Ask Slashdot: What's the Best Working Environment For a Developer?

New submitter Dorgendubal writes: I work for a company with more than a thousand developers and I'm participating in activities aimed at improving the work experience of developers. Our developers receive an ultrabook that is rather powerful but not really adapted for development (no admin rights, small storage capacity, restrictive security rules, etc.). They also have access to VDIs (more flexibility) but often complain of performance issues during certain hours of the day. Overall, developers want to have maximum autonomy, free choice of their tools (OS, IDE, etc.) and access to internal development environments (PaaS, GIT repositories, continuous delivery tools, etc.) . We recently had a presentation of VMWare on desktop and application virtualization (Workstation & Horizon), which is supposedly the future of the desktops. It sounds interesting on paper but I remain skeptical.

What is the best working environment for a developer, offering flexibility, performance and some level of free choice, without compromising security, compliance, licensing (etc.) requirements? I would like you to share your experiences on BYOD, desktop virtualization, etc. and the level of satisfaction of the developers.

Comments

Private Offices

[Anonymous Coward]

Start with that. The best hardware on the planet is useless if you can't think due to noise and interruptions.

Re:Private Offices

[quantaman]

Start with that. The best hardware on the planet is useless if you can't think due to noise and interruptions.

Or at least high cubicle walls. A developer's most valuable resource is their attention, and other humans are extremely good at demanding one's attention. Even the reflection of someone walking by behind me is enough to cause a momentary distraction and a dip in productivity. It's no mistake I do my best work when I'm the only one around, to optimize productivity give people the ability to cut off distractions.

Re:Private Offices

[DontBeAMoran]

Add a "no radio/music/etc unless you wear headphones" rule. A private office is useless if people are allowed to pump noise through them.

Re:Private Offices

[jcr]

Hear, hear!

Headphones are a piss-poor substitute for walls.

-jcr

Re:Private Offices

[JumpSuit Boy]

More details on why
https://stackoverflow.blog/201...

Re:Private Offices

[Bite The Pillow]

I work on a team. With a high functioning team, the ability to ask and clarify a question, while typing the code, is amazing.

And no, despite your best efforts to describe the effects of interruption, there was none. We were working to the same sprint.

I now work on a different team. Lord, don't interrupt a single one of them. It's almost like circumstances play a role. But if that were true, Slashdot would cease to exist.

Re:Private Offices

[TheLongshot]

I disagree. I think members of the same team should be located together, rather than isolated in private offices. That way, if you need to bounce an idea off of a teammate, all you need to do is to turn around and talk, rather than having to get up and look for them.

The best teams I've been on worked pretty closely with each other, and often identified bad ideas before they got too far.

Re:Private Offices

[arth1]

I disagree. I think members of the same team should be located together, rather than isolated in private offices. That way, if you need to bounce an idea off of a teammate, all you need to do is to turn around and talk, rather than having to get up and look for them.

... and disrupt three other people in the process. Because, you know, their work isn't as important as your "bouncing ideas".

Besides, a few years ago, someone came up with the concept of instant messaging, which not only is nice for short messages, but can also tell you whether someone is available without having to get up and look for them. If that's too new for you, there's always this thing called a "telephone".

Re: Private Offices

[StevenMaurer]

stupid bosses dont want this because they think they can get more work out in a room with 15 people and NO VENTILATION.

TRUE STORY.

also the boss thinks that ac pumps air from outside. it doesnt.

If you're that angry, don't stew. Polish up the resume and look for work elsewhere. Engineers are still very employable.

Almost never do you hear anyone say "Man, I wish I'd stayed at that dump longer".

Re:Private Offices

[codeButcher]

Last night I read a bit about the Pomodoro technique and specifically what is said about distractions and how to avoid them. One view was that many websites (esp. social media) are geared to grab more and more attention to keep eyeballs on it longer (e.g. YouTube suggesting more similar videos, Facebook trying to serve up stories in your story line that they think will interest you, StackOverflow having all these very interesting questions from other StackExchange sites on the right - even Wikipedia that has hyperlinks to more interesting articles :-) ). And the one suggestion is to avoid such web browsing during your short rest periods, since they will inevitably lead to those rest periods becoming much longer...

Then it hit me: Open plan offices are social networks embodied in physical workplaces - long before social media even was a thing.

Re:Private Offices

[Tukz]

"bouncing ideas"

This infuriates me more than it probably should.
I have a co-worker who constantly feels the need to bounce ideas off me while I am usually busy and very focused on something.

We've recently started a slackboard for just this exact issue. Post your shit there instead of interrupting everyone because you need to think out loud.

