> Go fullscreen. Not so much for the real estate but for the mental switch. Fullscreen mode is a way to immerse yourself into your productive development world. No browser, no mail, no application notification. Only code.
This is an excellent point and one that's not nearly as appreciated as it should be. Fullscreen mode was written off in Lion as an example of Apple dumbing down the platform and making it more like iOS, but it's the perfect mode for writers, coders--and really just about any kind of creator who needs to focus.
I use sizeup[1] to maximize the terminal (or any other app) with a keystroke, instead of native full screen. It works across all applications that allow window resizing, and has handy shortcuts for "half" full screen, which is great to position, say, a browser and editor next to each other across the whole screen.
Which reminds me, I really will go and pay my 13 bucks for it now, it's more than worth it. But the free version is fully functional with just an occasional nag screen.
I do front-end web development and full-screen doesn't work for me. I never spend that much time just coding. I switch to test in the browser often so switching between full-screen windows is jarring.
This is an excellent point and one that's not nearly as appreciated as it should be. Fullscreen mode was written off in Lion as an example of Apple dumbing down the platform and making it more like iOS, but it's the perfect mode for writers, coders--and really just about any kind of creator who needs to focus.