Wunki

The perfect setup for a programmer.

One of my favourite geek (posts) is that from Nuby on Rails when he's talking about The Mechanics of Programming. In that posts he talks about his workspace. For me, I always wanted to have the perfect workspace. The idea behind this was that it would make me work harder and better. I do realise that it's only a small part of your productivity, but everything helps. In this post I'm going to talk about my perfect workspace. If money wasn't an issue..

Current setup

At the moment I'm working on a Apple Macbook laptop. When I'm at home I have it connected to a 22" HP w2207 monitor. As a keyboard I use a Apple Keyboard. My mouse is a Logitech MX 510. I'm very pleased with this setup, but this post is about the perfect setup.

The perfect computer

The choice boiled down to a self build pc with Ubuntu, a Macbook Pro or a Mac Pro. The first choice came down to choosing to stay with OSX or to move to Ubuntu. The software available for the mac is just great. Great consistent user interface and everything just works. Although Ubuntu is becoming a great user experience, it still isn't as good as OSX from apple. Some software I think I couldn't replace is Textmate, iCal and Things. So I will stick with Apple. Because I already have a laptop I would choose a Mac Pro. Through the use of Git I could switch developing site's on the Macbook and Mac Pro.

As a keyboard I would choose the TypeMatrix 2030. I want to quit with QWERTY and switch to DVORAK in the hope to finally type faster, but more important reduce the risk of RSI. At the moment my right hand already plays up sometimes.

For a mouse I will stick with Logitech. I think they make great mouses. Instead of the MX 518 I would choose a Logitech G5 Lasermouse. I still don't like cordless mice. I find them annoying because of the charging and call me paranoid, but I still seem to notice a delay on the screen.

For a monitor I haven't decided yet. My current monitor has a glossy look which for programming purposes isn't perfect. I would need to look further for this.

Perfectly ergonomic

The keyboard is a part of an ergonomic set-up, but I also consists of a good chair and desk. At the moment my favourite is the Humanscale Freedom Chair. Although I think the name is a bit tacky, the chair is supposed to be great. As a desk I'm finally picking something that isn't expensive. For a desk I choose a Ikea Galant with Signum cable gutters and maybe a Summera keyboard shelf.

Conclusion

A short summary would make this my perfect set-up:

Well, that was that. My perfect setup at this moment. The only thing I will be buying in the near future is the TypeMatrix 2030 USB keyboard to start learning DVORAK asap. For all the other things I will have to save money for quiet some time..

I'm really interested in your perfect setup. You could post your setup on your blog ( and give me the link), or post a comment about it here..

Comments

1: Berend said on 11:53 a.m. on mei 13, 2008

Mooi gesproken!

Mijn perfecte setup is: Een toetsenbord waar je door het vele gebruik de letters niet meer kan lezen (vooral WASD for some reason) Een oude logitec muis uit de MX serie (natuurlijk met een funC mousepad) Een enorme 19 inch CRT monitor van iiyama (visionmaster FTW) Een midi-tower vol met fans, losse draadjes en hardeschijven die met ducktape tegen de zijkant van de kast gemonteerd zijn Een Geforce 2 Een microfoontje tegen de zijkant van je monitor geplakt Windows NT Counterstrike 1.3 Ventrilo/Teamspeak

En natuurlijk om het af te maken: Alle lichten uit, gordijnen dicht Doos Pringels Fanta Pomelo

Benieuwd wat je van mijn opstelling vindt Petar.

x

2: WdeB said on 10:04 a.m. on mei 16, 2008

...hmmm ik ga eerder voor:

  • Imac 24"
  • 200 post-it papiertjes verspreid over de gehele werkplek met nutteloze reminders
  • Muziek van Olafur Arnalds Keihard aan
  • Een fles Hardys witte wijn of Chivas Wiskey
  • En een Triumph speed triple lsl edition stationair lopend op de achtergrond
  • een gigantische leren directeursstoel met massage functie
3: Petar Radosevic said on 9:44 a.m. on mei 17, 2008

WdeB: It seems like your already have your perfect workplace than.

Berend: Sounds like your old system.

4: chris said on 4:27 p.m. on mei 29, 2008

Computer: Apple Macbook sitting on an iCurve Keyboard: Apple bluetooth aluminum keyboard Mouse1: Wacom 4x6 tablet (no mouse. using the pen instead for long periods reduces the risk of strain) Mouse2: Griffin Technology Powermate Monitor: built-in macbook display Ergonomic Gloves: Imak Smartgloves

Software (besides included mac & unix command line tools): TextMate and VMWare Fusion (with images for Debian to test server deployment, and Windows if necessary)

The top of the built-in monitor sits at/just below eye level to reduce/ prevent eye strain. The bluetooth keyboard is centered in front of the machine. Having no numeric keypad, the shorter keyboard allows the wacom tablet to reside directly to the right of to it (I'm right handed). The powermate sits on the left.

Expose keys are set as F1 (all windows, all programs), F2 (all windows, current program), F3(show desktop), F4(spaces), which allows my non-dominant hand to hit these along with most of the other keyboard shortcuts. (I also standardized the Zoom, Next Tab, and Previous Tab keyboard shortcuts across all the apps that I use. Note: this only works for native Cocoa apps, as non-native apps don't know to reference the global prefs set in the System Preferences.)

The Wacom is mapped to the entire display, providing point to point mapping of the tablet surface to the pixels on the screen. The Powermate is used exclusively for scrolling up/down, obviating the need to move your eyes away from the text while scanning through code and documentation. Through this setup, the tablet is used to indicate "nouns" (interface elements, such as windows, and in-window elements, such as text or images), while the powermate and keyboard shortcuts indicate "verbs" which are applied to the indicated nouns (e.g., "cut", "copy", "paste", "hide window", "scroll up within this window", or "perform textmate macro on selected text or current line" ) or to larger interface elements when none is indicated (such as "hide program" or "show desktop" or "switch app"). In this way, the execution of tasks are distributed among your two hands, and eventually become unconscious physical idioms held in muscle memory.

5: Petar Radosevic said on 8:15 p.m. on mei 29, 2008

@chris That's a really nice setup. I never heard of the PowerMate or the ergonomic gloves. I don't see myself using the ergonomic gloves, but I do think the PowerMate could come in handy for switching windows maybe.

I also use VMWare fusion, but than with Ubuntu and FreeBSD for testing.

It seems like you have really fine-tuned your working environment. A very cool read, thanks.

6: chris said on 9:28 p.m. on mei 29, 2008

@Petar: thanks! Ever since switching to the Mac (on my birthday in 2003), I've been using a combination of a laptop and a drawing tablet. After a few months, I added the Powermate.

The Powermate's actions can be mapped to keyboard shortcuts, which can be really powerful if you combine that with Quicksilver's triggers.

Comments are closed.

Comments have been close for this post.