Re: Private Offices

[Entrope]

People don't notice the productivity hit when they're typing code that could basically be written in their sleep. Most programmers have worked on projects where they do need to concentrate.

For those whose coworkers are thinking hard, I would recommend writing down your questions and asking them in batches of three or so. This has a lot of benefits:

You'll be able to answer some fraction of your own questions, either just by thinking more or by exploring the surrounding problem more.

You'll get a clearer understanding of what was missing from the design (or code or your own knowledge), making it easier to understand how to improve it the next time around.

You'll practice clear communications.

You'll amortize the cost of interruptions, which your coworkers will appreciate.

Re:Private Offices

[frank_adrian314159]

The best teams I've been on worked pretty closely with each other, and often identified bad ideas before they got too far.

The best teams I worked on had people having enough private space and time to think about the ideas enough so they figured out why the ideas were bad themselves and didn't bother others with them unless they were good ideas.

Re: Private Offices

[computational super]

look for work elsewhere

Yeah! If you can't get anything done in an open-plan office for this employer, you should go try to get something done in an open-plan office for a different employer!

An open plan office

[Anonymous Coward]

With a no headphones rule.

Re:An open plan office

[Mr0bvious]

I second this - developers need to remove them selves from their environment and become engrossed in what they are doing.

No headphones? That's would be business suicide, any decent developer will likely move very quickly.

What's the most important thing for devs? IMO being surrounded by like minded devs who enjoy their work. All the fluffy stuff around the office is not going to do anything to keep good devs, we can buy our own fluffy feel good stuff we don't *need* it from our employers (although it is welcome).

Hardware choices? That's not about keeping devs happy, it's a economic decision. Get them the best hardware you can afford if it makes their job quicker/easier/etc. There's nothing more to it..

We have our own toys already, I don't give a hoot what hardware I use at work as long as I'm not slowed down or restricted by it. If I am, then you've failed as an business since you're costing yourself hours of waiting for each dev each week, not a smart move.

As much dev control as is practical

[Anonymous Coward]

BYOD followed by CYOD followed closely by a Linux laptop with sudo access. Development is a creative process, and every developer has their own set of tools and workflow productivity scripts and utilities that make their process work best for their mindset. Hiring a developer and than insisting that they use your management chosen laptop, with your management chosen OS, with your management chosen text editor and so on and so forth is like hiring a painter to make a portrait, but insisting they use your easel, your paints, your brushes and your canvas. Yes, it's possible to get good results like this, and yes some people will even do it, but ultimately it will cost you more, either in pay, time or resources.

Obviously some amount of standardization is necessary (version control, language etc) but as much as is practicable (even to the possibility of different IDEs), allow your developers to setup and control their personal dev environment however they want it.

Sounds like they already answered this

[OhPlz]

If they want to pick their own tools, let them. I don't understand this fear of giving developers admin access to their machines. What do you think is going to happen if they get this supremely powerful level of access? If some are happy with VMs, let them use VMs. If some want to install, configure, and update their tools manually, let them. If it becomes a problem for a specific developer, steer them towards a VM instead. If you can't trust developers to maintain their system then you probably shouldn't be trusting them to write your company's code either.

It seems like our uber powerful dev machines are turning into expensive terminals and the ESX cloud is our new time sharing mainframe. Everything old is new again.

Re:Sounds like they already answered this

[geekmux]

If they want to pick their own tools, let them. I don't understand this fear of giving developers admin access to their machines. What do you think is going to happen if they get this supremely powerful level of access? If some are happy with VMs, let them use VMs. If some want to install, configure, and update their tools manually, let them. If it becomes a problem for a specific developer, steer them towards a VM instead. If you can't trust developers to maintain their system then you probably shouldn't be trusting them to write your company's code either.

From a security point of view, you've painted a fucking nightmare. Look at how the average user chooses passwords when given the complete freedom to use "123456". Update tools manually? That would be never, because maintaining security patches takes time and effort they don't want to be bothered with that. Give them local admin rights and they'll install any development tool they feel like using, including ones that may need to be licensed properly in order to be legal in a business or corporate environment. They would bitch about disk encryption slowing their system down, so of course let's disable/uninstall that, dismissing any concern of IP or weeks of work gone due to laptop theft or loss, which of course leads into the next issue of local storage, as they would bitch about network speeds being too slow when doing work across any wire, so all work will be stored locally with no backups, ready to fall victim to hardware failure.

There's a reason you hire competent IT professionals and developers, because the latter does not replace the former; has nothing to do with trust.

It seems like our uber powerful dev machines are turning into expensive terminals and the ESX cloud is our new time sharing mainframe. Everything old is new again.

