5 ms·

On most keyboards it is very hard to touch-type while programming. Seriously, I just can't enter a curly brace while keeping my hands on the home row. It hurts

by nzmsv 17y ago

On most keyboards it is very hard to touch-type while programming. Seriously, I just can't enter a curly brace while keeping my hands on the home row. It hurts :) And once you move that hand, repositioning it takes time. The other reason I never learned to type properly is that I just get bored. I tried several times, and always gave up. It just feels like a waste typing fjfjfjfjfjfj when I could be entering code. Finally, the productivity of a coder isn't how fast he/she can type. It's how well they think, which is mostly inversely related to WPM.

endtime 17y ago
>It's how well they think, which is mostly inversely related to WPM. That's an...interesting claim. Why do you think typing ability is negatively correlated with intelligence?
- khafra 17y ago
  I, for one, can type almost 80wpm and am dumb as a rock. I can never solve logic puzzles, and struggle with debugging when writing one-page scripts in Python.
  - alanthonyc 17y ago
    Upvoted, for making me chuckle. But I'm pretty sure that typing speed and programming ability are not-correlated, most definitely not inversely related.
    - nzmsv 17y ago
      "Correlation does not equal causation" Also, I really should learn to type better. This though got me googling. I found some discussion on the topic: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=952745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=952745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=510087 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=510087 Also, I seem to remember someone posting a webapp typing tutor. Does anyone remember the name?
- nzmsv 17y ago
  Not so much typing ability as actual typing output. And this was supposed to be only half-serious :) What I meant was that it's better to spend some time solving the problem in your head, rather than bang out line after line of bad code. So, in essence, the typing speed is not the bottleneck of coding productivity. Of course, a proper study on this would be a better argument than just me making stuff up.
ghshephard 17y ago
Just as an aside this { code }, was typed without any conscious thought. As an average touch typist (about 60 WPM), I didn't have any difficulty on my MacBook Pro entering curly paren while keeping my fingers on the home row. At least once a week I thank my teenage self for taking Grade 7 and 8 typing course (on ancient Manual typewriters - not even electric. The CBM 8032 was _just_ entering our world, and 100 Mile House had never bothered to upgrade to electric typewriters. I expect there is some meta-story regarding how you can teach people to do things without spending a lot of money)
- alanthonyc 17y ago
  Okay, as he says, nzmsv was half kidding. But really, this kind of attitude just touches a nerve with me. I work in corporate IT and in most places I've been, I'm seen as weird because of how fast I type. I mean is it so unusual to actually to have facility with the tools of your trade? Seriously, the curly brace doesn't even require you to move your hand from the home position. Anyone should be able to do that, unless you have problems with your pinky finger. This reply is degenerating into a rant, so I apologize, but so many times I've been tagged as "the fast one", with the implication being that I'm not thorough. Guess what? Speed means more iterations, means I'm doing more in less time. And it doesn't preclude "thinking things through" either. </rant>...back to your regularly scheduled, pre-new year's eve reading. EDIT: Oh, and I hate the mouse.

by nzmsv 17y ago

endtime 17y ago

>It's how well they think, which is mostly inversely related to WPM. That's an...interesting claim. Why do you think typing ability is negatively correlated with intelligence?

khafra 17y ago
I, for one, can type almost 80wpm and am dumb as a rock. I can never solve logic puzzles, and struggle with debugging when writing one-page scripts in Python.
- alanthonyc 17y ago
  Upvoted, for making me chuckle. But I'm pretty sure that typing speed and programming ability are not-correlated, most definitely not inversely related.
  - nzmsv 17y ago
    "Correlation does not equal causation" Also, I really should learn to type better. This though got me googling. I found some discussion on the topic: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=952745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=952745 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=510087 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=510087 Also, I seem to remember someone posting a webapp typing tutor. Does anyone remember the name?
nzmsv 17y ago
Not so much typing ability as actual typing output. And this was supposed to be only half-serious :) What I meant was that it's better to spend some time solving the problem in your head, rather than bang out line after line of bad code. So, in essence, the typing speed is not the bottleneck of coding productivity. Of course, a proper study on this would be a better argument than just me making stuff up.

ghshephard 17y ago

Just as an aside this { code }, was typed without any conscious thought. As an average touch typist (about 60 WPM), I didn't have any difficulty on my MacBook Pro entering curly paren while keeping my fingers on the home row. At least once a week I thank my teenage self for taking Grade 7 and 8 typing course (on ancient Manual typewriters - not even electric. The CBM 8032 was _just_ entering our world, and 100 Mile House had never bothered to upgrade to electric typewriters. I expect there is some meta-story regarding how you can teach people to do things without spending a lot of money)

alanthonyc 17y ago
Okay, as he says, nzmsv was half kidding. But really, this kind of attitude just touches a nerve with me. I work in corporate IT and in most places I've been, I'm seen as weird because of how fast I type. I mean is it so unusual to actually to have facility with the tools of your trade? Seriously, the curly brace doesn't even require you to move your hand from the home position. Anyone should be able to do that, unless you have problems with your pinky finger. This reply is degenerating into a rant, so I apologize, but so many times I've been tagged as "the fast one", with the implication being that I'm not thorough. Guess what? Speed means more iterations, means I'm doing more in less time. And it doesn't preclude "thinking things through" either. </rant>...back to your regularly scheduled, pre-new year's eve reading. EDIT: Oh, and I hate the mouse.