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Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

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Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#371

Post by trashtester »

glitchc wrote: post #246
mgraczyk wrote: post #155

This is interesting but the author considers only one degree of freedom, "roll". Equally important are "pitch" and "yaw". "pitch" is necessary to accommodate another kind of rotation, known in HCI as "slouch". "yaw" is important because sometimes your code is so elegant and impressive, that you need people walking by to see it more than you need to see it yourself. You use yaw to rotate your monitor away, toward the…

Could stretch the "yaw" into a "yawn" which is the typical response when you showcase your elegant and impressive code to family and friends.

On the other hand, the jawns from our co-workers clearly are stress responses from seeing our obviously superiorly elegant code, and the feeling of inferiority it leads to.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#373

Post by mathgladiator »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #345
mathgladiator wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sir, you wound me deeply... yet you speak truth. When I was younger, I'd write code and print it out to share with friends and family with the most disappointing looks returned. Honestly, I have no idea why and how I have persisted in this field for so long given how isolating it can be. Even now, I am writing my own programming language (for board games), and I've run into the sales/marketing problem head-on.

What would a language for board games achieve that a good framework wouldn’t?

A part of my problem is relying on "programming language" when I should really focus on "real-time collaborative database" with "multi-user workflow transactions"

http://www.adama-lang.org/

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#374

Post by Abishek_Muthian »

selfhoster11 wrote: post #317
mgraczyk wrote: post #155

This is interesting but the author considers only one degree of freedom, "roll". Equally important are "pitch" and "yaw". "pitch" is necessary to accommodate another kind of rotation, known in HCI as "slouch". "yaw" is important because sometimes your code is so elegant and impressive, that you need people walking by to see it more than you need to see it yourself. You use yaw to rotate your monitor away, toward the…

I know that you are writing in jest, but the very concept that any amount of slouching is tolerable to someone in this profession should be outrageous. We spend decades deforming our backs to sit in chairs. The least we can do is to promote the idea of an international "Insufficiently Ergonomic Office Chair Bonfire Day".

Off-topic

> but the very concept that any amount of slouching is tolerable to someone in this profession should be outrageous. We spend decades deforming our backs to sit in chairs.

Would you be interested in a tool which reminds you to take a walk at regular intervals without any action from you when you're seated and immersed with work?

I'm trying to validate the need to refine and make my 'Butt Pomodoro'[1] more accessible.

[1] https://abishekmuthian.com/butt-pomodoro-a-butt-triggered-po...

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#375

Post by d110af5ccf »

dragonwriter wrote: post #370
d110af5ccf wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why, when a technical one suffices? Because if you're programming then the imposed limitation forcing you to constantly switch between windows almost certainly reduces your productivity. Do you never find yourself jumping back and forth between two or three documentation pages (library API, manpage, language spec, whatever), one or more pieces of example code, and one or more files with code that you're editing? Pl…

> I find having that all visible at once in dedicated locations to be incredibly convenient That’s a reason for seeking out a solution with large enough display area and sufficient resolution. That doesn’t necessarily require multiple monitors.

I wasn't meaning to differentiate between those two approaches. The original complaint seemed to be that having too many windows visible was leading to distraction. Honestly I found that claim perplexing. If it was only when they were spread across multiple physical monitors (as opposed to a single very large one) that would be even stranger to me.

At the end of the day though I admit that it comes down to whatever works for the individual to maximize their effectiveness.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#376

Post by runeks »

can16358p wrote: post #67

Am 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…

> Honestly I don't understand why so many screens are needed, haven't felt any need for more than one in 15+ years (though I've always used max possible resolution + very small UI scaling). I even don't use multiple desktops.

I feel the same way, but I use the "medium large" scaling that macOS offers in Displays under Preferences. I do use multiple desktops, however, and using Cmd+Tab to switch between them.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#377

Post by LegitShady »

rectang wrote: post #191
LegitShady wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of people who lose visual accuity as they age don't get macular degeneration or cataracts during their working years, they just need reading glasses. It's a bit like saying 'my head hurts' and someone says 'take some tylenol' and you say 'some people have flesh eating brain viruses or prion diseases'. You're not technically wrong but those aren't the things that affect most people complaining about font…

I agree with you that most people only need reading glasses — or more precisely computer glasses, which are typically set to focus at 20-24 inches rather than 16 inches as is common for reading glasses. However, I think you are understating the problems posed by other conditions. The prevalence of cataracts by age 64 is in the neighborhood of 15-20%. https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/outreach-camp... It'…

> The prevalence of cataracts by age 64 is in the neighborhood of 15-20%.

But what is the lower bound where it starts to get that common, is the question? Does it affect people in their careers that often? probably not.

>Dismissive attitudes like this among the visually acute are one reason website accessibility is generally so poor.

Sorry you disliked my analogy but it has nothing to do with website accessibility, merely the way you structured your argument/post in reply to my reasonable response of 'get glasses' to jumping to macular degeneration.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#378

Post by aasasd »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #337
nsonha wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

multiple browser windows are not different resource-wise than multiple tabs, you are still running against same instance of the browser. The other benefit of leaving window (and tab) managerment to the OS is that tabs switching should also better, imagine your tabs show up in the OS switcher and you can look them up in spotlight or something.

Oh wow i guess i should really try this "window" thing then. I am dumb lol. Thank you for all the replies here.

FF might have a setting on ‘about:config’ for whether to open links in tabs or windows. But off-hand I only know for certain about the one for links from other apps.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#379

Post by theshrike79 »

imiric wrote: post #365
throw10920 wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Using two or more monitors made it so easy for me to get distracted. I have a desktop with three monitors and a laptop with one, and I don't notice any difference in distractibility. It's a discipline problem, not a technical one, and so you should solve it on a personal level and not a technical one. I mean, think about it. If you "unlock" the ability to use multiple monitors at once without getting distracted, "i…

> there's empirical evidence to suggest that that results in increased productivity Can you share this evidence? The thing is that one can only focus on a single monitor at a time. So productivity IME really depends on your windows manager. If I can quickly jump from code to documentation while looking at the same pixels without moving my neck or eyes, that seems like it would be more productive than changing focus t…

Example of a web developer:

Monitor #1: The page Monitor #2: The code Monitor #3: Mail, chat etc.

You can drop the third one, but at least two is kinda required. You can't just shove #1 and #2 on a single monitor or the page layout won't match the user's.

Re: Ideal Monitor Rotation for Programmers

#380

Post by archseer »

theshrike79 wrote: post #379
imiric wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there's empirical evidence to suggest that that results in increased productivity Can you share this evidence? The thing is that one can only focus on a single monitor at a time. So productivity IME really depends on your windows manager. If I can quickly jump from code to documentation while looking at the same pixels without moving my neck or eyes, that seems like it would be more productive than changing focus t…

Example of a web developer: Monitor #1: The page Monitor #2: The code Monitor #3: Mail, chat etc. You can drop the third one, but at least two is kinda required. You can't just shove #1 and #2 on a single monitor or the page layout won't match the user's.

Or I can put the browser and the code editor on different workspaces and instantly switch between them with the press of a key.
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