Do you use dual Monitor for Coding

celticfiddler

Your projection is showing. It's called "confirmation bias".

Member 96

:laugh:

"It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it." -Sam Levenson

jlwarlow

I have a 17" Dell Monitor and a Sony Bravia; the Bravia was for the XBox, but I rigged it up as a 2nd monitor for my PC. I do most of my work on the main screen and keep my email, things to do, output etc on the widescreen bravia. I'd find it counter productive to go back to single monitor.

TGC123

I use two 24" monitors and a third 22" monitor, making a total of 70" of screen space. I also plug into an overhead projector. The computer has 2 PCIe slots allowing me up to 4 monitors. These days I do more media development than coding, so this setup is extremely useful and very efficient. But I have to ask myself if I am compensating for something by having these oversize monitors(smirk). Seriously though, I do wonder if I'm really being green by having these huge monitors on all the time. May need to put some solar panels on the roof so I can feel better about myself. Of course I would never game on company time, but these monitors make gaming a lot more fun. When I code its helpful to have a website open on one screen with the code editor open on another. Two monitors is definitely worth the expense.

Tom Christensen www.actiondigital.com

Dan Neely

2 at work and 2.5 at home. The ".5" is a laptop that's controlled with the same keyboard/mouse as the desktop but which I can't drag apps back and forth onto from my main machine.

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

Paul Conrad

Redmist77 wrote:

You can't look at two monitors at the same time so why bother?

Does just fine for me.

Redmist77 wrote:

prefer the extra desk space

Not a problem here ;P

Redmist77 wrote:

Multiple monitors are generally used by insecure kiddies that like to feel important.

I don't think so :|

"The clue train passed his station without stopping." - John Simmons / outlaw programmer "Real programmers just throw a bunch of 1s and 0s at the computer to see what sticks" - Pete O'Hanlon "Not only do you continue to babble nonsense, you can't even correctly remember the nonsense you babbled just minutes ago." - Rob Graham

uli2000

Yes, I do and love it. However, I would like to force certain apps onto one of the of the screens, is there a command (in c++) to do that. I have looked around but found nothing.

Jordon4Kraftd

Yes, and YES!!! I am an intermediate developer (I Think, 3 years exp, 1 year doing full projects), and it is extremely helpful to have my coding references open on my secondary screen while i code. I can look up the "help" and then code it in and not have to switch between windows. So my second monitor is like a reading pane. I read my email, browse the web, open folders and files form there and the only work i do on it is enter my project hours and tasks on that screen. It works great, when i go home and have to work on my single screen of the laptop, I seem to only get about 75% done compared to 2 screens.

Jordon4Kraftd

Nvidia, if you have a nvidia card they have a software solution. It can remember what window your app is on and it can add a single button into the windows main bar that when pressed moves the window to the other monitor. I used it when i had a desktop machine, just loved it. (Now I have a mobile with ATI and they don't have such a feature :( .

carlson andrew

Three. The productivity increase may be intrinsic and hard to quantify, but here is the logic behind why I do this set up. I have a central 24" widescreen, with a 20" widescreen on each side. The tools I use most are Visual Studio 2008, Sql Management Studio, Internet Explorer (or other browser), Microsoft Word, and Outlook. At times I may have any of a number of other tools running as well. These tools are pretty inter-related. I may be coding/testing in VS, but it impacts the database and sometimes, it is just nice to have the table layout or a diagram of some sort clearly viewable on one screen and the working window available in the other. At the same time, I usually have reference documentation, peer comments, or even "how-to" articles in the third. To be honest, there is a declining return the more monitors you add. Having six monitors, with my current tool set, would be unnecessary and probably counter productive. I don't have to print as much. I used to print my emails or documentation so it could be in front of me on my desk, where I could see it at all times. I don't do that at all now. Mulitple monitors vs larger monitor. One word, "fullscreen". Having VS open full screen on the central monitor, with SQL Management Studio open full screen on the second is incredible. I'm trying to save time sorting through windows. Resizing windows and organizing them on a screen is time consuming. I want to flick the window to the screen I need it in, and full size it. I don't full screen browser windows, or even Office documents. I usually do have some need for just leaving them tiled on one screen. To sum up, I have a management workstation, a laptop, and my development workstation on my L-shaped desk. (Not to mention my Laser printer and my minifridge :) They are arranged to keep the tasks I perform encapsulated into a neat and organized environment. When papers stack on my desk, items are forgotten. When they are neatly organized, more work gets done. Its the same with screens. They are cheap these days. Organize your work environment to promote maximum efficiency. Three monitors does not equal 3x's more work done. But it definitely increases efficiency by a LARGE factor.

