier to see the dependencies and realise what you need to change.

Re: 4K is for programmers

#57
My code is heavenly. Karate Kid movie. I guess we don't let everybody into Heaven. Who's the nigger picking a fight with God? LOL Funny.

God says... didn't_I_say_that I'm_not_dead_yet you_don't_like_it I'll_get_right_on_it Icarus ice_cream geek Burp African Hasta to_infinity_and_beyond if_anything_can_go_wrong HolySpirit can_you_hear_me_now adultery

Re: 4K is for programmers

#59
post #47
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a TN screen :(

That would be a deal breaker, but lenovo and asus make nearly identical IPS displays.

AFAIK all 28'' 4k screens are TN, that's why they are so cheap. If you want IPS, it's $1300 for 24 (dell), or $3500 (dell, asus).

Re: 4K is for programmers

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do all these things in a terminal. I used not to. But once I started doing things the CLI-way, I never looked back and have yet to discover a tool offering even half the productivity gained from keeping my fingers firmly planted on the home row. However, if you are locked into using an environment where doing the things you've said requires mousing or multiple windows with tons of resolution, then you have my sympa…

While I do a lot on the terminal, not everything is faster there. Jumping between symbols in your IDE is not going to happen faster on the command line because it's a spatial operation. You've located the symbol visually, clicking it to jump to definition is far faster than keyboard-navigating to it, or even typing it. Merging is better with a dedicated merge tool than a command line merge. I have to resolve conflict…

"Jumping between symbols in your IDE is not going to happen faster on the command line because it's a spatial operation. You've located the symbol visually, clicking it to jump to definition is far faster than keyboard-navigating to it, or even typing it."

When the lab I worked in moved between buildings, we each broke down our work stations and set them up in the new spot. I went through a good week of getting work done before I noticed that I hadn't plugged in my mouse - I just never reached for it, because virtually everything happens with a thought when my hands are on the keyboard.

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