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Comment by TranquilMarmot | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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) ;)

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.

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 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)

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