Development Computer Efficiency Question

[whitepokefrost]

We've obtained a lot of new laptops since last build season; more than enough for each programmer to use one specifically. Would it be more efficient to give each programmer their own laptop to develop on, or should we keep them all team-based? We use GITHub to store our code, so it isn't an issue either way

[GeeTwo]

If you have enough, by all means issue them to individuals. This will let people customize their desktop, and help/favorites links. Make sure that everyone is synchronizing to the central repositories on a regular basis!

Set up one or two laptops for deploy/driver station purposes. At least a week or two before competition (and preferably throughout), have your programmers add their favorites/etc to these common laptops to do last-minute tweaks at the competition, as you will likely be unable to sync to github on a regular basis.

[Hsifeulbhsifder]

We find it more beneficial to allow the programmers their own laptops. The reasoning behind this is that every programming has his/her own workflow, and it is often aided by custom preferences on their laptop. Also, they are probably more used to their laptop and keyboard. For example, I personally program our robot using my laptop in either Windows 7 or Fedora 22 Linux. I also don't use eclipse, but instead sublime, and this helps me be the most efficient programmer I can be. at the end of the day, it depends on your team preference, because people are different, and efficiency in humans is mostly anecdotal to the humans themselves. If they feel better using their own laptops, then they should go for it. Plus, now days everyone has a laptop, which is customized just for them.