Comment by kcb
2 years ago
In my anecdotal experience the best developers are the ones that don't overly focus on their tools at all. One of the most proficient developers I've known was perfectly ok programming on a little square monitor with Visual Studio where the code window was 40% of the screen real estate.
It doesn't have to be that extreme but it reminds of hobby craftsman who focus on having a garage full of the tools of the trade while never finding the time to work on a project with them.
At some point in a developer career one shifts from a tool focus to a work focus.
I used to be picky about my operating system and often would spend time making the tools that I wanted or preferred to use work within the project dev environment, as opposed to just using the tools my employer provided. It usually ends up just being easier, and if everyone is using the same tools then pair programming or collaborating becomes easier, too, as compared to having to deal with the one stubborn dev who insists on using Emacs on a Mac when everyone else is using Visual Studio.
I think the benefits are when you already know the extent of your work and you can build tools to steamline you workflows. Now having something that you love working with instead of making you frustrated every day is very nice.
This has been my experience as well. The most productive people are the ones who actually focus on the work instead of wasting time configuring a perfect editor.