I was reflecting recently on how devices are created to serve certain purposes and how they're able to do so in that literally compounds productivity. My case study is the laptop vs smartphones. While smartphone sales are on the rise (and will remain so for a while), you'll be hard-pressed to see any professional who prefers working on the phone to working on the laptop.
LAPTOPS ARE REALLY GREAT PRODUCTIVITY TOOLS
In terms of convenience, a laptop is just so much easier to write long articles, edit and perform other mundane activities than a mobile phone. Before becoming a developer, I used my smartphones for typically everything from typing long articles to sending emails and would reserve my laptop for watching movies or downloading large files. Since becoming a developer, I find myself reaching for my laptop more than I reach for my phone and this is not just because of software development but also due to the realization that it's much easier to open multiple tabs and switch between them easily on a laptop. The laptop is more powerful and frankly, the size is a plus when it comes to writing long articles.
MOBILE CODE EDITORS CAN HELP CODE NEWBIES IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
While a lot of people believe that software development is only possible on the laptop, there are some who have been able to write a bit of code on their smartphones. It's very difficult but possible, and it an issue I feel should be addressed in order to democratize access to software engineering because, in developing countries, some can't afford to own laptops. Smartphones are easier to acquire and this access can help ensure social mobility for them which can eventually help them escape the shackles of poverty.
OUR OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS ARE WHY WE CODE EDITORS ON MOBILE DEVICES
Another often overlooked advantage of having an efficient mobile code editor that can sync to version control platforms is in the area of our behaviour as developers. It isn't uncommon for bug fix ideas to creep into our heads when we want to call it a night, we're most likely to reach for our laptops again and end up pushing sleep. With mobile devices, it's easier to try stuff and quit if it's not working, and if it works we quickly commit and take our well-deserved rest. There's something about the laptop that puts us in work mode and it's hard to break out of that deep work state when we get into it.
The most powerful code editors available to software engineers do not have mobile applications, this is one area in which a stable product must be released as most code editors on mobile devices crash quickly, lack formatting and can't handle a lot of code. Code editors on mobile devices are more of training wheels than actual code editors which leave a lot of opportunity for organizations who would like to own the market in the smartphone space.