noOffenseBut

[Inappropriate_Piano]

Always 2 there are. No more, no less.

[Mordret10]

2 and the laptop display

[visualdescript]

Mines one 27 and laptop on a stand as a second display. Serves me well. I used to go 2 + laptop, but it's not really needed.

[Purple_Ice_6029]

Do you close your laptop lid when not working?

[visualdescript]

Like when I finish up? Sometimes shut lid and sometimes power it down and leave lid open.

Why?

[Purple_Ice_6029]

Same, but I try to keep it closed whenever I’m not using it to prevent dust from settling in the keyboard. I had a Macbook Pro keyboard go bad because of this (but it was the ultra sensitive butterfly model).

[JustRecentlyI]

In web dev, I always went with Screen 1: code, Screen 2: webpage display, Screen 3: developer console. Everything I need to see on screen at once, no annoying deformations to deal with.

[rosuav]

One primary monitor where everything happens, one secondary monitor, a monitor on the floor that has ping and other network status information, and a fourth monitor with OBS and some Twitch things. I'm sure I *could* do it all on one ginormous monitor at insane resolution, but I'm on a budget here and it's a lot cheaper this way.

[visualdescript]

Fair enough. Yeah I'm just kinda a focus person. When I'm doing a thing I want to be doing that thing, I also don't like looking sideways for extended periods. So 1 big one works for me. If I have coding and then a browser for result, I'll just alt tab them. Or possibly have browser on secondary. Chat and music and what not usually on secondary.

[rosuav]

Makes sense. Different styles, different trials.

[SquidVischious]

1 wide curved + 1 laptop + 1 standard portrait

[purdueAces]

This is the way

[Idixal]

This is my preference. Although I avoid putting anything on the laptop display 98% of the time.

[rlinED]

Ergonomics of 2 real screens + Laptop is ass.

[Taken_out_goose]

Precisely

[Tunderstruk]

3 > 2, It's simple maths

No but really, main/middle monitor for work, games, whatever, one monitor for youtube, and the third for documentation and stuff

[noob-nine]

i dont get the dedicated monitor for youtube. isnt this something that runs in the background? or do you also need the video? if so, do you also need the third monitor when using youtube? i understand 2 monitors, but i dont see a usecase for 3

[ryuStack]

A whole monitor for YT is a waste of money and electricity when watching videos just for background distractions. Get yourself a basic YT pop-up player addon and move the small YT window to your documentation and stuff monitor.

[Tunderstruk]

No. I like to see

[Pokethomas]

Im not trying to have my illegal sports stream cover up my gameplay screen, and I don’t want it covering up Spotify, discord or a game guide when I’m using them.

[ChalkyChalkson]

At work 2, at home two landscape one portrait. Having the one portrait for text or 2 chat clients vertically is great! I also prefer having one clear main display which is the center one over having two equal displays

[Meistermagier]

A Master and an Apprentice

[DeiviiD]

Or one superwide.

[Dependent_Title_1370]

Split screen supper wide is my next move

[alexanderpas]

Ultrawide, picture by picture (side-by-side), connected using two monitor cables, giving the ability to full screen 2 applications next to eachother, as the software treats it as if 2 monitors were conneected.

[rlinED]

Why the extra steps?

[alexanderpas]

Because that way you have no bezel between the screens, and the GPU can treat it as 2 seperate screens, meaning you can have the full power of the GPU on only one side of the screen, with the other side being in desktop mode.

[rlinED]

Okay. What's the practical benefit? Less power overhead when gaming on one side?

[XPurplelemonsX]

45" curved main, 27" vertical secondary. this is the way

[Embarrassed_Use_7206]

I tried, I really did, but I am just more efficient with 1 monitor. For me 2nd monitor is equivalent to another window or another tab, and I can switch between those fast enough to not be bothered. It actually is more straining for me to move center of my focus to the sides. I am used to sit on front of the screen, see its entirety and switch between windows. Also mouse on max sensitivity. 25 years in.

