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Forty years of programming

fabiensanglard.net

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Re: Forty years of programming

#91

Post by devinprater »

thewakalix wrote: post #54
apitman wrote: post #36

I started experiencing similar forearm pain a few years ago. The split keyboard seemed to help a ton. I also programmed[0] an Arduino with two foot pedals. Left pedal for CTRL, right for SHIFT, both for ALT. Worked wonders. I mostly have the pain manageable now, but it still flares up sometimes, and it was really scary there for a while wondering if I might have to stop programming. To you young guns out there, an ou…

What if you need to press all three "keys" simultaneously?

He probably doesn't use Emacs. :)

Re: Forty years of programming

#92

Post by shric »

briHass wrote: post #85
shric wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be particular to the age of the OP. I just turned 47, so I'm one year older than him. In 1981 (so when I was 5) my parents bought me a Sinclair ZX81. It came with literally nothing except a BASIC interpreter in ROM and a manual. The manual explained how to program in BASIC and had a bunch of listings that you could type in for rudimentary games etc. So when we got our computers at that era all we could do…

As someone 4 years younger, I'd argue the 'good times' carried on until the early 90s, at least for a kid that didn't have any money to buy new games all the time. The games back then were all simple enough that a devoted kid with lots of free time would get bored/beat the game in a day or two, and then you have to find something else to do. Now, there are millions of free games on the internet, not counting pirate/e…

Agree, I did program on the Commodore 64 and later Amiga extensively and I too couldn't afford many games. However I'm not sure if I was the typical kid -- in the late eighties and nineties many of my friends had consoles and I had no interest in them because I couldn't program them.

Re: Forty years of programming

#94

Post by niederman »

cassepipe wrote: post #52

Dear Vim beginner, before getting a fancy keyboard, do remap Esc to some other key. It makes no sense to have your most important key where it is nowadays. The reason the back to normal mode key is ESC is because that key used to be much closer from the home row. My personal preference is to use Caps Lock because each OS has an easy solution for this simple remap and since it's system wide you can use vim modes elsew…

Honestly even if you don't use Vim it's worth doing. I'm a big fan of interception-tools' caps2esc on Linux.

Re: Forty years of programming

#95

Post by vivab0rg »

mjoin wrote: post #17
bobobob420 wrote: post #14

Only 1 monitor for 40 years? p impressive

i'm the same. i don't understand why some fellow programmers need multiple monitors: one is already plenty enough for me. (i'm using a tiling window manager, switching back and forth between different workspaces, having another monitor would require moving my head while i can instantly switch to another workspace from my fingertips)

You don't need to "move your head around" if you use TWMs like xmonad or spectrwm.

Re: Forty years of programming

#96

Post by yetanotherasian »

devinprater wrote: post #91
thewakalix wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if you need to press all three "keys" simultaneously?

He probably doesn't use Emacs. :)

I know what you mean. I was forced to use emacs for a year. I found it an interesting coincidence the person who forced emacs on us had the worst carpal tunnel syndrome and couldn't type on a standard keyboard without extreme pain.

I know you can remap your keys but there's inertia to just go with what you're given.

I've also noticed myself switching between Mac, Windows, and Linux, that Cmd-C on my Mac is way less stressful on my hand than Ctrl-C on the other 2 machines. I should probably figure out how to remap those.

PS: If you're curious how emacs was forced, it was because the lead built the project's IDE/build/debugging system into emacs

Re: Forty years of programming

#97

Post by el_benhameen »

Zamiel_Snawley wrote: post #72
cassepipe wrote: post #52

Dear Vim beginner, before getting a fancy keyboard, do remap Esc to some other key. It makes no sense to have your most important key where it is nowadays. The reason the back to normal mode key is ESC is because that key used to be much closer from the home row. My personal preference is to use Caps Lock because each OS has an easy solution for this simple remap and since it's system wide you can use vim modes elsew…

Caps lock is such a waste of prime keyboard real estate, even for non-vim users! For those who don’t use vim, just switching caps lock and control is probably better so you can copy and paste with less contortion. For vim users, I highly recommend remapping caps lock to be control when held, and escape when tapped.

I jump between using a Mac and a Windows machine for development. Remapping capslock to ctrl/cmd feels more ergonomic, and has the added benefit of making it so I don’t have to remember which machine I’m on.

Re: Forty years of programming

#98

Post by naruhodo »

pugworthy wrote: post #25

I too have been programming for 40 years, am in early 60's, and amazed that I have no real wrist issues from all that time of typing, etc. I've also been a pretty avid WASD + Mouse gamer for a long time as well, and I think gaming probably causes me more issues than programming.

I'm in my early-mid 50s, I've been programming for over 40 years and like you I have experienced more cramps and discomfort from Ctrl/Shift + WASD while gaming than any programming I have done.

I am a rock climber, however, so I have some significant muscular development in my forearms. And the thought of that reminds me that from time to time I have had problems with my knees, which started when I was a child. My knees become painful and collapse under me. And the solution has been to do weighted leg extensions to strengthen the push/kick muscles.

So I wonder whether these wrist problems can be overcome by strengthening exercises.

EDIT: and then I scroll down and see that Fabien is a climber. So I guess that refutes my theory.

Re: Forty years of programming

#99

Post by pault »

yetanotherasian wrote: post #96
devinprater wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He probably doesn't use Emacs. :)

I know what you mean. I was forced to use emacs for a year. I found it an interesting coincidence the person who forced emacs on us had the worst carpal tunnel syndrome and couldn't type on a standard keyboard without extreme pain. I know you can remap your keys but there's inertia to just go with what you're given. I've also noticed myself switching between Mac, Windows, and Linux, that Cmd-C on my Mac is way less s…

Try a keyboard running QMK firmware. You can map a single key to multiple codes depending on the length of the key press. I use caps lock as escape if released immediately, and control if held down. Putting the modifiers in the bottom corner of the keyboard was a sadistic design choice.
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