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Typing Practice for Programmers

speedcoder.net

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Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#131

Post by Retra »

menssen wrote: post #63
collyw wrote: post #2

Coding by typing fast never seems like a great idea for me. Isn't there a saying "weeks of programming can save hours of planning". Plus a decent IDE will eliminate the need for this type of thing.

1. I have found, when you know what the next word is, that there is a typing-speed line that if you are above, just typing the thing is faster than using IDE autocomplete. It also disrupts your flow less. I am convinced, although only based on anecdotal evidence, that a lot of the vim/other-editor vs IDE debate is significantly based on how fast you can type. 2. There are a significant number of programming tasks whe…

I find most of the 'tedious, mechanical' refactoring tasks are mostly limited by the speed of getting the curser in the correct locations, not in typing out the changes.

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#132

Post by junke »

vacri wrote: post #125
paulddraper wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm awful at typing. My friends make fun of my rapid chicken-pecking. I shrug and say I don't type enough to mind.

I encourage you to drink heavily. A friend of mine learned to touch-type because he came in to work hung over too many times, and felt queasy switching between looking at keyboard and screen... so it made him learn to touch-type...

Your advice is "drink heavily"? Is this a kind of joke?

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#133

Post by jon-wood »

eeZah7Ux wrote: post #65
Swizec wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about the typing speed, it's about levels of abstraction. You want the basics to be automated so you can think about important things. Could someone like Steph Curry or Kobe Bryant be an effective basketball player if dribbling the ball took conscious effort? Probably not. Code is typed. Typing it slowly slows you down. Just like a slow compiler does or a slow IDE or even a slow computer with spotty internet…

Slow IDE, slow compilation, spotty Internet force you to wait and captures your attention. Slow typing doesn't capture your attention, if you touch-type. Your hands are typing while you go on thinking. If you get to the point where typing is the bottleneck you are not thinking enough and you should be working on some more difficult problem instead.

You've hit with the point you should be thinking while typing. For me I know someone is a good typist not if they're quick, but if they're able to type notes on a conversation they're having while still engaging with the conversation. It's a similar thing to the point when learning to drive that gear shifts go from being a conscious thought to a subconscious reaction to your situation.

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#134

Post by widforss »

z1mm32m4n wrote: post #66
quotemstr wrote: post #55

Programming is a unique field: if you're doing it right, it should never be dull. Frustrating? Draining? Rage-inducing? Sometimes. But not mind-numbing. Why? Because we can build our own tools. If we find ourselves doing repetitive work, we can build a tool to automate that work. This automation is itself likely at least somewhat interesting. What isn't repetitive and that can't be automated should be interesting as…

I see where you're coming from, but this tool is still valuable in a number of cases that I don't think you're considering. I recently got a new mechanical keyboard, which had special "layers" for punctuation. "Common" punctuation like periods and commas are still there, but other punctuation like curly braces, brackets, etc. require new key combos. [1] I agree with you that a lot of the time programming requires mod…

I use a special dialect of Dvorak, called Svorak A5 [1]. I think it is somewhat similar to what you describe. It is really liberating to have special characters on the home row.

[1]: https://i.imgur.com/YKojP7B.png

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#135

Post by Insanity »

wapz wrote: post #110
Insanity wrote: post #70

This test is a bit..silly to me. I am an enthusiast of mechanical keyboards, own a few, and have enjoyed typing for as long as I can remember. On top of that, I can type quite fast - depending on which keyboard I am using as it does affect me a bit I reach about 720cpm on my mx blues (ducky keyboard) and about 670cpm on my KBP keyboard with Matias Quiet Click switches, which is my slowest board. (on the 10 fast finge…

You should check out typera.net for in my opinion, more realistic typing tests. I just tried the 10 fast fingers test and got 750 on my first try on a cheap keyboard (I maxed out at a tad over 700 on typerA where it uses random sentences albeit much more difficult generally).

Thank you for the recommendation, I will surely check that one out! And you got a nice score, congratz!

A more expensive keyboard does not make you type better in my opinion, but it does improve the comfort of typing for a longer time. It also depends on what you are used to.

