Now, I don't like to judge the moral character of display positioning, but after carefully considering the .png of the preferred solution of this article's author, I am forced to question the nature of my reality.
Excellent work. :)
Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
141–150 of 426 posts
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#142Back in the day, my setup was one 30" in the middle in landscape and a pair of 21" (or whatever that was that had the right dimensions) on the sides in portrait mode. The big screen was the primary and the other two were for reference. I still think this is the best setup. Right now I have 2 large curved displays and probably double the visible pixels but it's not as productive.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#143I run 7 monitors. I've got a 2x3 grid of 24" monitors on a stand, and then a 27" widescreen standing tall beside it for code or a long terminal. It's fantastic, though I could stand to have another row above. It's nice rarely having to switch windows - everything I need and use is right in front of me.
Fun! First encounter with a non-daytrader who's got more than my 6: I use 4 portrait on the desktop, and 2 landscape on a stand, held above them. What window manager do you use? I'm Xmonad.
Windows :D
That's an interesting configuration! Also my first encounter with someone else who understands the value of screen space.
Do you also like to keep all your things out in the open rather than tucked away inside cupboards and drawers?
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#144I've been using a cheap SEIKI 4K TV for the past 6 years but recently moved my desk next to a window and the reflection on the glossy finish has made it hard to use. I'm looking for either a 32" 4K IPS monitor or a better TV to replace it but the options don't seem that great. Would love to get some recommendations on a good monitor or TV.
Right now I'm considering https://www.amazon.com/LG-32UN880-B-UltraFine-Compatibility-... but I just missed the deal that costco had on it ($500) so might wait to see the price drop again because it's been on sale for that price a few times this year.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#145My ideal programming screen is a 1:1 square. Before I got my 4K display I tried using a 24" 1920x1080 monitor in vertical orientation, and found that even though 1080 pixels wide should be enough to render any website fine, some websites (including some pretty big/important websites) started treating my screen as a mobile device screen, hiding many elements and giving me the mobile view/UI. I guess those sites weren'…
Eizo makes a 1:1 26" 1920x1920 monitor. I've been tempted several times but the 1k price tag is keeping me off for now.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#146Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#147I prefer to work with a single large external monitor. If my device is a laptop I keep it in clamshell mode when attached to an external monitor. I find switching applications with keyboard shortcuts and focusing on one thing at a time has improved my productivity. Using two or more monitors made it so easy for me to get distracted. To each their own though.
Same here. In the circumstances where I need multiple things up at once I use Windows' window tiling features to arrange things as I need. They even made this functionality better in Windows 11. I'm a big proponent of using one good monitor over any number of other monitors. One thing that cracks me up is how many of my users request multiple monitor setups, but look at the keyboard while they type.
I tried powertoys fancy zones (from MS itself) and never looked back. Can’t tell if it will work with 11. My layout is 4 overlapping vertical full-height panes, so I can split the screen in half, or around 2:3 either way. E.g. my browser is usually x=0, w=3/5, and my vim is x=1/2, w=1/2. This way I can see the changes in 1500+-width but slightly overlapped by an editor to feel comfortable with line widths and their left margin.
What stands out in fancy zones is that these areas do not have to tile each other and may overlap. Positioning windows in there is also very UX. I couldn’t find anything close enough in linux world (well, one may always program i3 or awesome, but it’s beyond my scope of interest).
I don’t get why MS doesn’t just build it into windows, since it’s their own, free tool.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#148Am I the only one (fullstack programmer + designer + hobby photographer) here who's perfectly okay with a single laptop monitor? Maybe it's to do with I love being mobile, maybe it's that I use UI and text very small, but I can perfectly fit either 3 Vscode tabs, or website + PIP video, a few terminals, many views in Sketch or a combination of those in a screen (16" MBP). I'm also okay with working with Photoshop or…
Nope. I have actually found that the less monitor space I have the more efficient I am forced to be.
I work in vim and often have multiple tmux panes. Sometimes I can literally be writing code in a pane that’s only a handful of lines tall.
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#149Am I the only one (fullstack programmer + designer + hobby photographer) here who's perfectly okay with a single laptop monitor? Maybe it's to do with I love being mobile, maybe it's that I use UI and text very small, but I can perfectly fit either 3 Vscode tabs, or website + PIP video, a few terminals, many views in Sketch or a combination of those in a screen (16" MBP). I'm also okay with working with Photoshop or…
No, you're not alone. I tend to get lost in a screen as large as the 27" iMac I used for a few years. I usually ended up keeping my windows small and sticking them somewhere in the middle of the screen. For work (IT admin) I have a Surface Pro with a 10.5" screen docked to a 24" monitor at my desk, but I tend to only use the docked monitor for remote desktop or documentation. I often end up just ignoring the big screen and working right on the Surface's tiny screen.
At home (programming, hobby graphics/illustration)I use a 15" ThinkPad and have never felt the need to add another display. It's nice to have the option for some workflows but the reduction in mobility is a definite trade-off. (It's hard to use a second screen on the couch, etc.)
Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers
#150I prefer to work with a single large external monitor. If my device is a laptop I keep it in clamshell mode when attached to an external monitor. I find switching applications with keyboard shortcuts and focusing on one thing at a time has improved my productivity. Using two or more monitors made it so easy for me to get distracted. To each their own though.
When I ran multiple monitors I often designated one as my "communication" display, which got email/chat on it, and probably browser as well (for reference material), while the other was the active work one with the current task (usually a few terminals). I found the clearly defines areas for specific tasks was useful. Now I work off a 40" 4k TV without magnification (I'm close to it), and I try to do similar but it's…
I've found this to be the optimum as well. The fact that you can have 2 1080p monitors worth of display height stacked on top of each other is invaluable when writing code/reading docs. For the other half of the monitor I can usually split it up between a browser/target app I'm debugging and something else, which usually varies by the actual use-case.