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They make sense because they are directly under your fingers, so you don't have to move them all the way over to the arrow keys and back just to move around. j
by the_duke 5y ago
They make sense because they are directly under your fingers, so you don't have to move them all the way over to the arrow keys and back just to move around.
jkl; would make more sense, that's the only oddity.
- MonaroVXR 5y agoThere was a time that keyboard had their arrows keys on the left side. I forgot the source.
- capableweb 5y agoI think the issue was (back in the day) that many computer keyboards didn't have arrows _at all_. See for example the IBM Model F: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_Model_F_XT.png https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IBM_Model_F_XT.png If you search for "oldest computer keyboards" in your favorite image search utility, you'll notice that many keyboards there don't have arrows at all. I did not find any keyboards with the arrows on the left side, although it wouldn't surprise me.
- oblio 5y agohttps://catonmat.net/why-vim-uses-hjkl-as-arrow-keys https://catonmat.net/why-vim-uses-hjkl-as-arrow-keys
- oblio 5y agoI don't like the line alignment. They should be respecting their directions, like the arrow keys do. Think UHJK or IJKL. Plus they would need nubs or similar to make them stand out a bit. At least for me.
- toastal 5y ago…Assuming you're using QWERTY. They aren't in great positions for other layouts.