gongchengshi

I use two. I could definitely use a third. Especially when debugging. My IDE in the center, the app being debugged on the left, and my documentation, music, and chat windows on the right. I can't imagine debugging in a single window (unless it was a shell app being debugged by GDB). When apps hit breakpoints in debuggers they don't repaint themselves which means any area the window covers is unusable. I also use multiple screens to run multiple instances of my IDE at the same time. I can be coding a control in one IDE while I am working on integration of the control into an app in a second IDE and still be able to see both sets of code side by side.

JourneyWare

Never used dual before my current job (2 years). Though it was a waste of space. Now I find it hard to live without it. I find it extreamly useful to debug my applications. I had to do this at home also so I would not go in to withdrawls. :doh: My wife thought I was crazy until I set her up with duals (laptop and LCD/TV). Now she gets upset :mad: if I want to use the LCD/TV to watch TV.

shea c4

Yes, I have for years and shudder at the thought of coding without it. #1 benefit is documentation. I leave local copies of MSDN maximized on the second monitor. Other benefits: - makes finding the "right" API call a snap - makes it easier to figure out where to put an API call or code sample since Visual Studio is maximized on the primary monitor. - makes tracing through log files easier (ultraedit on the secondary, visual studio on the primary) - great for reading through the extra technical articles that come bundled with MSDN while some long running install, uninstall, compile, etc... is running on the primary monitor. - great for matching up the UI to spec screenshots. - great for ripping code out of the platform SDK by having visual studio open on both monitors (my project on primary, the code sample on the secondary). - great for working through any kind of tutorial or walkthrough (browser in second window, visual studio in primary window). It's a big part of why I'm so much more productive (codewise at least) than you single monitor types (j/k people, much love to all coders!) ;)

------------------ MCAD.net, MSc (CS)

Dan Neely

Lesson learned. Never buy a toy for yourself if you can't afford to buy one for your spouse in short order if necessary. :-\

Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall

shea c4

Glad to see a boss out there that understands the concentration/focus it takes to do things well. I would be more distracted if I had email up on a second window; the desktop alert (fade-in/fade-out notification) is bad enough. I'll often turn it off temporarily if working on a particularly nasty issue (or under the gun for quick turn around). I'd say that the biggest benefit to the 2nd monitor is documentation with debugging a close second. The more I use the documentation the easier it gets to use. That translates into much greater productivity because I spend a lot less time reinventing the wheel. Less time reinventing the wheel means more time spent getting "the meat" of the project right (or at least better). There are millions of lines of code out there to do a lot of the mundane aspects of any project that never get used because developers never read the documentation. Who wants to have to interrupt what their doing to open the docs? When the docs are always open, you don't have this problem. When developers re-write things that have already been written, you're paying them to reinvent the wheel. That impacts the bottom line.

------------------ MCAD.net, MSc (CS)

Machaira

I have dual monitors at work and can't imagine how I survived without them. I don't have them at home and it's actually now a pain to get stuff done. My usual setup is VS in my left monitor and other things (web page being worked on, SQL Server Mgmt Studio, etc.) in the right window.

Yvan Rodrigues

Yes! I couldn't live without a second monitor. Visual studio is fullscreen on my 22" @ 1680x1400 The notebooks 15" 1400x900 screen is for email, development app, SQL browser, ssh...

jim norcal

At work (the job I just left after being there for a year) I used dual monitors for my coding duties and I found it helped out A LOT. I had visual studio running on one and sql server studio running on the other. I never ran dual monitors before this company and now that I've seen the benefit, I will have a harder time working with just one. Here at home I'm running on a wide screen 20.1 inch flat panel which is helpful but certainly not the same as running two 19 inch monitors side by side. Thinking back to when I bought this 20.1 inch wide screen (for home), I wish I would of had the money to buy two. Running two of these wide screens together would be incredible, I bet.

danguria

It helps me copy and paste...^^ ;P

Member 2630126

I agree. I have 2 19" and less app switching makes my life alot easier. When i work from home on one screen i hate it