>Do they? I've never encountered anyone using a root shell to go about their business unless they had to do some exclusive operation that could only be done as root, and even then they would rather just sudo that specific operation.
I'm a developer, who works alongside other developers, on a floor full of developers. Not only does this apply to my work, but also at hack[spaces|athons] and jams I've been to (With ages ranging from ~8 - >30). I've literally never encountered anyone using su for a command that doesn't need it. Even when they need root, they just use sudo for that command.
Maybe you should encounter more devs?