Handwriting vs. typing: is the pen still mightier than the keyboard?

For example I tend to experiment with code as soon as I think I know what a given task is about. I fire up the REPL, create a new file and start writing. This code is of course never meant to go into production: it's just a way of structuring my thoughts. Often I do this "prototyping" in a different language than the one used for the project: languages provide certain frameworks for solving problems and by using the correct one I can cut down on the amount of code I need to write to express my thoughts (it also makes it impossible to just git add a messy prototype to the project).

I also use pen and paper sometimes, only when the problem I'm facing is larger then a few pages of code. Rather than writing I'm drawing simplified diagrams and only write down the most important bullet points for the design. But even then I tend to write at least some code as soon as possible. I treat code as one of the best tools available to help my brain think.

So for me and people working in a similar way typing speed and a good editor are important. Especially because I write so much of a disposable, throwaway code. I'm not saying it's a better way of working, I just wanted to explain to you that it's not necessarily worse than your style.

My handwriting is shit. Terrible. Infact it is so bad I almost failed school.

At the age of 5 I was told by various authority figures that I was thick because I couldn't write. I vividly remember being told that some people have dyslexia, and that why they can't write, however I'm just slow, and that I'll have to just try harder.

Fortunately my mother decided that this was bollocks and forced the school to actually try. All through first, middle and high school my handwriting held me back. It is exceeding tedious to have all the correct answers but not be able to express them in a written format, the only format that gets you marks. When I was choosing my GCSEs at the age of 14, I had to weight up my potential career choices for someone who appears illiterate, and had a very high chance of leaving school at 16 with no qualifications. (the standard thing to do in my situation is to only do maths, a single science and English).

Fortunately my school was progressive and decided to try giving me an apple eMate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMate_300). This literally changed my life.

It was the beginning of me realising that perhaps I wasn't a failure, and that I might be able to actually achieve something other than living in the family home.

I have a house, a wife, child and a first class degree. All of which would not have been possible without typing.

So the next time someone says that typing is inferior to hand writing, and that its very simple to write at the speed of thought, have some empathy for the legions of people that cannot write for shit.

Certainly handwriting notes helps memorization but so does any other active participation. Personally I found coding little models and simulations about the subject matter far superior to handwriting notes. Maybe latter is not always compatible with the pace of the curriculum but this may only suggest the curriculum is designed for students handwriting along.