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What I don't really get is: how can you even become a good programmer without getting really good at typing as a side effect? I never learned how to type, I ju

by ido 16y ago

What I don't really get is: how can you even become a good programmer without getting really good at typing as a side effect? I never learned how to type, I just got good at it without trying since I've been using computers for >20 years. Surely most if not all good programmers have at very least been using computers for a long while before becoming good programmers?

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raganwald 16y ago
Perhaps I type more quickly than a true hunt-and-peck typist. However, I only use my ring and pinky fingers for modifier keys, and I absolutely look at the keyboard. So there is a lot of room for improvement. The thing to remember is that there's a difference between being taught something, self-taught (or "autodidactic"), and untaught. Someone can be any of the three and excel, but the first two imply a certain approach where there was an explicit goal to learn. Words like "professional" and "serious" come to mind. A "serious" programmer invests in improving himself, he doesn't just improve as a byproduct of doing things. One way to read what Jeff has written is that a serious programmer invests in their keyboarding skill and equipment with the same mindset that they bring to investing in their programming skill and learning to use abstract tools like languages or frameworks.
BrandonM 16y ago
I totally agree. I took one typing class in high school for a quarter or so. It taught me the general idea, but I still looked at my hands and did a lot of hunting and pecking, just with more than two fingers. It was when I started college my freshman year and started to spend a lot of time on AIM talking to old high school friends that I really learned to touch type. There's nothing like having to keep up in a conversation to make you type more quickly. Seriously, just putting your hands on the keyboard correctly and then continuing with a hunt and peck method, if you're typing a lot for your job, will certainly lead to being a good typist within a few months. It doesn't even take conscious effort.
- pavel_lishin 16y ago
  My high school insisted that everyone take a typing class - it made sense, rural Texas schools were finally realizing that computers might be important at some point. I'd been dicking around with computers for about four years at this point, so I asked them if I could come in and take a typing test to be exempt. They sat and watched me type, and didn't even bother looking at my WPM before they let me skip the class. I don't really know how you can use a computer on a daily basis, and not learn to type quickly. It's like driving a stick shift for years, and still glancing down at the knob to see where 2nd gear is.

by ido 16y ago

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raganwald 16y ago

Perhaps I type more quickly than a true hunt-and-peck typist. However, I only use my ring and pinky fingers for modifier keys, and I absolutely look at the keyboard. So there is a lot of room for improvement. The thing to remember is that there's a difference between being taught something, self-taught (or "autodidactic"), and untaught. Someone can be any of the three and excel, but the first two imply a certain approach where there was an explicit goal to learn. Words like "professional" and "serious" come to mind. A "serious" programmer invests in improving himself, he doesn't just improve as a byproduct of doing things. One way to read what Jeff has written is that a serious programmer invests in their keyboarding skill and equipment with the same mindset that they bring to investing in their programming skill and learning to use abstract tools like languages or frameworks.

BrandonM 16y ago

I totally agree. I took one typing class in high school for a quarter or so. It taught me the general idea, but I still looked at my hands and did a lot of hunting and pecking, just with more than two fingers. It was when I started college my freshman year and started to spend a lot of time on AIM talking to old high school friends that I really learned to touch type. There's nothing like having to keep up in a conversation to make you type more quickly. Seriously, just putting your hands on the keyboard correctly and then continuing with a hunt and peck method, if you're typing a lot for your job, will certainly lead to being a good typist within a few months. It doesn't even take conscious effort.

pavel_lishin 16y ago
My high school insisted that everyone take a typing class - it made sense, rural Texas schools were finally realizing that computers might be important at some point. I'd been dicking around with computers for about four years at this point, so I asked them if I could come in and take a typing test to be exempt. They sat and watched me type, and didn't even bother looking at my WPM before they let me skip the class. I don't really know how you can use a computer on a daily basis, and not learn to type quickly. It's like driving a stick shift for years, and still glancing down at the knob to see where 2nd gear is.