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Vi uses normal keys rather than cursor keys because the keyboard it was developed on had arrows printed on those keys, and no cursor keys. People continually w
by skohan 5y ago
Vi uses normal keys rather than cursor keys because the keyboard it was developed on had arrows printed on those keys, and no cursor keys.
People continually want to attribute this to some rational design consideration, but it’s just post-hoc reasoning. If vin were authored 10 years later it would use arrow keys and there’s no reason to stick with this terrible UX.
- _dain_ 5y agoI think it's more of a lucky accident. There really is something to be said for hjkl scrolling. I enable it in as many apps as I can because I find it genuinely more comfortable than arrow keys. And that's not because I'm some unreformed grognard, I was introduced to vim only a few years ago.
- skohan 5y agoI just have trouble buying it. Competitive gamers earn their living navigating directionally using a keyboard. If placing the navigation keys in a line on the home row were really so much better they would all be doing it by now.
- agent327 5y agoCompetitive gamers aren't constantly switching between navigation mode and typing mode, and they use only a small fraction of all the keys on the keyboard. Also, if their experience is supposed to be indicative, HJKL should be replaced by WASD which is apparently much more efficient.
- skohan 5y agoYeah I agree, wasd would be an improvement, or ijkl. hjkl is an anachronism and makes no sense.
- _dain_ 5y agoGamers use WASD for navigation because their right hand is on the mouse. Programmers try to minimize mouse usage. It's a different set of constraints.
- skohan 5y agoBut if the linear key layout is better, why isn't it asdf?
- eska 5y agoUh.. gamers don’t use arrow keys..?
- skohan 5y agoThe point i am making is that they use an inverse t key configuration, not a flat line of keys which doesn't make sense
- eska 5y agoThat’s more historical than anything. Especially because the S key is usually not used in WASD: instead of walking backwards, a combination of mouse+A/D is used. If you look around you’ll see some pros use ASD with S replacing W. In MMO PVP where more keys are necessary for abilities, SDF and ESDF are also a thing.
- brabel 5y agoDo you really scroll using the keyboard? I always use the trackpack, which is just between my hands as I type, and I find it incredibly slow to use the keyboard for navigation unless it's just a few lines up/down... with the trackpad, without moving my hands more than a few centimeters, I can go anywhere in a file instantly.
- dr_kiszonka 5y agoIs the trackpad built into your keyboard?
- brabel 5y agoNo, I use the laptop all the time, even when on big screens. Tried using Apple's separate keyboard and trackpad, but I found it didn't work as well.
- smackeyacky 5y agoIts on the home row, starting position for your right hand. Farting about with the arrow keys or the mouse takes you right away from where you can start typing again. Its much faster if you learn to touchtype.