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Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

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Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#41

Post by fao_ »

computerex wrote: post #32
fao_ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone. I didn't learn to touch type and I'm about as fast as a touchtypist. Indeed, my typing speed went down when I started learning and because I didn't finish, hasn't really recovered since. 99% of programming is thinking and structuring though, so touch-typing isn't all that useful. https://phys.org/news/2016-02-ten-fingers-fast.html http://www.i-programmer.info/news/99-professional/9427-you-d... https://pdfs.se…

I looked at the PDF paper and the results and I don't agree with the conclusions being drawn. The main issue I see from cursory skim is that the 30 participants had a range of typing speeds from 34-79 WPM. I don't consider these individuals typing specialists or professionals based on the low WPM. Now if you consider professionals where they have a requirement of something like 90+ WPM, then I think you are going to…

> then I think you are going to see very few people who are not touch typists because it'd be very difficult or maybe even impossible to reach those WPM without touch typing.

Anecdata, but: I got ~160 WPM without learning touch typing. I was a regular computer user from the age of 12.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#42

Post by ashark »

fao_ wrote: post #41
computerex wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked at the PDF paper and the results and I don't agree with the conclusions being drawn. The main issue I see from cursory skim is that the 30 participants had a range of typing speeds from 34-79 WPM. I don't consider these individuals typing specialists or professionals based on the low WPM. Now if you consider professionals where they have a requirement of something like 90+ WPM, then I think you are going to…

> then I think you are going to see very few people who are not touch typists because it'd be very difficult or maybe even impossible to reach those WPM without touch typing. Anecdata, but: I got ~160 WPM without learning touch typing. I was a regular computer user from the age of 12.

> I got ~160 WPM without learning touch typing.

...what? What kind of error-rate? How long could you sustain that? How'd you manage that speed having to glance between source and keyboard?

I'm pretty sure I was the fastest in my high school typing class (because I already knew how to type very well by then) and at my best I could stay a little over 100wpm for a minute or two without any errors, but it was hard. I could maybe get up around 120-130 transcribing speech and letting minor errors slip though. I doubt I get much over 90wpm at my best these days but it's still fast enough to draw the occasional "whoa!" from people watching me. 160 seems... crazy if you're not touch typing, and way above normal even if you are.

[EDIT] sorry about the tone, I'm not saying you're lying, that's just... wow. Crazy fast. Must have really surprised some people, haha.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#43

Post by Ayaz »

wildflowero wrote: post #3

I must ask: how many people actually use the right shift key when typing? I have grown accustomed to only using my left and was wondering if others shared this behavior.

I use both shift keys. Left shift key when the other key I need to press is on the right side of the keyboard, and so on. I also use both of my thumbs to press the spacebar.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#45

Post by Ayaz »

brucephillips wrote: post #4
gshakir wrote: post #2

If there was a eighth one, I would add learning to touch type. Groking VIM becomes easy when you can type fast.

Do there exist modern information workers who can't touch type?

Sadly, yes. Out of the 400 people that work where I work, less than 30 know how to touch type. It deeply saddens me.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#46

Post by Ayaz »

e12e wrote: post #21
brucephillips wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do there exist modern information workers who can't touch type?

I'm very happy I attended an optional touch type class in high-school (on typewriters, actually). My recommendation for kids would probably be to learn to touch type, on a better layout (eg dvorak, colemak, workman). Either way, proper touch typing is more than typing fast, it's also about "sustainable typing": posture, strain, reducing rsi - as well as being free to copy (read text to type in, not having to look at…

Absolutely. I learned touch typing on my own during my O'Levels years when I bumped into a DOS-based touch typing tutor. It changed the way I looked at computers.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#47

Post by Asooka »

wildflowero wrote: post #3

I must ask: how many people actually use the right shift key when typing? I have grown accustomed to only using my left and was wondering if others shared this behavior.

I touch-type, so I alternate left and right depending on which letter I have to capitalise, i.e. I tend to use right shift for left-hand letters and left shift for right-hand letters. Except that being right-handed means I favour the right shift and use it also for letters typed with the right index finger.

Re: Vim: Seven habits of effective text editing (2000)

#48

Post by fao_ »

ashark wrote: post #42
fao_ wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then I think you are going to see very few people who are not touch typists because it'd be very difficult or maybe even impossible to reach those WPM without touch typing. Anecdata, but: I got ~160 WPM without learning touch typing. I was a regular computer user from the age of 12.

> I got ~160 WPM without learning touch typing. ...what? What kind of error-rate? How long could you sustain that? How'd you manage that speed having to glance between source and keyboard? I'm pretty sure I was the fastest in my high school typing class (because I already knew how to type very well by then) and at my best I could stay a little over 100wpm for a minute or two without any errors, but it was hard . I co…

> ...what? What kind of error-rate? How long could you sustain that? How'd you manage that speed having to glance between source and keyboard?

I'm not sure what kind of error rate. Currently without complete formal training (I did the first stage of Mavis Beacon maybe twice about 6 years ago), I'm at probably 90WPM and I can write without glancing between source and keyboard (Actually, something I like doing is typing while looking directly at someone else. It creeps them out :^) ).

It was weird because the incomplete formal training has actually increased my error rate, I'm using more fingers than I originally did (originally I used maybe 2 - 3 at most) but different fingers like to "step-in" now, which makes it more difficult. It doesn't help that I've switched between QWERTY and workman's layout several times (I can never seem to get the vim bindings nice :c).

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