4 ms·

How on earth are you coding in Vim on a keyboard with no escape key, no [], |\, or {} keys, and a misplaced +/= key?

mrbill 11y ago
That's my main gripe about that keyboard - no ESC key. You could do CTRL-[, but I don't see the [ available on there either (at least obviously). One of my main reasons for a keyboard on an Android tablet is to be able to access remote SSH sessions, edit files if necessary (vi, etc) and so forth.
- thomasahle 11y ago
  ESC is just the ... button, at your right thumb, and 1 at your left ring finger. It's quite comfortable to type, though, if using vim a lot, you will probably remap it to space.
- mrbill 11y ago
  Aha. Found this via a search: For navigating Android Home — Search + Enter Back — Search + Backspace Recent apps — Alt + Tab (same as it ever was) Missing symbols Brackets — Use three dots + o for left bracket [, three dots + p for right bracket ] Back slash — Three dots + equals = Escape — When would you use this? We don't know. But it lives at three dots + 1
  - thomasahle 11y ago
    Escape actually works very well across android, for things like closing menus, notification bars and other pop-ups.
thomasahle 11y ago
It has []|\{} keys. You just have to use the modifyer key right of the space bar. I'm used to changing keyboard layout between languages and platforms, so my muscle memory got used to that quite quickly. The Pixel C actually has quite a lot of useful keyboard shortcuts: https://support.google.com/pixel/answer/6326992?hl=en&ref_topic=6323244 https://support.google.com/pixel/answer/6326992?hl=en&ref_to...
ameen 11y ago
Custom keybindings I assume?
wrsh07 11y ago
You could remap jk to escape. I think the other keys are merely misplaced.
Sanddancer 11y ago
When I was using an android tablet, I used hacker keyboard for my terminal sessions, because it can be set up to give a pretty full keyboard, including function keys.
XorNot 11y ago
In related news though I'm mystified at macbook popularity with developers. The first thing I noticed was the lack of page keys, home/end and delete.
- rifung 11y ago
  Well I actually run Linux now on my MBP but to demystify, I don't use any of those keys because I only work in vi. You can do those things without the buttons when not in insert mode: page up/down: ctrl f/b home/end: 0/$ delete: x Although that's somewhat of a simplification for delete.
- thomasahle 11y ago
  Well, these are just Fn + Arrow keys. The end/home thing can get a little annoying when programming, but you quickly work your way arround it, and it surely isn't a problem in vim.
- jrockway 11y ago
  Do programmers actually use those keys? I use Home and End in the web browser... but when coding, I just use the close-to-my-fingers shortcuts. Home = C-<, End = C->, Delete = C-d, Page Up = C-v, Page Down = M-v.
  - Naga 11y ago
    It depends on your text editor! I, for one, use C-a for home and C-e for end.
    - jrockway 11y ago
      Ah, that's what Home and End do? Different from the browser. Like I said, I never use them for programming.
- stormbeta 11y ago
  I have CMD+arrow keys for that, and those key combinations are often easier to reach that home/end/pgdn/pgup on many keyboards. Haven't really needed a separate delete/backspace key. About the only time I use the separate delete key even on windows/linux is in the file explorer.
kazinator 11y ago
Indeed, you're probably better off with Klaus Weidner's "Hacker's Keyboard" than a bad physical one.

That's my main gripe about that keyboard - no ESC key. You could do CTRL-[, but I don't see the [ available on there either (at least obviously). One of my main reasons for a keyboard on an Android tablet is to be able to access remote SSH sessions, edit files if necessary (vi, etc) and so forth.

thomasahle 11y ago
ESC is just the ... button, at your right thumb, and 1 at your left ring finger. It's quite comfortable to type, though, if using vim a lot, you will probably remap it to space.
mrbill 11y ago
Aha. Found this via a search: For navigating Android Home — Search + Enter Back — Search + Backspace Recent apps — Alt + Tab (same as it ever was) Missing symbols Brackets — Use three dots + o for left bracket [, three dots + p for right bracket ] Back slash — Three dots + equals = Escape — When would you use this? We don't know. But it lives at three dots + 1
- thomasahle 11y ago
  Escape actually works very well across android, for things like closing menus, notification bars and other pop-ups.

thomasahle 11y ago

It has []|\{} keys. You just have to use the modifyer key right of the space bar. I'm used to changing keyboard layout between languages and platforms, so my muscle memory got used to that quite quickly. The Pixel C actually has quite a lot of useful keyboard shortcuts: https://support.google.com/pixel/answer/6326992?hl=en&ref_topic=6323244 https://support.google.com/pixel/answer/6326992?hl=en&ref_to...

ameen 11y ago

Custom keybindings I assume?

wrsh07 11y ago

You could remap jk to escape. I think the other keys are merely misplaced.

Sanddancer 11y ago

When I was using an android tablet, I used hacker keyboard for my terminal sessions, because it can be set up to give a pretty full keyboard, including function keys.

XorNot 11y ago

In related news though I'm mystified at macbook popularity with developers. The first thing I noticed was the lack of page keys, home/end and delete.

rifung 11y ago
Well I actually run Linux now on my MBP but to demystify, I don't use any of those keys because I only work in vi. You can do those things without the buttons when not in insert mode: page up/down: ctrl f/b home/end: 0/$ delete: x Although that's somewhat of a simplification for delete.
thomasahle 11y ago
Well, these are just Fn + Arrow keys. The end/home thing can get a little annoying when programming, but you quickly work your way arround it, and it surely isn't a problem in vim.
jrockway 11y ago
Do programmers actually use those keys? I use Home and End in the web browser... but when coding, I just use the close-to-my-fingers shortcuts. Home = C-<, End = C->, Delete = C-d, Page Up = C-v, Page Down = M-v.
- Naga 11y ago
  It depends on your text editor! I, for one, use C-a for home and C-e for end.
  - jrockway 11y ago
    Ah, that's what Home and End do? Different from the browser. Like I said, I never use them for programming.
stormbeta 11y ago
I have CMD+arrow keys for that, and those key combinations are often easier to reach that home/end/pgdn/pgup on many keyboards. Haven't really needed a separate delete/backspace key. About the only time I use the separate delete key even on windows/linux is in the file explorer.

kazinator 11y ago

Indeed, you're probably better off with Klaus Weidner's "Hacker's Keyboard" than a bad physical one.