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Well, regarding this, I can’t speak to the theory behind it. But as a general rule, specifically when it comes to programming, I’ve always advocated that when p
by whartung 3y ago
Well, regarding this, I can’t speak to the theory behind it. But as a general rule, specifically when it comes to programming, I’ve always advocated that when presented with an example, someone should type the code in and not copy paste it. That the act of typing gives you time to briefly consider each element of the text and their relationships to each other, rather than as an opaque blob pasted all at once.
Sure, folks could just read the code, but inevitably people scan rather than read in detail. We all do that, and the cryptic nature of programming languages can just exacerbate it.
Typing naturally slows people down. It also provides a natural opportunity to make simple changes if they so desire.
- ReactiveJelly 3y agoAgreed. And it builds muscle memory. It's the difference between saying "Of course I can walk a mile" and actually walking a mile.
- blackbear_ 3y agoThanks to muscle memory, I have a probability of about 50% of mistakenly typing "int" instead of "in" whenever I write text in human languages, lol
- michaelcampbell 3y agoSame here. I must type "int he" as much or more as "in the".
- tobr 3y agoBeginner programmers are also often uncomfortable with the sheer amount of typing required to do anything. They might try to use copy and paste as a shortcut. So practicing just the typing, rather than both thinking and typing at the same time and feeling like the slow typing is limiting your thinking, is probably a good idea for that reason too.
- eimrine 3y agoI use to teach my computer science students to touchtype in Dvorak, despite of our mother language does not even use Latin letters. Usually it takes 6 to 10 hours if there is no a strong QWERTY habit. I am sure they are gonna game these few hours in their first year of actively using keyboard.