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What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

nsaphra.github.io

111–120 of 398 posts

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#111
I'm pretty sure typing for even just 4 hours a day is not going to end well for anybody.

I should try to measure the time I spent typing, but in fact I'm not sure I could even find a way to just have enough things to type for 4 hours, every (or just most) days.

On the rare occasions I've typed e.g. ~ 1000 LOC per day during a few days, I sometimes ended up with temporary RSI. But, at least for me, this is not a sustainable rate for other reasons, anyway.

If some people manage to type huge loads of code (or doc or whatever) in a sustainable way, I'm curious to know how they do it? For example do they only ever work on new code and with low rate of interaction with other people? How much is their typing vs. code review ratio (on my side I think is roughly 50/50 and if I could change things I would probably do even more / longer reviews)?

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regardless of whether you think the advice from the GP is sound or not, the best way to get a doctor to listen to you is to listen to (and follow) their advice first. Cursing at them out of frustration only makes your situation worse.

>Regardless of whether you think the advice from the GP is sound or not, the best way to get a doctor to listen to you is to listen to (and follow) their advice first. It's been shown that it's very hard to prove that you're not mentally ill if you're labeled as such. Getting treatment just means you'll be put on essentially random psychiatric medications (which have their own side-effects) or have to spend years in…

> It's been shown that it's very hard to prove that you're not mentally ill if you're labeled as such.

But what if you do have a condition that requires therapy? You're unlikely to recognize it yourself. Would you always refuse treatment and just go with painkillers instead?

> Getting treatment just means you'll be put on essentially random psychiatric medications (which have their own side-effects) or have to spend years in useless therapy (while your actual disease may progress).

The patient in this case would not see a psychiatrist since he's not depressed or mentally ill.

Instead he would be sent to a psychologist who can only recommend further therapy. Ofcourse if the symptoms become worse you should immediately see the GP and not wait for therapy.

> If a doctor isn't willing to do the proper testing or evaluation the first time then they won't do it a second time either

If your symptoms become worse the doctor will definitely recommend testing. Therapy is something to do as part of diagnosing your ailment.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#113

My career in Software would be over if it wasn't for voicecode.io and now Talon. I go through periods where typing does not bother me at all and long periods of intense random pain in forearms, wrists, palms and top of my hands. Certain aspects of controlling your computer by voice are way more efficient than using a keyboard, others not so much. Lucky for me using a mouse does not bother me that much so I continue t…

[deleted]

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#114
Had this problem. It was ulnar nerve compression in my back from poor posture.

Left it for ages and have reduced sensitivity in my ring and pinky on both hands.

Physio therapy, Laptop stand, external keyboard, mouse, good chair and foot rest help a lot + a tonne of rest.

Stretches and general core strength helped a lot too. Running and lifting weights.

I can still type. It’s a gift. I try not to take it for granted and count every day I can still use a keyboard.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#115
I developed an RSI a few years ago, and I had to leave my job. It was devastating to lose both my career and my passion to an injury.

Since then, I've been working with a friend on a new voice coding app called Serenade [1] that aims to enable anyone to program by voice. With Serenade, you can speak natural English voice commands like "delete second function" and "add class person". Not only can this be faster than typing, but it also means you don't have to memorize the syntax details of every language or a bunch of editor keyboard shortcuts.

We found that cloud speech APIs and programs like Dragon weren't accurate enough for common programming words, so we built a custom speech engine (based on Kaldi [2]) that's designed specifically for coding. The app is still early, but we think the future of programming is working with these higher-level inputs rather than typing out code entirely by hand.

We're looking for people to give feedback, so if anyone is interested in giving it a try, you can download Serenade at [3] or email me at matt@serenade.ai.

[1] https://serenade.ai

[2] http://kaldi-asr.org

[3] https://serenade.ai/download

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Regardless of whether you think the advice from the GP is sound or not, the best way to get a doctor to listen to you is to listen to (and follow) their advice first. It's been shown that it's very hard to prove that you're not mentally ill if you're labeled as such. Getting treatment just means you'll be put on essentially random psychiatric medications (which have their own side-effects) or have to spend years in…

> It's been shown that it's very hard to prove that you're not mentally ill if you're labeled as such. But what if you do have a condition that requires therapy? You're unlikely to recognize it yourself. Would you always refuse treatment and just go with painkillers instead? > Getting treatment just means you'll be put on essentially random psychiatric medications (which have their own side-effects) or have to spend…

>The patient in this case would not see a psychiatrist since he's not depressed or mentally ill.

Severe pain due to psychosomatic causes sounds like mental illness to me.

>Instead he would be sent to a psychologist who can only recommend further therapy.

No, they can also strongly recommend that they see a psychiatrist for potential medications.

>The patient in this case would not see a psychiatrist since he's not depressed or mentally ill.

Every health system I've dealt with funnels to medication pretty strongly. Therapy is a slow process and medication allows a patient to not be in distress during the years it can take.

>Therapy is something to do as part of diagnosing your ailment.

Therapy is a slow process that in the best of cases can take years to work and longer in other cases. It is a shitty approach to diagnosis.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#117
Wow, Talon looks very interesting. For those who have gotten up to speed with it (or something similar like VoiceCode), how long did it take you to get reasonably productive?

Also, is anyone out there working on a voice control VSCode plugin with deep TypeScript integration? I'd imagine the TS language server and programmability of VSCode could allow you to do some amazing things with voice.

Re: What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?

#120
My story is not a million miles away from this. I was fobbed off - despite being hospitalised for a year in my teens - as being 'psychosomatic'.

Quite why, in this day and age, doctors can't just fess up straight and say 'I don't know' is baffling.

Wind forwards to my mid twenties, and guess what, I am genetically diagnosed as having a recognised, hereditary muscular problem. Suddenly, everything slots in to place, and it turns out I'm not actually a lazy bugger at all...

To the OP: I cannot recommend pain management programmes enough -- the NHS run them, and I learnt a huge amount about managing both chronic pain and the associated medication. They also do sleep management programmes. The Occupational Therapists are also really helpful, they run so-called 'rehabilitation programmes', which are basically all about working out how you can maximise your capabilities within your limits. Best of luck.

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