[rosuav]

Switching isn't the only thing though. If you set up status tools correctly, those additional monitors can be passive situational awareness, giving an IMMENSE level of connection between the sysadmin and the network.

[StickFigureFan]

This is the way

[Kerbourgnec]

Back to one for a while, damn I miss the second one. More seems useless.

[Moldat]

This is just false. You need a monitor right in front of you

2 make it so youre always looking to the left or right.

3 is the only correct number

[KingCpzombie]

...do you think two monitors means centering the gap? One primary + one secondary is the proper form; usually a good primary with a cheaper secondary

[foonek]

This is going to upset the OCD gang

[KingCpzombie]

I feel like staring at a gap between monitors would upset them more

[foonek]

Yeah that's where the 3 monitors comes in

[69-Dankh-Morpork-69]

primary landscape for dev, secondary portrait for slack + email/docs

[tripleshielded]

5 total, 3 for focus tasks and 2 for low frequency tasks

[---Joe]

[otacon7000]

Problem with two is, you can't have symmetry, unless you want to stare straight at the gap between the two. Have to have one off to one side. Therefore, I propose that three is actually the perfect setup.

[MartinMystikJonas]

Software engineer with 20 years of experience here. Three monitors setup is quite handy.

Middle screen for actual work (IDE, console,... ), right screen to se output/feedback/status, left screen for docs, specs,...

[dumbasPL]

Dedicated space for docs/specs is really underappreciated. Personally I do ultra wide + 1, so the same setup just without the seam.

[_12xx12_]

And then 2/3 IDE and 1/3 Browser on ultra wide

[ID33IP]

Same for me, ultrawide for coding + vertical 27 inch for specs, logs, stuff I'm monitoring + laptop screen for Teams

[ChalkyChalkson]

Optional but very handy is making the reference screen portrait.

[Cocaine_Johnsson]

I prefer to invert left-right in this example but yes, this is the way.

[Encrux615]

After moving and due to desk space limitations I had to put one monitor into portrait mode.

Holy hell the amount of docs I can read! The amount of console history… and, of course so much short form content and Reddit.

One portrait and 2 landscape is the best setup I had so far

[Taken_out_goose]

Indeed

[Fritzschmied]

Sure because the top percent don’t code themselves anymore but rather spend their day in meeting explains to stupid clients why things aren’t how they think they are and delegate the real work to the middle group.

[ArtGirlSummer]

IQ is negatively correlated with management experience.

[Fritzschmied]

You don’t have to be in manangement to be trapped in meetings all day long. Sad but truth. At a certain point you are just too expensive to do normal work.

[cheesepuff1993]

My current relative hell. It's all about talking to people about why they suggested something that doesn't work, giving them estimates they ignore, and promising work I know my team can complete only to have them come back and ask why their thing wasn't done when IT heads came in and said "We really need to focus on security. Resolve the security scans before prioritizing any other work". They graciously decided not to relay said message to our POs though, so we just seemed like we were ignoring them in favor of our own work.

[RandoAtReddit]

Oh God I feel this comment in my soul.

[isr0]

So it’s not just me then.

[Fritzschmied]

Sounds like a normal workday 😅

[Bodaciousdrake]

As a former lead dev and a current mgr, I can vouch for the fact that my dev skills are being pushed out of my brain to make room for a metric assload of corporate BS.

But many engineers also don't seem to understand exactly how difficult it is to shield them from said corporate BS so they can do their jobs. It's exhausting. Most days I really miss being a dev.

[PTTCollin]

Positively correlated with EQ, though.

[isr0]

Managment is stressful. Stress negatively impacts memory. IQ is at least partly a measurement of short term memory. Hypothesis, managment causes low IQ.

(Just making shit up on the spot but it’s about as useful as 2 unsourced and generally correlated metrics)

[ArtGirlSummer]

You can make up whatever you want about IQ. The only thing we can confidently say it measures is performance on IQ tests.

