5 ms·

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 l

by Swizec 10y ago

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. Remove bottlenecks until speed of thought and imagination is the bottleneck.

melling 10y ago
That's why you use good tools. You select a region of code then reindent the entire region, right? Not line by line? You refactor a variable name in all places with one command, not individually. It's possible that typing is a bottleneck, but I bet if you calculated your actual keystrokes, you'd find that it's very few words per minute.
- thomasahle 10y ago
  You don't type most of the time, but once you identify a few lines that need to be written or rewritten, it's useful to be able to at least type without conscious thought, so you can keep focus on the high level structure.
  - melling 10y ago
    Absolutely no one said that you shouldn't learn how to type. The point is that you shouldn't need to be particularly fast.
dozzie 10y ago
> 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. There is a different side of this coin, actually. Having a compiler that takes a really long time to compile the code gives a different type of friction than a compiler that works blazing fast. The former makes the programmer want to avoid unnecessary compilation, which works amazingly well for some types of people (I am this type, so I speak from experience). Though this doesn't work for a text editor, I believe. Editor should be as powerful and fast as possible, and I wouldn't trade my Vim for anything else (maybe Emacs, but I'm too deep to go back and invest in learning it, only to discover that I got no further than with my current setup). Edit: Spotty internet connection has its good side, too. One learns to read locally stored documentation instead of relying on StackOverflow, which is a big gain in the long run. Similarly slow desktop computer: if the program runs acceptably on my (slow) machine, it will be so much faster on something better. (Though I only write command line tools and network daemons, so I may be biased here.) All boils down to friction profile, which bubbles different things up to the surface.
- s_ngularity 10y ago
  In my current job, I have a docker-compose file that starts four docker containers that are interdependent, two of which frequently need to be rebuilt when I compile. I've found that my code usually compiles the first time even after changing several functions now, since I've gotten in the habit of proofreading more before compiling as a result of the incurred slowdown. Probably some of it is also the decent static analysis tools available for writing Go code, since syntax and type errors are obvious while I'm editing, but I've found I make fewer errors than I used to even when not constrained by the docker slowdown
eeZah7Ux 10y ago
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.
- Swizec 10y ago
  > you should be working on some more difficult problem instead Building simple things that solve real problems pays really really well.
- wtetzner 10y ago
  Typing can be the bottleneck because your thoughts get too far ahead of your fingers. You can only hold so much in your head, so getting the code out into the editor as quickly as possible allows you to free up some short-term memory.
  - collyw 10y ago
    A pen and paper works wonders for me. If I have a moderately complex algorithm then I usually write / draw a diagram representing how it works before trying to code it.
- jon-wood 10y ago
  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.

by Swizec 10y ago

melling 10y ago

That's why you use good tools. You select a region of code then reindent the entire region, right? Not line by line? You refactor a variable name in all places with one command, not individually. It's possible that typing is a bottleneck, but I bet if you calculated your actual keystrokes, you'd find that it's very few words per minute.

thomasahle 10y ago
You don't type most of the time, but once you identify a few lines that need to be written or rewritten, it's useful to be able to at least type without conscious thought, so you can keep focus on the high level structure.
- melling 10y ago
  Absolutely no one said that you shouldn't learn how to type. The point is that you shouldn't need to be particularly fast.

dozzie 10y ago

> 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. There is a different side of this coin, actually. Having a compiler that takes a really long time to compile the code gives a different type of friction than a compiler that works blazing fast. The former makes the programmer want to avoid unnecessary compilation, which works amazingly well for some types of people (I am this type, so I speak from experience). Though this doesn't work for a text editor, I believe. Editor should be as powerful and fast as possible, and I wouldn't trade my Vim for anything else (maybe Emacs, but I'm too deep to go back and invest in learning it, only to discover that I got no further than with my current setup). Edit: Spotty internet connection has its good side, too. One learns to read locally stored documentation instead of relying on StackOverflow, which is a big gain in the long run. Similarly slow desktop computer: if the program runs acceptably on my (slow) machine, it will be so much faster on something better. (Though I only write command line tools and network daemons, so I may be biased here.) All boils down to friction profile, which bubbles different things up to the surface.

s_ngularity 10y ago
In my current job, I have a docker-compose file that starts four docker containers that are interdependent, two of which frequently need to be rebuilt when I compile. I've found that my code usually compiles the first time even after changing several functions now, since I've gotten in the habit of proofreading more before compiling as a result of the incurred slowdown. Probably some of it is also the decent static analysis tools available for writing Go code, since syntax and type errors are obvious while I'm editing, but I've found I make fewer errors than I used to even when not constrained by the docker slowdown

eeZah7Ux 10y ago

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.

Swizec 10y ago
> you should be working on some more difficult problem instead Building simple things that solve real problems pays really really well.
wtetzner 10y ago
Typing can be the bottleneck because your thoughts get too far ahead of your fingers. You can only hold so much in your head, so getting the code out into the editor as quickly as possible allows you to free up some short-term memory.
- collyw 10y ago
  A pen and paper works wonders for me. If I have a moderately complex algorithm then I usually write / draw a diagram representing how it works before trying to code it.
jon-wood 10y ago
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.