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They don't even know the fundamentals

blog.royalsloth.eu

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Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#2
> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer.

I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is worthwhile but might only gain you a few minutes a day of productivity over someone doing 40WPM in a home-grown hunt-and-peck style of typing?

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#3

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I don't agree. Touch typing is not about the speed. It is about letting you keep your eyes on the screen while you're typing. It enhances your "headspace" so much, that you don't have to micro-context-switch all the time between the keyboard and the screen.

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#4

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of mechanical work. Refactoring? Typing speed will help you. Going to try out a new approach? Typing speed will help you to see whether it's true or not.

Everything else being equal, typing speed will help you try out stuff faster.

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#5
> For the majority of programmers out there, something being RESTful means that you can feed it chunks of JSON over HTTP. The minority, who have spent some time reading about it, will complain that it’s a design principle defined in the Roy Fielding’s thesis and it has nothing to do with JSON or HTTP 3. How many of you have actually read his thesis? All of it? No skipping?

I've been railing about this for years. Please stop calling it a REST endpoint. In 95% of the cases it is a custom HTTP endpoint and that's it.

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#6
post #4

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of mechanical work. Refactoring? Typing speed will help you. Going to try out a new approach? Typing speed will help you to see whether it's true or not. Everything else being equal, typing speed will help you try out stuff faster.

Yeah... even if you don't have to type fast, not needing to look at the keyboard when you type will at least help you to concentrate on what's on your screen and stay in the "flow".

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#7

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I don’t know, when the thought about how to structure something is in my head, I want to type it out as fast as possible. My brain isn’t ideally suited to keeping complex constructs at the top of my thoughts for a long time.

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#9
post #4

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of mechanical work. Refactoring? Typing speed will help you. Going to try out a new approach? Typing speed will help you to see whether it's true or not. Everything else being equal, typing speed will help you try out stuff faster.

All else being equal sure typing faster is only going to make you more productive but a slower typer who is better at solving complex problems is always going to be more valuable than a fast typer who is not as good. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a programmer that was too slow to simply be productive and valuable to a business which makes it questionable advice for anyone to follow.

Re: They don't even know the fundamentals

#10
post #4

> There is another fundamental that is ignored by a lot of computer users. I think everyone who spends a lot of time behind a computer should learn how to touch type, since typing is still the main way of interacting with your computer. I sort of agree, but anyone typing out code at 120WPM isn't programming, they're writing. Programming is an intellectual activity, not a physical one so learning to touch type is wort…

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of mechanical work. Refactoring? Typing speed will help you. Going to try out a new approach? Typing speed will help you to see whether it's true or not. Everything else being equal, typing speed will help you try out stuff faster.

Optimizing an outer loop also will help.
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