I'm curious how everyone likes to code, not which software.. more like what kind of music, space, monitor/keyboard setup, standing/sitting, temperature, people surrounding, time of the day, etc..
Time: Nighttime, preferably after midnight.
Location: In bed, with my laptop propped on my knees and waist, and my head up against some pillows.
Temp: Thermostat set on about 65.
Light: Just the glow of the laptop screen, maybe a lamp sometimes.
Beverge: A pot of strong coffee on in the kitchen. Usually a Sumatra or Columbian of some sort.
Music: Queensryche, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Savatage, Dokken, In Flames, Children of Bodom, Iron Maiden, Testament, Godsmack, Vains of Jenna, Emperor, Nocturnal Rites, Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Crashdiet, Bon Jovi, Borknagar, Bonfire, KISS, Kix, Journey, Lacuna Coil, Lizzy Borden, AC/DC, Annihilator, Agnostic Front, Armored Saint, Alice Cooper, Cinderella, Twisted Sister, Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Van Halen, Voi Vod, Vader, Warlock, W.A.S.P., Whitesnake, Five Finger Death Punch, Exodus, Overkill, Sepultura, System of a Down, etc.
As an alternative:
Place: Barnes & Noble cafe or Starbucks or similar
Time: Saturday, from about noon, until ...
Temp: Whatever
Light: Whatever. I usually sit near the windows, and if there's a lot of sunlight glare on my screen, I roll down the blinds to nix that.
Beverage: a bottle of Fiji water and a venti sugarfree mocha w/ whole milk, sugar-free caramel flavour and no whip.
Music: Same as above
In either case, I may sometimes switch up the music for trance / electronic music of some sort, preferably with no lyrics, or classical music.
If I'm home in bed, I'll occasionally forgo the music and put a movie that I've already seen 100 times (The Matrix, The Social Network, Sneakers, Hackers, etc.) on the big monitor across from the foot of the bed, and turn the volume down fairly low. I basically ignore it, but when I need a break from looking at the screen, I can look up and focus on that for a minute or two.
I develop on a 21.5in iMac, standard Apple keyboard (the one with the number pad, not the wireless one) and have both a magic mouse and a magic touchpad. I tend to use the mouse more. I only have the one display. I like the idea of two, but with only one eye, which, itself, has peripheral retina damage, the very narrow visual field means two monitors causes more neck and eye muscle strain than it's worth. My desk chair is a pretty beat up, inexpensive, generic office chair, but it's comfortable.
There's a couch in the office, good for sitting and reading, and a stationary bike, good for taking breaks and thinking sometimes.
If I'm not doing anything too mentally taxing, I will have music on - usually Pandora, so never quite know what to expect. Otherwise I prefer silence, or something like the fan running, or rain.simplynoise.com.
The office has to be kept super clean and organized, otherwise I have difficulty focusing and start to feel a bit cramped/crowded (it's a 14x16 room)..... a quality that does not carry over to the rest of my house, which is either a blessing or a curse..... not sure which.
I am occasionally accompanied by a cat that likes to sleep on my feet, or a hound who will make himself at home on the sofa.
Keyboard: mechanical keyboard (blue switches...the noisier the better)
Monitor: 2 monitors...even though I only use one about 90% of the time, it's nice to have API docs, mockups, notes, etc. on the other one that are only a glance away. I prefer the monitors to be widescreen so I can put things side by side nicely.
Space: in my room, or if I have to be in an office, a desk far away from people with headphones on. There's also a 24/7 french bakery with awesome wifi that I did a majority of my college coding projects in...that atmosphere is naturally productive for me somehow lol
Always sitting. I have a standing/sitting desk at my work and I'm starting to take a liking to standing, but I feel less productive.
People surrounding: as minimal as possible unless we're group-thinking a problem
Time: early mornings, or after 10pm
Big desk, two large monitors, Aeron chair (I miss it :/), Logitech illuminated keyboard, G500 mouse, 21°C temp, 11 PM, nobody, no noise, just the keyboard clicks rythming the night.
Temperature: Cool/Cozy.. as long as i'm not sweating bullets it's all good.
Time: I work best at night. For some strange reason I am most focused when the rest of the world is sleeping ~10pm - 5am. Maybe it's because i'm certain that no one will interrupt me OR maybe it's because there's really nothing else to do at that time (i'm not missing anything). I might have DSPS. lol
Location: doesn't matter, alone at the bottom of a mine shaft for all I care as long as every other living things are kept out of the vicinity. Physical places are irrelevant.
People: A hindrance to coding. Interruptions made to me are always for the other person's benefit. I usually have better information as well, so there's no 'ask a neighbor' benefit.
Temp: 74 Fahrenheit
Lighting : well lit
Music: DnB or many other types of electronic music from the last 15 years.
Keyboard: no funny key positions
Mouse: basic optical
Music: none, or the Massive Attack station on Pandora (great mix of light, electronic music that is tops to code to).
Hardware: my MacBook Pro, although my MS Surface Pro hooked up to a monitor and keyboard is gaining traction, too bad it's a lousy laptop.
Lighting: lots of it, I'm the rare dev that hates dark rooms