I'm a two-fingers-and-a-thumb, look-at-the-keyboard, what's-the-home-row? typer, and I can still hit 70+ on a bad day. Still not sure what that has to do with 1) my ability to code, 2) my ability to communicate.
Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
21–30 of 106 posts
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#22My typing speed is about 75 wpm, which probably sucks by HN standards. I don't type nearly as fast as I think. When I'm writing Java code, I find that my typing speed is often a bottleneck. In Ocaml or Lisp, it never is.
I find that when I'm doing Java, I'm not thinking or typing as much as I am hitting ctrl-space for the IDE to autocomplete superLongMethodNamesFactoryStubHome().
In Ruby, it seems I think and type in equal parts.
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#23Not being able to touch type is not a bad thing; not being able to type fast is. I can't touch type and I used to be able to type 130+ wpm without errors. I can still average around 100 wpm.
What's your definition of "not touch typing"? Do you use two fingers? Do you keep your fingers on the home row?
I don't do the home row touch-typing stuff, either. Nothing formally taught, all organically grown typing from using computers since I was a teenager. I'm typically in the range of 80-100 wpm depending on the test.
Primarily only using the index fingers, thumbs for shift keys, spaces and sometimes the other fingers will hit keys in the farthest reaches, depending on what the index fingers are doing.
It's kinda neat-- I discovered I type different words differently. For example, if I type "provide" my left hand index finger hits the "v", but in "forever", my right hand index finger does. Not a beat skipped-- they just do it.
I think typing with fewer fingers does put a maximum on my typing speed, but I'm perfectly comfortable with ~100 wpm.
This site says I type about 93wpm at top speed: http://www.typeonline.co.uk/typingspeed.php
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#24My typing speed is about 75 wpm, which probably sucks by HN standards. I don't type nearly as fast as I think. When I'm writing Java code, I find that my typing speed is often a bottleneck. In Ocaml or Lisp, it never is.
I find that when I'm doing Java, I'm not thinking or typing as much as I am hitting ctrl-space for the IDE to autocomplete superLongMethodNamesFactoryStubHome(). In Ruby, it seems I think and type in equal parts.
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Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#25Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#26"... Yeev noticed that one of the electives, surely placed there by mistake, was Typing. Like, on a typewriter ..."
What an elective? Mine was compulsory complete with manual typewriters and battle-axe teacher. One thing I do miss about those old clunkers was the solid feel the keys had. You had to learn to position your index fingers at 'F' and 'J' remember where each key was positioned and hit hard. So letters like 'P' and 'q' required a greater force than say 'v' or 'n' (because my index fingers are stronger than pinkies). Keyboards these days have no resistance so typing fast leads to random hits.
What's the most solid keyboard you have used?
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#27Three-word summary: learn to type.
Thank you
Edit: why is learning to type a dirty little secret?
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's your definition of "not touch typing"? Do you use two fingers? Do you keep your fingers on the home row?
I don't do the home row touch-typing stuff, either. Nothing formally taught, all organically grown typing from using computers since I was a teenager. I'm typically in the range of 80-100 wpm depending on the test. Primarily only using the index fingers, thumbs for shift keys, spaces and sometimes the other fingers will hit keys in the farthest reaches, depending on what the index fingers are doing. It's kinda neat--…
The issue is probably staring at the keyboard while you type, rather than not touch-typing "properly". I learned to type exactly the same way, not quite proper, but at 80-100 wpm.
I switched to the Dvorak keyboard layout about two years ago. Same speed, but it feels better -- much more time on the home row, for one thing. I think it's worth trying if you're interested, but it's your life. ABCD (http://www.gigliwood.com/abcd/abcd.html) was helpful (and funny). Just dive in, give it a month or so of normal typing. The first few days will be disorienting -- very old habits are being disrupted. (Also, you can switch back and forth once you're accustomed to it, but doing so initially will probably make learning much harder.)
It works quite well with Emacs, but hjkl navigation in vi becomes a bit awkward. (I tend to use Emacs on my own computers and vi on others' Qwerty-default systems, FWIW.)
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#29I'm a two-fingers-and-a-thumb, look-at-the-keyboard, what's-the-home-row? typer, and I can still hit 70+ on a bad day. Still not sure what that has to do with 1) my ability to code, 2) my ability to communicate.
It's just an all-around upgrade to your personal ability. We all spend a lot of time at a computer. Why not try learning? The process of learning touch typing will make you better at two finger typing, if nothing else.
http://www.freetypinggame.net/ http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3552142/Typing_of_the_Dead
Re: Programming's Dirtiest Little Secret
#30My typing speed is about 75 wpm, which probably sucks by HN standards. I don't type nearly as fast as I think. When I'm writing Java code, I find that my typing speed is often a bottleneck. In Ocaml or Lisp, it never is.
I find that when I'm doing Java, I'm not thinking or typing as much as I am hitting ctrl-space for the IDE to autocomplete superLongMethodNamesFactoryStubHome(). In Ruby, it seems I think and type in equal parts.
I remapped my Escape key to a more convenient place on my keyboard (it's a thumb key now); as a result, when I write Ruby code in TextMate, half of it appears virtually instantaneously. The downside? Sometimes accidentally pressing Escape when typing anywhere else. D'oh!