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> tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets The limiting factor in productivity for knowledge

> tested how quickly people performed tasks like editing a document and copying numbers between spreadsheets The limiting factor in productivity for knowledge workers, excluding those working with graphics, is not mechanical tasks like copying and pasting. This study is probably valid if you answer phones in a call center. I doubt it has much bearing if you spend most of your time thinking when in front of the monitor.

cstejerean 19y ago
I think it applies pretty well to programming. It involves switching between files, and between the IDE, console, web, debug and application views. Emacs makes a lot of this easy but it helps to have more available as simply moving your eyes from one place to the other on the screen is faster than even a few keystrokes. I'm curious though what the time savings would have been if the test subjects were using Emacs.
- randomhack 19y ago
  Frequently switching b/w views or files is a real pain point for me. I prefer to be able to see as much code as possible at a glance. One reason why I hate 50 classes in 50 files of 5 lines each when working with Java.
aflag 19y ago
I wouldn't say big screens have no impact when it comes to programming, but that it has certainly lower impact. In my experience, the smaller the screen the more organized you have to be. After years of using small monitors I found myself much more organized than friends who always used big screens. Their screens are really messy, while I keep mine real neat (with help of my window manager, my editor, etc). On a bigger screens I feel more confortable, no doubt, but I don't think it changes my productivity that much. One downsides of big screens to productivity is that with bigger screens people are able to keep chat screens on the same window they do their work. I supose that makes it easier for the guy to get distracted on chat.

cstejerean 19y ago

I think it applies pretty well to programming. It involves switching between files, and between the IDE, console, web, debug and application views. Emacs makes a lot of this easy but it helps to have more available as simply moving your eyes from one place to the other on the screen is faster than even a few keystrokes. I'm curious though what the time savings would have been if the test subjects were using Emacs.

randomhack 19y ago
Frequently switching b/w views or files is a real pain point for me. I prefer to be able to see as much code as possible at a glance. One reason why I hate 50 classes in 50 files of 5 lines each when working with Java.

aflag 19y ago

I wouldn't say big screens have no impact when it comes to programming, but that it has certainly lower impact. In my experience, the smaller the screen the more organized you have to be. After years of using small monitors I found myself much more organized than friends who always used big screens. Their screens are really messy, while I keep mine real neat (with help of my window manager, my editor, etc). On a bigger screens I feel more confortable, no doubt, but I don't think it changes my productivity that much. One downsides of big screens to productivity is that with bigger screens people are able to keep chat screens on the same window they do their work. I supose that makes it easier for the guy to get distracted on chat.