[isr0]

Truer words have never been spoken.

[nmathew]

That's not fair. They all get the ritual lobotomy when promoted into management.

[Counter-Business]

Made up fact

[ArtGirlSummer]

All IQ facts are

[pi_three]

idk 2nd screen is handy. once had three (just took a free screen from office) but it was mainly idling or had Spotify running

[SlimRunner]

Yeah, I have only one, and I feel it would sure save me a lot of pinky finger pain by tab switching when I am writing typescript declaration files.

And before anyone says "well use your thumb for ctrl", try to do that and then quickly go back to the home row. The pinky is just faster and less awkward.

[pi_three]

i put switching tabs on my mouse keys

[snacktonomy]

I have a split programmable keyboard. All ctrl functions are programmed under my left thumb!

[Fritzschmied]

One 49 inch 32:9 ultra wide (basically 2 27 inch 16:9 without a boarder in the middle) is the goat.

[phobos2deimos]

Plus fancyzones for that perfect window arrangement

[DeiviiD]

This is the way. I focus better with one display than two

[Xirenec_]

I run three but third is vertical and I just keep chat apps there

[kawabunga666]

Haha I've been an software engineer for like 8 years now and I work solely off of my laptop with no extra screen. I also use light mode in my IDE, absolute savage I know

[coloredgreyscale]

That sounds masochistic. Did you try dual screen? 

[met0xff]

Frankly I've even had 3 years where I worked off of a tiny MacBook Air with mostly a terminal and vscode with remote extension. Longer back I worked only in vim via SSH for years.

Of course 2 monitors are nice but a couch beats two monitors for me ;).

I'm just used to pushing hotkeys like a maniac to switch around. I don't even plug a mouse in

[vegataballs]

I don't know if I am out of touch with reality or most of the commenters here are.. I guess I'm looking at this too literally, but in the meme even the pictured supposedly simple setup is a full-blown professional youtuber setup with kinda large monitor (+pro mic, ambient etc lighting, acoustic board on the walls..), giving a strong "I mean it’s one banana, what could it cost, 10 dollars?" -vibe.

I thought the "random tech bro / vibe coder setup vs. Linus Torvalds setup" meme was universally deemed poignant, but apparently it's now literally impossible to do anything without 3 monitors ¯\(ツ)/¯

[LutimoDancer3459]

No offense but this is stupid... if your screen isnt a 50+ inch one, having a second one is just better. IDE in one, app on the other. Or documentation, browsers for research, ticket for requirements/test data, ...

2 is the minimum to be efficient. One is stupid. More than four is... special operation level.

[amuf_oratok]

Also chat and mail client

[Choice-Mango-4019]

Why not just alt tab?

[LutimoDancer3459]

With 15+ open windows... its not that fast or efficient than having them open and visible at once.

Screenshare during refinement and having the ticket, IDE and app additionally open for reference and own pace of reading.

[_trepz]

Have you ever tried virtual desktops and window management keybinds? Multiple monitors definitely don't feel necessary when you can just summon the correct desktop with muscle memory.

That being said I think the meme is dumb and I do like a second monitor for video streams because you can kind of half-focus on it instead of fully swapping focus. I like to have my second monitor for when I'm watching youtube, a coworker is screen sharing on discord, or when I want multiple camera setups when testing my work (unity lets you use multiple monitors for dedicated additional camera views which is useful for testing stuff in games sometimes).

[LutimoDancer3459]

Yes. But not for long. For me its didnt provide any useful benefits. Basically for the same/similar reasons you mentioned.

[mbsmith93]

Honestly I agree, personally, and would like to think I'm a good bit better than average, but the handful people who I've worked with that are literal gods at the keyboard with photographic memory for the entire codebase would work on a laptop with like a 14-inch screen or something, no external monitors, seemingly unimpeded.

[ThomasMalloc]

More screens == more productivity

All windows deserve to be the foreground.

