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Not to say that I think it's particularly practical, but there is a somewhat well-established "40%" keyboard design that doesn't have a number row. They typical

Not to say that I think it's particularly practical, but there is a somewhat well-established "40%" keyboard design that doesn't have a number row. They typically rely heavily on modifier keys or layer switching. Here's an example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS3PWS0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MS3PWS0 If you're interested in different keyboard sizes: https://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2017/08/full-size-tkl-60-and-more-a-guide-to-mechanical-keyboard-sizes/ https://www.keyboardco.com/blog/index.php/2017/08/full-size-... I personally use 75%, my opinion is for serious coding it's inefficient to go smaller than that.

dlevine 7y ago
I have used a 60% for the past 4 years or so, and have found it to be just fine for daily coding. I use VIM keybindings in my text editor, so my navigation keys are on home row and I don't need them (for non-VIM contexts, I just use FN+WASD, which is pretty effortless). I also mapped Caps Lock to ESC, since I never need that anyways, and it's more efficient. I don't think that the F-keys or Home/End/Pgup/Pgdn cluster are really critical for coding (plus the F-keys can be emulated with FN+numkeys). Obviously, some editor bindings may require those keys. It really seems to me like the only thing you lose with a 60% is the arrow keys, and you can always go to a 65% layout if you need them. I use a 40% Planck for a while, and honestly didn't really like it much (got some strain in my pinky after a while).
alpaca128 7y ago
> my opinion is for serious coding it's inefficient to go smaller than that. I'd say it depends. With a "normal" layout probably true, however I found I am at least as quick with programming on my ~45% keyboard. Mainly it's because I moved all the special characters and arrow keys down to the letters on a secondary layer. That allows me to enter anything without moving or stretching my hands, which I find very pleasant and at least feels very efficient. The layers are switched with thumb keys, so they're always accessible quickly. For me it was the best approach(especially compared to Dvorak, Colemak etc.) because it's still fully compatible with Vim and other programs without needing to relearn and reconfigure everything. Although I must admit when I'm typing on a qwerty keyboard I always need a few minutes to get used to it again.
- Gehinnn 7y ago
  Have you heard of neo2? They have 6 layers, one only for programming characters and one for navigation. It's super practical.
  - alpaca128 7y ago
    Any layout that changes the positions of letters is super unpractical in my opinion, as it first requires many months of practice to get back to speed and then it's incompatible with many programs like Vim. Also typing on any other keyboard becomes a nightmare.

dlevine 7y ago

I have used a 60% for the past 4 years or so, and have found it to be just fine for daily coding. I use VIM keybindings in my text editor, so my navigation keys are on home row and I don't need them (for non-VIM contexts, I just use FN+WASD, which is pretty effortless). I also mapped Caps Lock to ESC, since I never need that anyways, and it's more efficient. I don't think that the F-keys or Home/End/Pgup/Pgdn cluster are really critical for coding (plus the F-keys can be emulated with FN+numkeys). Obviously, some editor bindings may require those keys. It really seems to me like the only thing you lose with a 60% is the arrow keys, and you can always go to a 65% layout if you need them. I use a 40% Planck for a while, and honestly didn't really like it much (got some strain in my pinky after a while).

alpaca128 7y ago

> my opinion is for serious coding it's inefficient to go smaller than that. I'd say it depends. With a "normal" layout probably true, however I found I am at least as quick with programming on my ~45% keyboard. Mainly it's because I moved all the special characters and arrow keys down to the letters on a secondary layer. That allows me to enter anything without moving or stretching my hands, which I find very pleasant and at least feels very efficient. The layers are switched with thumb keys, so they're always accessible quickly. For me it was the best approach(especially compared to Dvorak, Colemak etc.) because it's still fully compatible with Vim and other programs without needing to relearn and reconfigure everything. Although I must admit when I'm typing on a qwerty keyboard I always need a few minutes to get used to it again.

Gehinnn 7y ago
Have you heard of neo2? They have 6 layers, one only for programming characters and one for navigation. It's super practical.
- alpaca128 7y ago
  Any layout that changes the positions of letters is super unpractical in my opinion, as it first requires many months of practice to get back to speed and then it's incompatible with many programs like Vim. Also typing on any other keyboard becomes a nightmare.