Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways • Hacker News Board

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#11

Post by dawnofdusk » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:44 PM UTC

Typing fast is an underrated skill for developers. A lot of the value added by various intelligent tab completion and LLMs is easily replicated by typing variable and function names at 100+ wpm.

Not a fan, however, of the desire to disparage the "right" way of doing things that's done in this blog. I type the "proper" way, home row and all, and can reach 150+wpm with high accuracy. So, based on this evidence, you're wrong and would be better off having learned the proper technique...

is an argument which I could make, and the evidence would be true, but it doesn't sound extremely convincing, does it?

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#12

Post by harrall » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:45 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #4

> Plot twist: I don't type "correctly" at all. My fingers just go wherever they want. It's like anarchist typing. My left pinky probably hasn't touched the 'A' key in months, but somehow I'm still in the 99.5 percentile. Turns out the "proper way" is just a suggestion. Like following PEP 8 or using semicolons in JavaScript. Sure, it's nice, but if your way works better, who cares? This is super interesting - I have t…

Same. I’m embarrassed to explain how I type but I can do 125 (80 on iPhone, no swipe).

If I’m going to be real, just you’re naturally talented and coordinated with your hands. That’s why most people can’t relate. We should form a group where we do finger things. /s

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#13

Post by etra0 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:45 PM UTC

thorncorona wrote: post #8

The site he uses, https://www.keybr.com/typing-test , has such lovely design. I am a big fan.

Might be just my preference, but I'd rather train on monkeytype.com. The icon for the space is confusing and the way it consider spelling errors too.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#14

Post by etra0 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:46 PM UTC

I think this is one of the main reasons why I enjoy vim so much, I can type comfortably at a 120wpm with sudden boost to 140wpm sometimes, and combining that with vim-motions makes it a lovely and fun experience!

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#15

Post by dawnofdusk » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:47 PM UTC

colanderman wrote: post #7

JohnMakin wrote: post #4

> Plot twist: I don't type "correctly" at all. My fingers just go wherever they want. It's like anarchist typing. My left pinky probably hasn't touched the 'A' key in months, but somehow I'm still in the 99.5 percentile. Turns out the "proper way" is just a suggestion. Like following PEP 8 or using semicolons in JavaScript. Sure, it's nice, but if your way works better, who cares? This is super interesting - I have t…

I also type unorthodoxly and quickly. Hands held diagonal (wrists straight), no particular finger-letter assignments. Closer to playing a piano. 33 years typing like this, going strong. I can't think of any benefit of home row typing other than it's easy to teach in a prescriptive manner.

>I can't think of any benefit

If you want to minimize the time it takes to travel to a particular key, it makes sense to keep your fingers at the "center of mass" of the keyboard... which is the home row.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#16

Post by jagger27 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:48 PM UTC

I really recommend MonkeyType. The UI is great, the stats are clear, and the modes are really elegant.

https://monkeytype.com/

I used it daily like the author for about 6 months to improve from 80wpm to about 120wpm.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#17

Post by khedoros1 » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:49 PM UTC

EvanAnderson wrote: post #5

> No home row bullshit. No "proper finger placement." Just pure, chaotic rhythm. This is me too. I've been a "high speed hunt and peck" typist since I starting using computers in 1985. I highly recommend it. Being able to type fast does make computers vastly more enjoyable to use. Using computers every day was all the practice I needed to make me type faster. IRC and AIM in the 90s/00s were the big drivers for fast t…

I skipped typing classes altogether, and I'm not sure how; they were a requirement in every school district I attended and a prerequisite to the programming classes that I took instead. My typing has developed "organically"; I use most of my fingers at least sometimes, but heavier on index and middle.

> IRC and AIM in the 90s/00s were the big drivers for fast typing.

Those are how I developed my touch typing; the incentive was to see everything happening in the chatroom full of friends without missing anything, and being able to react quickly.

> The tactile response and feel of an electric typewriter is pretty cool.

Granddad was a retired IBM employee, and had a Selectric typewriter (either II or III, not sure). That thing felt (and sounded) awesome. The whir of the flywheel, the amazing feedback of the "thunk" of the ball hitting the ribbon. I used to type random crap that didn't need to be typed just to use that thing for a few minutes.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#18

Post by erikpukinskis » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:49 PM UTC

dawnofdusk wrote: post #11

Typing fast is an underrated skill for developers. A lot of the value added by various intelligent tab completion and LLMs is easily replicated by typing variable and function names at 100+ wpm. Not a fan, however, of the desire to disparage the "right" way of doing things that's done in this blog. I type the "proper" way, home row and all, and can reach 150+wpm with high accuracy. So, based on this evidence, you're…

I also wonder if it’s a bit better for your hands. I feel like having my pinkies just kind of hanging there while I type causes the nerves to atrophy.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#19

Post by pbw » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:49 PM UTC

This is cool but I feel like typing speed and vim skills are going to play less of a role in overall development speed as AI use increases. But certainly it won’t hurt to type fast, even if it’s mostly typing prompts.

Re: Typing 118 WPM broke my brain in the right ways

#20

Post by lechatonnoir » Mon, Jun 02, 2025, 8:50 PM UTC

nluken wrote: post #6

gunalx wrote: post #2

I feel like i could never get to this level, but just doing a typing run at the beginning of the day feels like a really refreshing thing to do.

I'm no expert typist and I can't speak to the OP's claims that a bump in typing speed translates to a corresponding increase in productivity, but I can attest to the fact that simple time spent practicing will improve your skills in almost anything, typing included. If you included a typing run at the beginning of your day and made sure you were using proper form, I think you might be surprised at how quickly and how…

The trouble for me is, what is actually "proper form"?

People I've asked, including on the MonkeyType discord, don't seem to have very uniform opinions about it. Lots of fast typists have highly idiosyncratic strategies, as we see in this thread, but trying to get faster than ~150wpm (tested, which translates to more like ~100 in regular settings) feels to me to be limited by hand tension.