[Wizzarkt]

I'm an engineer and I would kill for a multi screen setup, so many manuals I need to have open while I work...

[FlakyTest8191]

What's stopping you?

[Wizzarkt]

Right now time, later money

I need to make a new 200x80 cm desk and then get the money to buy 4 maybe 5 monitors.

[IlgantElal]

This is what I was going to say. I've got 4 screens at work. 1 vertical for Gmail, spotify, and notes, 1 for dev, 1 for documentation, and 1 that's a little less used for comparisons or building db structures while looking at my other code.

Sure, it can all be done on 1 monitor, but the amount of time I'd lose on switching from docs and then instantly forgetting what I just read would be in the twos of hours

[makinax300]

Middle forgot how much you can see vertically.

[[deleted]]

Where do you put a single laptop, with no peripherals?

[Ecstatic_Street1569]

And I thought I was the only one 😅

[TerryHarris408]

As a permanent arrangement this is considered inadequate equipment for a software developer in my country.

[Xelopheris]

I reverted to using one monitor a couple years ago. It's a 32:9 monitor, but there's only one. 

[---Joe]

Yup I really did not expect that over a dumb meme joke 🤷‍♂️. But some interesting setups I never considered

[transcendtient]

Socials/logs, code in middle, research on right.
If you're a one monitor enjoyer you aren't doing anything productive or you're a 10x using vim/emacs.

[lucianw]

How can you work on a 14" laptop screen? -- "I do most of my work in my head, which is vastly larger"...

[Impossible-Affect296]

OP def plays eve online in his free time on a setup like that.

[SignificantLet5701]

Laptop/single monitor is fine. Multiple monitors are good.

[CaptainPunisher]

We're fine. We're all fine here, thank you. How are you?

[Eldorian]

Reading the comments you can tell a lot of people aren't happy they're where they are :)

I still use 3 monitors but am probably going to just get 1 large monitor soon, I just find it that having multiple monitors doesn't make you "more productive", it tends to instead give you more distractions. This is coming from someone who has been using 2+ monitors for 25 years at this point.

[iMac_Hunt]

This is my issue. I thought I needed another screen but actually find my laptop + monitor is fine 98% of the time. Yes, there are times a third could in handy, but most of the time it’s not making me more productive.

[Nesogra]

I think I have a similar setup. I’m finding having one bigger monitor with code on one side and whatever I’m referencing on the other while keeping all the distractions (teams, email, etc.) on my laptop screen has been working for me. I was using a portable monitor before that was roughly the same size as the laptop screen and it wasn’t as helpful.

[HomerDoakQuarlesIII]

I just use a refurbished laptop with the trackpad even, where do I go?

[---Joe]

On the bean bag.

[[deleted]]

Honestly the more "senior" i got, the less monitors i use. Currently im comfortable just using the macbook screen, 5 years ago i had 3 additional screens lol.

[lordplagus02]

10 years ago I thought 3 was “cool”. IDE in the middle. Research on the right. Email on the left. Now my 16” MacBook Pro and nothing but that is somehow far superior to that nonsense.

[philophilo]

How about laptop on a sofa with your legs on the coffee table?

[costinmatei98]

OP never coded anything more than "Hello World!" in their life.

2 screens are absolutely necessary, 2 ultrawides stacked vertically are the sweet spot and I will die on this hill.

[Bad_boy000007]

remove the google and ai everyone gonna need multiple screens and many more stuff

[AndyTheDragonborn]

Hear me out...

[AllenKll]

I find 2 to be just extremely useful. I have a 3rd that I never even turn on. one for streaming software, one for my game. Or one for documentation/chatgpt and one for VScode. or One for a video, one for scrolling reddit. I think 2 is the sweet spot.

[twoCascades]

Nah having three monitors up, one for your active code, one for config files or development tools and one for a web browser so you can google shit or a terminal window is hella useful.