Users suck at security. Always have. Nothing is new, other than the threat of compromise or data loss increasing year after year, and tools being rather necessary to counteract that threat. Risk mitigation is the name of the game today.

Good Setup

[Murdoch5]

This would be my recommended list:

1) Give them the choice of OS, Linux or if they have to suffer, Windows / Mac.
2) Unlock the notebooks so they have absolute full control of them, that includes admin accounts.
3) Stop using Ultra-books, use high end notebooks with loads of Ram, good M2 / SSD Storage and high end processors.
4) Don't use any kind of virtual environment, they just have no performance to offer and should never be used in a desktop setting.
5) Open the development tools and let them use what they want.
5) Standardise to GIT for the SCM, as it's the only good SCM tool on the market.
6) Use good team communication tools.
7) Try to steer clear of Microsoft based tools, for instance TSF, it's a giant pile of steaming shit.
8) Allow BYOD.
9) Give every developer a multi head setup with good keyboards and mice, this never gets acknowledged, but a good Mechanical keyboard is essential.
10) Every developer should have a stand up desk, that can also covert to a sitting position.
11) All the developers should have isolated build servers, that they have near full control over, maybe not the root account, but damn near.
12) Don't allow IT to dictate how the computers for the developers are used.
13) Buy high quality chairs that are designed for long work sessions, they can be pricey but they're worth it.
14) Allow developers to have full flex time, so they don't have strict hours, they can work 8 hours over the course of the day.
15) Don't allow management to over plan meetings.


Basically treat the developers like the rockstars they are.

Make their computers less restrictive?

[djbckr]

If the ultrabook is sufficient, then why not have a configuration that is more setup to a developer's line of work? In our company (we have about 100 devs) we have a different setup than the rest of the company. All of our source code and build tools are on central servers that we must interact with, but we pretty much get to do whatever we want with our machines. Some choose Eclipse, some choose IntelliJ, some others use Perl or the language of their choice. Most are using Macs, but some of us (me included) use Linux exclusively - so long as we can get our work done. We all have root/admin access to our machines to put whatever tools we want in whatever configuration we need, and if we screw it up, it's (more-or-less) on us to fix it. Several good screw-ups and you are dinged for it.

Nothing virtual

[Trogre]

For development, where you need actual performance for reasonable build times, run nothing virtually nor remotely.

Grunty desktop PC, triple monitors, with local storage and frequent scripted rsync backups to a shared server.

Also pop tarts and Xena tapes.

No admin privileges!!?

[rayd75]

Are you freakin' kidding me? How is a developer supposed to develop software that "requires administrator privileges" if he or she can't write to arbitrary directories and / or registry keys during normal, post-installation use? While you're at it, you might as well require your developers to use a 1080p screen, thus restricting their interfaces to actually rendering correctly on the displays of 99% of their users! What's next? Requiring the end product to run in an amount of memory likely to be supported on a single-socket motherboard and asking that code manipulating a database not be executed on the database server itself!!? Wow, just wow.

Picking your post apart:

[guruevi]

I work for a company with more than a thousand developers
- Already, you're in the wrong venue. Unless you're a C-level executive, don't expect much change. You need white papers and golf clubs to change your company's policies, not /. comments.

and I'm participating in activities aimed at improving the work experience of developers
- You're an outside consultant tasked with reducing the workforce by improving productivity. Don't forget that when you deal with your developers.

Our developers receive an ultrabook
- A real developer can't work on an ultrabook
that is rather powerful
- It's an ultrabook, not powerful

but not really adapted for development (no admin rights, small storage capacity, restrictive security rules, etc.)
- Your company is treating your developers like sales and customer support. Are you sure you're dealing with developers and not glorified tech support? If you are dealing with developers, you will also see high turnover and rather little experience. You're probably dealing with a developer sweatshop, not a well-managed tech house, change the culture around hiring first before you call these people "developers".

- They also have access to VDIs (more flexibility)
Virtual desktops are for things that you require little interaction with or that can easily be destroyed, not for development.
- but often complain of performance issues during certain hours of the day
Well, what do you expect, again, you're treating developers like tech support, your company's priorities are wrong.

- Overall, developers want to have maximum autonomy, free choice of their tools (OS, IDE, etc.) and access to internal development environments (PaaS, GIT repositories, continuous delivery tools, etc.)
If they don't have those, they're not going to be very productive developers. If you have thousands of developers without even basic version management and build tools, you better quit now, the company is doomed.

  - We recently had a presentation of VMWare on desktop and application virtualization (Workstation & Horizon), which is supposedly the future of the desktops.
Who got to play golf? VMWare is well behind on the market and only survives through inertia and takeovers. It's the Microsoft/IBM of VM.