Another one that is fun is typeracer, it let's you race against others by finishing a typing test as fast as possible. These are fragments from literature that you are typing and thus adds some difficulty as well compared to 10-fast-fingers, as you need to keep in mind punctuation :-)

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#136

Post by gedy »

mgcross wrote: post #89
z1mm32m4n wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see where you're coming from, but this tool is still valuable in a number of cases that I don't think you're considering. I recently got a new mechanical keyboard, which had special "layers" for punctuation. "Common" punctuation like periods and commas are still there, but other punctuation like curly braces, brackets, etc. require new key combos. [1] I agree with you that a lot of the time programming requires mod…

I built a Planck, and as much as I appreciate the ortholinear layout, I'm having a hard time finding/configuring a keymap that has the necessary symbols somewhere that feels intuitive. I'll spend a couple hours acclimating to a keymap on typing.io, but if I need to an ANSI staggered KB, even for a couple hours, it seems to wipe my muscle memory. Guess I need to buy another Planck!

This is why I went with an Atomic instead of the Planck. Ortholinear, but very close to a "normal" keyboard in the layout.

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#137

Post by Insanity »

diamondo25 wrote: post #81
Insanity wrote: post #70

This test is a bit..silly to me. I am an enthusiast of mechanical keyboards, own a few, and have enjoyed typing for as long as I can remember. On top of that, I can type quite fast - depending on which keyboard I am using as it does affect me a bit I reach about 720cpm on my mx blues (ducky keyboard) and about 670cpm on my KBP keyboard with Matias Quiet Click switches, which is my slowest board. (on the 10 fast finge…

I have thought of getting a mechanical keyboard, but I don't think I need it. I have been typing a lot on a standard Acer keyboard for a couple years, until the W key dome was gone, making it really hard to use with gaming. After that, I switched to the light Logitech K700 keyboard with flat keys. Typing on it feels good and I don't need to type fast, I want to type accurately. And in the end they are pretty quiet :)…

Once you get one, it is really hard to go back to a non-mechanical keyboard. And quietness is quite important for anyone working together with other people. That is why at work I use a keyboard with Matias Quiet Click switches. They are not that much louder than a regular rubberdome keyboard :-)

It's all preference in the end though!

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#138

Post by namaemuta »

Insanity wrote: post #70

This test is a bit..silly to me. I am an enthusiast of mechanical keyboards, own a few, and have enjoyed typing for as long as I can remember. On top of that, I can type quite fast - depending on which keyboard I am using as it does affect me a bit I reach about 720cpm on my mx blues (ducky keyboard) and about 670cpm on my KBP keyboard with Matias Quiet Click switches, which is my slowest board. (on the 10 fast finge…

It matters just for saving you the annoyance of looking at your keyboard searching for a specific key. The less you look at what you write, the more prone to error you become.

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#139

Post by manojlds »

CuriousCosmic wrote: post #117
dxhdr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being able to type quickly and accurately is enjoyable. It lets my brain stay focused on what I'm writing rather than how I'm writing it. No context switches necessary, no mistake every 10th key; typing should be fluid and easy. I highly recommend improving your keyboard skills if you struggle with touch typing. That said I agree that "Typing Practice for Programmers" on "SpeedCoder.net" is a little silly. Just learn…

Honestly I believe that a programming specific typing practice program such as this one does serve a purpose as even though I can type well in a normal setting, I am much slower with many of the special characters as they just aren't used as much outside of the programming environment.

Actually, this doesn't seem helpful at all. Rarely am I typing the entire program without any autocompletion and intellisense based assists.

Re: Typing Practice for Programmers

#140

Post by taneq »

RhodesianHunter wrote: post #12
ktRolster wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will tell you, that if you are in a job interview with a live-coding portion, if you don't type fast, the interviewer will probably think you are dumb. And if you don't know all the hot keys they know, then they will probably think you are ignorant. It's unfair, but happens.

Good, these are perfect indicators that I don't want to work with these people anyway.

It depends on whether the interviewee is using a piece of software that they claim to know. If they're calling themselves a senior dev and they use the mouse to select "save" instead of using ctrl+s, then I probably won't hire them. On the other hand, if they're doing a coding test in Linux and they claim no CLI experience, they won't lose any marks at all for asking how to launch a text editor.
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