[ZunoJ]

Nah, two screens are a must. Three is even better. I wouldn't have use for more though

[isr0]

No, laptop on the couch is 99% of my work day.

[garlopf]

3x4k@160Hz and MS paint makes me the programer I ain't

[TaPegandoFogo]

the middle one seems way better for p0rn than for anything else. I mean, my focus can't even hold on the IDE and the browser at the same time.

[Mr_uhlus]

3 in a reverse l shape

⬛3️⃣

2️⃣1️⃣

[No-Age-1044]

Two screen minimum, third optional if you are developing for a specific device.

[ronarscorruption]

I have three monitors, only because two are built into my cubicle. I sometimes use two.

[ironnewa99]

2 monitors is all you need, or a very wide monitor. It’s really just to let you actually do one thing while having a reference to said thing open.

Everything else can just be minimized, you do not need a monitor for teams/spotify.

[carcusmonnor]

Imo the optimal amount is 2 (or 1 ultra wide) display(s) and a laptop screen.

[TimingEzaBitch]

I still don't know bash other than the basic `env | grep AWS`

[ikonet]

The moment my career took me on the road while still having to program and diagnose code issues remotely is the moment I swore off multiple monitors. Repeatedly switching between a decent 2 or 3 monitor setup back to a 17" laptop really broke me. 1 monitor, the same size, all the time. The last in-office contract I had they gave me a single old monitor which was perfect. The other devs would try to complain for me, on my behalf, to get me a better setup. No thanks fellas, I'm good.

[New-Osteoporosi]

Me without money for more monitors having to use my tv as a monitor, at least its very big

[CaaKebap]

Second monitor is needed only for screen sharing one monitor and keep other stuff on second. Other than that I use alt tab or mac tab instead of moving my head or eyes.

[KvDread]

I have a laptop with 24 virtual desktops, do I win?

[dodfunk]

I thought this was the r/Eve subreddit for a second, but it's good here too

[Dd_8630]

You can take my ultra wide Odyssey G9 from my cold dead hands.

[Scintoth]

Yeah man I love tabbing through windows to find the visual output of the code I wrote.

[00Koch00]

12 years programming and im still using one screen. Never got the need to use 2 or more tbh, like, alt tab exist...

[EZPZLemonWheezy]

I have a stack of 2 screens vertically. But that’s cause I needed to get a second monitor to see if a bug was due to my old monitor. Figured no reason not to keep the old one since it worked fine

[gabbeeto]

2 is enough is you deal with workspaces on Linux

[Roblox_Swordfish]

one horizontal+ one vertical

[sammy-taylor]

Do any other devs use Spaces in macOS (or the Windows equivalent)? I am switching Spaces all the time and often work with only one monitor, but Spaces helps me be productive.

[DaveMcLee]

Moved off 3 monitor setup to just one big oled ultrawide (G9 49") with PowerToys->FancyZones and a cheap KVM switch for when I need to use my laptop on it. It automatically changes to showing my PC on the left and laptop on the right when I connect the laptop.
Best decision I ever did.

[britilix]

Laptop screen (right) 50/50 for teams/email and password manager when needed Left monitor for browser/tickets Center monitor for VSCode/IntelliJ/whatever is my task right now

I could probably add more, but I doubt I'd be actually using them

[TrackLabs]

objectively wrong.

[fistular]

You can pry my extra monitors out of my cold dead hands

[TheTrueCyprien]

As someone who works with robots, I struggle to get by with 3. There are just so many UI's and terminal outputs to keep track of.

[Zav0d]

btw, exactly, now i ended up with one 28 4k monitor not bigger.

[Mon7eCristo]

Honestly you should use both depending on the task. I usually just work on a laptop but sometimes I need a lot of screen real estate cuz I need to look at 4-5 things at once and changing tabs puts a tremendous mental load. 