- It sounds interesting on paper but I remain skeptical.
Citrix did it better in the 2000s. It failed. For good reason.

- What is the best working environment for a developer, offering flexibility, performance and some level of free choice,
You answered your own question

- without compromising security, compliance, licensing (etc.) requirements
Recommend replacing management first. Compliance and licensing is a managerial thing and should be hardly required since the most powerful development tools are open source, for everything "necessary" that deals with evil business partners (Adobe, VMWare, Microsoft, ...) get a site license. Your developers should be smart enough to maintain their own security if they need admin rights, the ones that aren't can be weeded out immediately.

- I would like you to share your experiences on BYOD, desktop virtualization, etc. and the level of satisfaction of the developers.
BYOD: If your company is too cheap to provide the necessary machines then they get to deal with the headaches of BYOD.
Desktop Virtualization: Tried and failed in the previous dotcom bubbles.
Level of satisfaction is directly related to your management.

Vmware works for me (constant CLI, some GUI)

[raymorris]

I use VMWare for development and it works quite for my needs. We take advantage of the vmware software within the guest for a shared clipboard and shared storage. Setting up the network initially, with the corporate VPNs, was a bit of a hassle to figure out, but that was a one-time event.

My particular setup is Mac hardware and I spend most of my time SSHed to a local Linux VM. For the Linux environment, the fact that it's a VM is completely invisible - it looks and feels *exactly* like running it on metal (except backup and snapshots are easier).

I use a Windows VM for working with Microsoft SQL Server. I have no complaints about using Windows in a VM, but I'm only using a couple programs.

Two or three large monitors are very useful for development, with or without VMs. With VMs, I can have a Windows monitor (fullscreen VM) and a Linux monitor, and can move seamlessly between them.

I wouldn't want to use a GUI in a VM constantly without a nice large monitor or two, though. An OS needs to be able to fill a screen, not a little window on a screen.

Exactly that

[Weaselmancer]

I'm out of mod points or I'd mod you up.

My two cents - we have an open office plan where I work. So I like to stay after hours and work. Why? Because the lights are off, I don't have to listen to people milling around me all the time having conversations about the weather or last Sunday's game. Just me and the work I have to do. No distractions. It's blissful.

I can get more done in 2 hours like that than the previous 8.

Re:Exactly that

[Xest]

Which is why as well as a quiet space, I also think a good environment for developers is one that supports flexible working. I start at 7:30 and finish at 4, because at least I can get about an hour and a half to two hours in of decent code first thing before the office gets too noisy. Some of the other devs prefer later starts and do 10 until 6:30. As long as everyone is in between 10 and 3 then that's ample time for collaboration.

You shouldn't have to work an extra 2 hours over to get your work done, you should be able to come in 2 hours later.

Developers need to be well slept, and able to focus - a quiet working area is only part the equation, not being forced to work extra hours because the working environment is shit is another part of it. Home working at least every now and again can also often help with this for some people.

Re:Exactly that

[jandersen]

Very valid points, of course; the whole idea of open plan is stupid in so many ways; just to take a thing like indoor climate: small offices for 1 or 2 people can have individual heating and aircon, so the ones that like it hot can have that without hearing complaints from those that prefer it cold. You might even have a windows that could open a little bit.

But just as important as the physical environment is the freedom to choose your tools. Developers are skilled workers - I hesitate to use the word 'engineer', I think it is overused and easily misconstrued; an engineer can be anything from the guy that used to shovel coal on a steam locomotive, to a highly academic civil engineer. We skilled workers know best which tools are suitable for our needs. Some people like to use highly complex IDEs with suspicious colour schemes (which remind me of my misspent youth in Soho's nightlife), others actually prefer vi and make scripts in xterm - both setups can be equally productive. Managers prove again and again that they have no clue about what is important for skilled workers; they seem to think we are sort of like sales people, but not as clever, and since sales people fall for glittery kitsch and think the word 'leader' means 'alpha male', that is what they try to serve up to us as well; hence Dilbert.

Rant's over - I have real work to do.

Re:Exactly that

[computational super]

The first 8 hours are so that you get paid. The next 2 hours are so that you don't get fired in the next round of layoffs. Doesn't it feel great to be in a profession that's so "in demand"?

Re:Exactly that

[tattood]

I don't sit here tearing my hair out doing nothing waiting for everyone to leave so I can type.

You might also get more work done if you stay off Slashdot during work hours too... :)

Re:Exactly that

[OffTheWallSoccer]

Noise canceling headphones, with or without music, and the neighborhood chatter fades into the background.
Add music and you are in your own world.

