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Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

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Re: Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

#21

Post by tomjen3 »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #11
egiva wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It already exists in terms of a more logical layout for faster typing of many latin-based languages. Instead of QUERTY keyboard, it's called the Dvorak layout and is really common in certain circles and places - I believe that in OS X you can switch to this alternative layout pretty easily if you're interested in learning a faster way of typing. More info here: http://atmac.org/dvorak-keyboard-layout-switching

There's also some programmer versions of Dvorak, that make the punctuation more accessible too (by demoting numerals to needing the shift-key to be held): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_Simplified_Keyboard#Prog... Just as Dvorak was based on letter usage, this is based on examining large bodies of code just like the heatmaps in the OP.

It is a bit more than just switching the keys and numbers around - it uses the information from the code it examined to intelligently put the special chars that are used most often were they are easiest to access.

And yes if you wonder, it is awesome to use.

Re: Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

#25

Post by saintfiends »

tomjen3 wrote: post #18
saintfiends wrote: post #8

This just graphically displays what I whine about most of the time. Why does my pinky has to do most the work? My pinky is pretty short and all the pinky movements are awkward. It considerably slows down my code typing speed. I wonder If there would be another keyboard layout specially made for programmers. If you look at it you'll see that most of it has a similar pattern.

It is funny that you should mention it, because I have spent a lot of time finding keyboard layouts more suitable for programing. In the end I settled on the programmer dvorak layout. It is basically a standard dvorak keyboard but with the special keys you need to program moved to easier locations (and the dvorak keyboard itself uses the homerow much more efficiently, so there is much less strain on your fingers and…

I have thought about switching to Dvorak, it's hard to find from where I live. I'd love to know what model or brand you settled for.

Re: Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

#26

Post by kevindication »

andylei wrote: post #5

it'd be interesting to see these heatmaps in some sort of normalized way. for example, 'e' is the most common letter in english, so its the most commonly used letter in these programming languages. it'd be very interesting to see, for example, this heatmap with the intensities divided by each letter's frequency of use in the English language, or across a large set of data including a lot of different programming lang…

Except for Lisp, of course, where ( and ) are more common than e.

Re: Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

#27

Post by ZeroGravitas »

saintfiends wrote: post #25
tomjen3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is funny that you should mention it, because I have spent a lot of time finding keyboard layouts more suitable for programing. In the end I settled on the programmer dvorak layout. It is basically a standard dvorak keyboard but with the special keys you need to program moved to easier locations (and the dvorak keyboard itself uses the homerow much more efficiently, so there is much less strain on your fingers and…

I have thought about switching to Dvorak, it's hard to find from where I live. I'd love to know what model or brand you settled for.

If you mean buying a hardware keyboard with dvorak letters, then don't. If you learn to touch type (and there's no point switching to Dvorak if you don't intend to) then you don't need to look at your keyboard, indeed being able to will only teach you bad habits.

Print a paper copy of the key layout to pin next to your monitor when starting out and use a typing tutor like gtypist to train yourself instead.

Re: Most Pressed Keys and Programming Syntaxes

#28

Post by tomjen3 »

saintfiends wrote: post #25
tomjen3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is funny that you should mention it, because I have spent a lot of time finding keyboard layouts more suitable for programing. In the end I settled on the programmer dvorak layout. It is basically a standard dvorak keyboard but with the special keys you need to program moved to easier locations (and the dvorak keyboard itself uses the homerow much more efficiently, so there is much less strain on your fingers and…

I have thought about switching to Dvorak, it's hard to find from where I live. I'd love to know what model or brand you settled for.

I didn't by a physical keyboard as such, any operating system allows you to change the layout and I just did that.

You can print the layout out on a piece of paper until you have learned them but if you plan on looking at the keyboard when you type you are not going to benefit from a dvorak keyboard.

If you do deciede to learn it, just know that it is totally worth it - your hands will thank you.

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