I've always thought that a dual screen setup is sufficient for application development. One screen for the code and one for documentation/testing. In some cases I could see another pc with one screen to be useful for testing in a different environment.
Then I saw this. I'm not sure what to do with so many screens but I'm still a bit envious.
So what is you're screen/computer count and what do you do with them. Please give good arguments so I can used them when I ask my boss for a new machine :)
3 total
Left: Documentation
Center: Visual Studio
Right: Music / media / email / misc apps
At work I have only 1, and at home I have a Macbook so only 1 screen - I do occasionally hook it up to an external monitor when doing heavy debugging but most of the time it's just 1.
I think the optimal count for a developer is about 2; maybe 3. Any more than 3 and you're doing too much at once!
I really wish I had 3 monitors... getting cheaper every day though! :-p
Normally two should be enough. But there are moments that you like to have another one.
For development:
One for the development environment. One for the documentation (including the specs/help and the internet browser).
For debugging:
One for the debugger/profiler. One for the executable.
One physical screen, three logical screens, switching by Spaces. Saves space, saves electricity.
Just one very large screen, with multiple workspaces that you can switch between at the press of a button.
I have two screens at home. Two L220x actually. They are 22" 1920x1200 panels.
Most often I use the first screen for code and the another runs a modelling software, irc client or a browser.
I prefer resolution over the size or amount of the displays, and of course I prefer they are clean. (I bite you if you'll touch my display with your greasy finger!)
3 is the accepted Ideal, you have a central focus on one and the other two a periphery. Plus you dont get the split between the screen in the center of your vision.
The middle one can be bigger than the others. Ideally I'd like to have a 26"+ screen in the middle in landscape and two 19-20" screen in portrait on either side.
I can deal with 2 one for IDE and one to use for documentaion/email/music/other things.
I tried having a 12" screen for email for a while and it was pretty useful.
I've also tried haiving multiple machines with multiple screens controlled using x2x, x2vnc or win2vnc. that was useful in that if one of my machines slowed down I could just assume control of the other.
I've worked with 1,2 and 3 monitor's, I found 2 monitors the best for developing (stock brokers use at least 4 so as always it depends on your use).
I found the increase in productivity when I moved to 3 far less then the improvement when I moved from 1 to 2. I believe 2 is sufficient and I would not pursue 3 monitors again.
Answer 2.
2.
We all seem to agree that one isn't enough.
With three, I find having email up at all times to be intrusive, and counter productive to development. The last thing I need is another thing to break my concentration. I already have enough competing distractions.
I think 4 or 5. I currently use two, but I switch around what is on those screens all the time. Ideally I would like to have one monitor for each window I need.
One.
I find flicking between applications (alt-tab/cmd-tab/virtual-desktops) preferable to moving my head between different screens.
I don't need to have an IRC/mail client/documentation-page onscreen all the time. I can quite easily fit an editor and documentation on screen at once by rearranging windows..
Two. You can't beat being able to see the application you're working on at the proper resolution/size and still have a live view of your log file for keeping an eye on things you don't want to use watch windows in your IDE to watch.
Three would be nice, for the "misc" types of things, but I just use my Zune for the media stuff.
One is enough if the workflow is well organized. This means: you always have all what do you realy need on your screen and nothing more. You can't possible read or write two things at ones, so this means, if youre have a need in the second screen, then something is wrong with the way, you use the first.
Yet it is helpful to have another screen for testing and debugging fullscreen or sometimes even windowed applications, so it would be great to have a spare screen just in case.
I can't give up my quad head system even though the drivers will never move to Vista.
I find that by using Visual Studio to move a file to a "New Vertical Tab Group" I can span more than one monitor by lining up the scroll bar with the break between "Tab Groups". Therefore I can view 2 and sometimes up to 4 files (and the solution explorer) at the same time. I typically have an Interface definition or base class in one pane and then develop in the other.
Being able to compare your current file with another one smooths the task of developing a variation on a them like implementing an interface a second time while referencing other implementations. Also great for working on the caller class and the callee class.
Multiple monitors help you see and manage all the information that you have to use to program (the output, the Google, the code, the help, the logs, and the database) in order to craft something new. I assemble from bits these days not write in a clean slate.
I also built my own desk to hold my monitors so that the top edge of the monitors is just about eye level and the keyboard/mouse is right at chair arm level. My wrist hurts when I sit at a desk conceived of in the fifties and so does my neck. It boggles me that people think "must put monitor, keyboard and mouse on classic desk" and sit here. That just plain hurts.
To speed moving apps around to hold information in juxtaposition it completely recommend UltraMon.
Finally, although I'd love to have the really big screens, you can buy several smaller ones, like 21" for so much less that you can get many more pixels for the price. More bits means more information that you don't have to switch tasks to reference.
Just my experience for the last 5 years ...
i would prefer 3 screens for development / managment.
left GUI / testing interfaces, center programming code and configuration shells right music irc and other fun / comunication aplications
also i prefer to work in a standing position (this is better for the neck end back, it give more space and speed if you need to walk away.