Re:emacs

[uncqual]

Each to their own. Personally, I never cared for the editor that comes packaged with that OS.

A wall of pixels

[DRichardHipp]

You want as many pixels on your screen as you can get. Dual-head is better. (Triple- or quad-head is better still). This follows from the simple observation that the more information you can see at one time, the faster you can work and the fewer mistakes you will make.

Remember that the pixel-width of your screen is more important that the physical width of your screen. The physical width should be sized so that it completely fills your field of vision when you are seated comfortably and ergonomically. Your goal should then be to put as many pixels inside that fixed physical width as you possibly can.

Avoid programming on laptops. You cannot work efficiently while looking through a soda-straw.

Beware of VDI

[lucm]

Remote virtual desktops are okay for basic use, but even on high-end infrastructure there's a tiny latency which is quite annoying when coding (unless you type real slow). It's not "in your face" but you can feel it and it makes the experience unpleasant.

Ask Slashdot

[n329619]

What's the Best Working Environment For a Developer?

In your position, the answer is obvious. You should 'ask your developers'. Seriously, you are planning to do something that will affect a majority of your developers. Asking them is the best way to get the most favorable end result.

The next step is how to ask them. You should create a poll or a survey for your fellow developers regarding the new plans.

Only after you get those down, you can finally pick a few topics for your plans. Start with Office Resource, and then Work space. You can add in other optional items like office food, office services, etc after you get your major key points across to your developers.

finally, you should foresee your plans. If you or whoever management above you doesn't or unwilling to allocation resource for your plans, then you should drop it. You shouldn't provide it as a choice in the survey for the developers if it can't be done.

Here are a few examples of something you could do.

Office Resource - How would you rate the current office resource? (1-5, 5 being great)
1 - terrible
2 - not good
3 - fair
4 - good
5 - great

Office Resource - Which of the following would you pick to improve your development?
a) Better office computer
b) More power outlet
c) Better BYOD policy
d) Better office testing devices
e) Others [ ]

Work Space - Which of the following would you pick to improve your work environment?
a) Semi sound proofed partition
b) Larger desk space
c) More chairs in the lounge
d) Better Office Chair
e) Others [ ]

Other - Which of the following would you pick to improve your office experience?
a) Free lunch please
b) Free dinner please
c) Real coffee please
d) No Free Donuts?!?!
e) Better fake news please
f) Replace my boss please
g) Delete that jerk across the room please
h) All of the above

Re:my experiences... AC for a reason

[lucm]

I have a high-end Dell laptop [...] quad core i7, SSD [...] separate dedicated graphics card for CUDA work [...] full admin rights [...] Corsair mechanical keyboard [...] I have my own office [...] two large widescreen displays [...] I also have a desktop machine in my office to use as I please [...] Some of my coworkers have standing desk configurations [...] I am free to download and install whatever software I want [...]

Hope this helps.

My current laptop at work has a carboard cpu and needs the pagefile to run two instances of notepad. So no, your description doesn't help at all.

Re:VMWARE is the future?

[OhPlz]

You learn more about your dev environment by actually installing and configuring the tools. If you have it done for you, you've missed out on some potentially useful knowledge. I'd rather take a very slight hit in productivity by maintaining my own system and not having to worry that the machines we're timesharing on are going to end up overloaded and lag like crazy (which they do). It's even worse if the VMs aren't hosted in the same facility. The WAN has a hiccup and next thing you know, productivity turns to crap.

Re:VMWARE is the future?

[scdeimos]

There can be a number of benefits to developing in a VM, at least when what you're developing allows you to do it. One of the main benefits is hardware independence - it's very easy to pick up your VM guest and move it to a shiny new computer, such as getting new hardware upgrades every year, or even changing host operating systems from Windows 7/8/10 to Linux or MacOS.

If your host dies, due to a hardware problem, power spike, etc., you can run your guest(s) up on a new host from backups very quickly, avoiding the days of setup from scratch you might need otherwise. Restoring host backups to a new one doesn't always work for you due to hardware differences.

If you're developing multi-OS stuff it's very handy to have a bunch of VM guests on your machine for unit testing, but you'd normally have a test farm of servers/VMs/containers that run tests for the build servers.

VMs aren't perfect, though, (there are performance impacts for one thing) and not everyone can develop inside VMs due to requirements to access funky hardware or even recent OpenGL/DirectX implementations.

Re: VMWARE is the future?

[Z00L00K]

Virtualization is good for test environments but running development shall be in a non- virtualized computer.

I have never seen any advantage with a virtual machine for development since there are too many snags and performance penalties involved.