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Comment by joncp | Hacker News Reader

On a related note: At one point I switched to working exclusively on a laptop and after a while realized that the smaller screen had forced me to write better code. I wrote smaller methods, made smaller files, kept my concepts together, the whole nine yards. I even wrote better tests since that helped me keep my work small.

It didn't last; I'm writing this on a 27" monitor, but I think that has more to do with bad laptop ergonomics than space.

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> On a related note: At one point I switched to working exclusively on a laptop and after a while realized that the smaller screen had forced me to write better code. I wrote smaller methods, made smaller files, kept my concepts together, the whole nine yards.

Interesting. The programmer equivalent of using smaller plates so you eat less at meals.

I see some coworkers with ridiculous setups. Three monitors, one vertical, one ultrawide and curved. I don't see why you need that much screen to write code... when pressed they say it's for having references, Slack, etc. up on other screens but then you just end up moving your head around a lot (what a pain in the neck!) I do everything on a single 27" monitor.

It's almost as if people have different preferences in working environment, isn't it?

I used to prefer dual 24" monitors. I felt the physical separation let me better organize my tools.

Now I prefer my 34" widescreen. More flexible, less distracting.

I'm writing an operating system, its build system, a verifier for it, and writing docs, usually switching often between them. I wish I had that much screen space.

Everyone has their own workflows.

> but then you just end up moving your head around a lot (what a pain in the neck!)

If moving your head causes you neck pain, you should get that looked after ASAP!

Generally, a static posture over a long time is really bad for your health. Make sure to stretch, fidget, move around, change your posture a lot when working with a screen.

Sounds like hyperbole, but i do feel like i loose track and some situation awareness when i use a 34" super-widescreen

Hahaha very good point :)

I understand you, I also use one primary monitor in front of me. I have another monitor next to it, which I mostly use to put documentation next to the IDE. But the second monitor ist 90% of the time unused. Sometimes I put tool windows (test runner) there. Or something entertaining (YouTube/Netflix) ;)

I love coding on a huge 40 inch screen: the main reason is that I can view an entire file without scrolling. Less mental overhead to move your hands means more brainpower is left to do useful work.

Did you see the post the other day about using a thin editor with very few columns?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29166673

It really got me thinking about monitor setups and how much space you _really_ need to write code.

Yeah, I read that one. As others in that thread point out there is research that actually shows long lines are better (with yet others in that thread questioning that research, but alas, it's certainly not a given shorter is better)

It depends on the type of work. For people who code like they're writing a novel, yeah, a laptop can be perfect and encourage focus. But for anyone who works with real-time financial data, working on a laptop screen would be a nightmare.

I push back on the mantra that smaller methods are always better.

Yes, they usually have less responsibility, by virtue of being smaller. However, sometimes it is best to just get a larger task done in a function. You can have parts of it logically called out, without having to use the languages features for function declaration.

I feel like there is probably something to be said about how well particular languages work with less horizontal space - the more verbose ones out there might lead to code that is so long vertically, that a lot of time will be spent scrolling through it, unless you're using a vertical monitor for that.

Then again, limiting the line width to something like 120 characters should allow you to edit two files side by side simultaneously, or run into far less problems when using something like a laptop, as opposed to having large monitors, while also help people who prefer larger font sizes, so it should be better for accessibility as well.

I currently have about 4 monitors in total, 3 of which are 21.5" at 1080p and there's also one vertical one, which to me that seems like a pretty decent setup - being able to browse code, work in a terminal, preview things in the browser and maybe get a few filesystem windows in there as well seems to improve productivity, all without the tradeoffs that tiling window managers might incur (though mostly just the learning curve) or struggling with software that doesn't work well with less horizontal space.

Of course, the technicalities of getting such a setup working are a bit cumbersome too - i cannot afford one of the fancy VESA mounts, so instead two of the monitors use a DIY monitor leg that's basically one long PVC pipe with some 3D printed mounts and screws, another sits atop of the computer case to the side and the GPU I/O is kind of a mess, since there's occasionally an adapter in there as well (monitors with DisplayPort are more expensive, rather than VGA/DVI/HDMI).

Honestly, it'd be nice to sidestep all of that with something like VR, but we're not quite there yet in regards to the resolution, or may never really get there at a good price point, even if there are some really interesting projects out there: https://arcan-fe.com/2018/03/29/safespaces-an-open-source-vr...

Virtual workspaces (basically multiple desktops) might help mitigate some of the issues, though!

I wonder if this is something analogous to Parkinson's law. I have found that transitioning to a single screen was initially frustrating, but it forced me to adapt to the lack of space by condensing my writing, both code and prose.

It seems intuitively convincing and almost obvious to me that the quality of your output would be inversely proportional to the amount of available "space" for that output, although the exact relationship doesn't seem so clear.

Split your screen.

I never write code in a full screen window. Either code on two sides or a terminal on one side, etc.

Long horizontal lines really mess with comprehension and attention.

I typically go 13" laptop, but when docked on a 4k screen, I use screen splits to achieve a similar effect.

You can make the things on screen bigger on the 27” to match laptop.

Better yet - tile things on the monitor.

I'm on a 32" and I don't full screen anything except for the odd video.

The IDE I use has a line set at whatever your acceptable line length is. I find that's usually enough to keep me in line (ba-dum-tss)

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