5 ms·

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of m

by geewee 5y ago

I've seen this argument before and I don't think I agree. Surely there's a lot of times when I program that are heavy into thinking, but there's also a lot of mechanical work. Refactoring? Typing speed will help you. Going to try out a new approach? Typing speed will help you to see whether it's true or not. Everything else being equal, typing speed will help you try out stuff faster.

rob74 5y ago
Yeah... even if you don't have to type fast, not needing to look at the keyboard when you type will at least help you to concentrate on what's on your screen and stay in the "flow".
have_faith 5y ago
All else being equal sure typing faster is only going to make you more productive but a slower typer who is better at solving complex problems is always going to be more valuable than a fast typer who is not as good. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a programmer that was too slow to simply be productive and valuable to a business which makes it questionable advice for anyone to follow.
- marcos100 5y ago
  It's about touch typing only. If you start changing other variables, the comparison doesn't make sense anymore (to the discussion). Of course your senior engineer that wrote the thing will be more productive than your intern that writes 1000 WPM.
- stepbeek 5y ago
  This is a false dichotomy. Being a great problem-solver doesn't disqualify one from being a fast typist.
hyperpallium2 5y ago
Optimizing an outer loop also will help.
catlikesshrimp 5y ago
I think that hunting for the correct key is distracting. I am pretty sure that people who didn't learn to type properly have to switch their whole mind frame from the content into the typing, back and forth. Some people even speak outloud, or at least move their lips according to, whatever they are typing.
FroshKiller 5y ago
I'm a developer who is also a pretty fast typist, and I have to say that's not my experience. I wouldn't want to hunt and peck, but my sense is that higher than, like, 40 GWAM probably yields diminishing returns. Language might make a difference there. Writing C# with a QWERTY keyboard, you still have to interrupt a normal typing flow for your parentheses, braces, etc. I suppose it's helpful if you're writing long comments, but for the most part, I rarely hit sustained bursts of my peak typing speed when writing code.
- sumtechguy 5y ago
  Also typing fast does not mean writing fast. Think about the speed tests you took. You probably kind of zoned out and just bashed it out. But when actually writing/coding you stop and think about it a bit. I used to hit 70-80. But now I maybe manage around 20-40, probably less. Because I have to think at the same time and can not just 'zone out' and copy. Knowing the keys is a massive help though. With coding it is more 'i know an interface that does something'. Ok start using this object oh yeah wait it is a pointer not a local so different call syntax, oh and then the call I need is inside that object but that is local to that object, oh wait lets go read the docs this thing has 4 params and that 3rd one is always a bit tricky... No way you are hitting 40+wpm unless you just happen to use only calls you use all the time and have memorized all of the params that go into them and have the code basically already written in your head.
- UglyToad 5y ago
  I'd go a step further. In my experience writing C# I don't really need to type. Like I'll just sit on CTRL + Space and the arrow keys most of the time. To be controversial, a language that rewards typing speed seems to me like a failure of tooling, why am I manipulating text like a caveman (ok.. ok.. Mesopotamian) rather than with the symbols that the language actually deals with.
- kragen 5y ago
  I put my parentheses on the [] keys: http://canonical.org/~kragen/setting-up-keyboard http://canonical.org/~kragen/setting-up-keyboard It helps a lot with most programming languages. Snippets for if, while, and for can also help with the {}.
Koshkin 5y ago
Way too many times I have seen fast typers who would spend as much time adding text as immediately deleting it after that and typing something else in its place, over and over. (Maybe that’s the way they think, I don’t know.)
- geewee 5y ago
  It is for me - sometimes trying out/typing out a solution is the fastest way for me to get a feel for if it'd actually work in practice.

by geewee 5y ago

rob74 5y ago

Yeah... even if you don't have to type fast, not needing to look at the keyboard when you type will at least help you to concentrate on what's on your screen and stay in the "flow".

have_faith 5y ago

All else being equal sure typing faster is only going to make you more productive but a slower typer who is better at solving complex problems is always going to be more valuable than a fast typer who is not as good. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a programmer that was too slow to simply be productive and valuable to a business which makes it questionable advice for anyone to follow.

marcos100 5y ago
It's about touch typing only. If you start changing other variables, the comparison doesn't make sense anymore (to the discussion). Of course your senior engineer that wrote the thing will be more productive than your intern that writes 1000 WPM.
stepbeek 5y ago
This is a false dichotomy. Being a great problem-solver doesn't disqualify one from being a fast typist.

hyperpallium2 5y ago

Optimizing an outer loop also will help.

catlikesshrimp 5y ago

I think that hunting for the correct key is distracting. I am pretty sure that people who didn't learn to type properly have to switch their whole mind frame from the content into the typing, back and forth. Some people even speak outloud, or at least move their lips according to, whatever they are typing.

FroshKiller 5y ago

I'm a developer who is also a pretty fast typist, and I have to say that's not my experience. I wouldn't want to hunt and peck, but my sense is that higher than, like, 40 GWAM probably yields diminishing returns. Language might make a difference there. Writing C# with a QWERTY keyboard, you still have to interrupt a normal typing flow for your parentheses, braces, etc. I suppose it's helpful if you're writing long comments, but for the most part, I rarely hit sustained bursts of my peak typing speed when writing code.

sumtechguy 5y ago
Also typing fast does not mean writing fast. Think about the speed tests you took. You probably kind of zoned out and just bashed it out. But when actually writing/coding you stop and think about it a bit. I used to hit 70-80. But now I maybe manage around 20-40, probably less. Because I have to think at the same time and can not just 'zone out' and copy. Knowing the keys is a massive help though. With coding it is more 'i know an interface that does something'. Ok start using this object oh yeah wait it is a pointer not a local so different call syntax, oh and then the call I need is inside that object but that is local to that object, oh wait lets go read the docs this thing has 4 params and that 3rd one is always a bit tricky... No way you are hitting 40+wpm unless you just happen to use only calls you use all the time and have memorized all of the params that go into them and have the code basically already written in your head.
UglyToad 5y ago
I'd go a step further. In my experience writing C# I don't really need to type. Like I'll just sit on CTRL + Space and the arrow keys most of the time. To be controversial, a language that rewards typing speed seems to me like a failure of tooling, why am I manipulating text like a caveman (ok.. ok.. Mesopotamian) rather than with the symbols that the language actually deals with.
kragen 5y ago
I put my parentheses on the [] keys: http://canonical.org/~kragen/setting-up-keyboard http://canonical.org/~kragen/setting-up-keyboard It helps a lot with most programming languages. Snippets for if, while, and for can also help with the {}.

Koshkin 5y ago

Way too many times I have seen fast typers who would spend as much time adding text as immediately deleting it after that and typing something else in its place, over and over. (Maybe that’s the way they think, I don’t know.)

geewee 5y ago
It is for me - sometimes trying out/typing out a solution is the fastest way for me to get a feel for if it'd actually work in practice.