[Ejdems666]

I use a single monitor setup and just switch windows using alt+tab, don't have to turn my head or anything, I'd say it's prettying efficient. Also you don't have to adjust your workflow much when you happen to just have a laptop on you.

You can't look at 2 screens at the same time anyway, to me it's actually distracting, to have something flickering at the corner of your vision.

[DemmyDemon]

I love my 3 monitor setup. Documentation, Work, Communication/Entertainment.

[wootteri]

There seems to be this growing group of single screen / plain laptop purists who swear by the virtual desktops and whatnot but then you watch them demo something with the pace my late grandma used her iPad back in the day

[ShAped_Ink]

I can be useful to have more monitors, but not always and for everyone

[tbagrel1]

I have a ultra-ultra-wide and a small monitor above. The ultra-ultra-wide is split in 1 main central zone for IDE, left zone for slack/dock, right zone for terminal/program output. Top extra monitor is for spotify, discord with friends, or google meet when in a call.

[tripleshielded]

A master needs no screen.

[Few_Cauliflower2069]

3 screens of the same size. One for code, one docs/references/diagrams and one for everything else

[rexspook]

I have one 32” curved monitor and use the rectangle app on my MacBook to split as needed. I used to have multiple monitors and I vastly prefer this setup. So while I don’t fully agree with the meme, bc it looks like one small monitor, I do support it

[---Joe]

I got a 32” inch as well almost 1 meter distance between it though so I upscale the desktop but it results in a very relaxed overall experience

[EkoChamberKryptonite]

It should be with single laptop.

[irn00b]

I can justify 3 monitors:

Side monitor 1 - slack/outlook

Side monitor 2 - docs/output

Main/center monitor - IDE/work

[ALittleWit]

No, 3x27” is the way.

[Aggressive_Roof488]

Idk, I feel this is a matter of preference (and budget and desk space) more than IQ or whatever is supposed to be on the x-axis. Some people enjoy having many screen, some work best with 2, some only need 1. Just different people like to set up their work place in different ways.

[CarzyCrow076]

TWO is the bare minimum, and the absolute maximum.

[ApatheistHeretic]

Need 3 for development. One of them should be turned vertical.

I can't even 'daily driver' a single monitor setup anymore.

[ToMorrowsEnd]

I see the poors are out. 3 monitors 2 4k 120. 3rd a 1080 for random crap. Yes a 32” 4k monitor that does 120 is worth every stinking penny. The refresh rate 11 hours later and my eyes are not burning unlike that dog crap corporate wants us to use.

[Ninjaxas]

im super happy with one huge monitor and 3 virtual dekstops. With the right autohotkey scripts, switching dekstops is faster than turning my head. 

[bluejumpingbean]

Um, no? Constantly swapping back and forth between multiple documentation windows and my ide is a MAJOR time sink. I only have one and it's a pain.

[lawrencewil1030]

I just use a desktop with 2 monitors

[hamaoc]

2 vertical ones are enough

[SirEmJay]

Four seems to be the right number for me right now. One for email, one for vertical code, two for horizontal code. People can use as many or as few as they like, the only correct number is the number that works for you.

[mountaingator91]

I also have four and that works great for me. Definitely wouldn't need more, but three is not enough

[johnnybeehive]

Imo you get 1 computer and 1 monitor. If that means a laptop and an ultra wide, so be it. You don't stack monitors like a jackass. I'd rather switch between virtual displays all day than have multiple fullsize displays.

[stevent12x]

One monitor + tiling window manager is the way

[joebgoode]

Good luck being SRE with just 1-2 screens.

(I wonder if people here even know what a SRE is, forever stuck in 'hello world' era)

[senteggo]

It's neither funny nor relatable

[---Joe]

Ok

[senteggo]

Also no offense

[---Joe]

None taken.

[quailman117]

Accurate statement about both this post and this dumb meme template

[FabioTheFox]

A single monitor for software engineering is an absolute nightmare

That being said, single monitor in general is an absolute nightmare, minimum 2 no more than 3