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Hmm... Colemak looks interesting. I've always had a hard time learning to use Dvorak, especially since everywhere else you work it's going to be Qwerty by defa

Hmm... Colemak looks interesting. I've always had a hard time learning to use Dvorak, especially since everywhere else you work it's going to be Qwerty by default. Colemak is also public domain, according to Wikipedia. I might have to give it a try. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colemak#Colemak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colemak#Colemak

cninja 18y ago
I actually installed Colemak on my computer yesterday. I played with it for a couple hours before uninstalling it. Most of what I type is programing code, not prose. It dawned on my that most my typing delays come from all of the parens and brackets and other programming symbols. Since all these fancy keyboard layouts have been computationally optimized for prose language, they don't address the primary cause issue. I decided that if I'm going to take the time to learn a new keyboard layout, then it will need to be one that has been optimized for programming.
- Shamiq 18y ago
  Fix this, please. It's making this thread just about unreadable.
  - cninja 18y ago
    My apologies. I didn't notice until the edit link disappeared. And I have no clue why the site decided to add <code> brackets to my comment.
    - pg 18y ago
      http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc I fixed it.
- tremendo 18y ago
  My experience has been different. After playing with the Colemak keyboard on-and-off for about a week, It's still growing on me. My fingers move a lot less from the home row, even when switching to Spanish. Since I also write code, it's clear to me how it isn't that great for certain languages, because it moves the semicolon to a rather inaccessible position. But for languages that do not rely on that character to end statements, it works quite well as other symbols remain in the QWERTY standard position. Overall I find it a lot easier to learn than I thought it would be.
- JeffL 18y ago
  I made myself inline typing macros for all the common stuff I write when coding and it has done wonders for me both in reducing RSI and increasing speed. Some of the macros I use are: ,i = int ,f = float ,9i = (int) ,9f = (float) ,r = return ,f = for (;;) {} ,, = { (newline) } (up)(newline) etc... Basically, I virtually never have to use shift+ to get either a ()'s or {}'s which I just love. The macro program I use is called Perfect Keyboard and I've registered 3 different versions over the years, FWIW.
elviejo 18y ago
Qwerty is by default, but on any computer you can simply activate Dvorak from the control panel in your computer. The problem with Colemak is that you need to download and install software to use it. It isn't an standard yet. But yeah there are much better options than Qwerty. PS FYI: to activate dvorak on windows: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardlayout.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardl... to activate dvorak on Mac http://www.chimoosoft.com/articles/dvorak.php http://www.chimoosoft.com/articles/dvorak.php

cninja 18y ago

I actually installed Colemak on my computer yesterday. I played with it for a couple hours before uninstalling it. Most of what I type is programing code, not prose. It dawned on my that most my typing delays come from all of the parens and brackets and other programming symbols. Since all these fancy keyboard layouts have been computationally optimized for prose language, they don't address the primary cause issue. I decided that if I'm going to take the time to learn a new keyboard layout, then it will need to be one that has been optimized for programming.

Shamiq 18y ago
Fix this, please. It's making this thread just about unreadable.
- cninja 18y ago
  My apologies. I didn't notice until the edit link disappeared. And I have no clue why the site decided to add <code> brackets to my comment.
  - pg 18y ago
    http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc http://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc I fixed it.
tremendo 18y ago
My experience has been different. After playing with the Colemak keyboard on-and-off for about a week, It's still growing on me. My fingers move a lot less from the home row, even when switching to Spanish. Since I also write code, it's clear to me how it isn't that great for certain languages, because it moves the semicolon to a rather inaccessible position. But for languages that do not rely on that character to end statements, it works quite well as other symbols remain in the QWERTY standard position. Overall I find it a lot easier to learn than I thought it would be.
JeffL 18y ago
I made myself inline typing macros for all the common stuff I write when coding and it has done wonders for me both in reducing RSI and increasing speed. Some of the macros I use are: ,i = int ,f = float ,9i = (int) ,9f = (float) ,r = return ,f = for (;;) {} ,, = { (newline) } (up)(newline) etc... Basically, I virtually never have to use shift+ to get either a ()'s or {}'s which I just love. The macro program I use is called Perfect Keyboard and I've registered 3 different versions over the years, FWIW.

elviejo 18y ago

Qwerty is by default, but on any computer you can simply activate Dvorak from the control panel in your computer. The problem with Colemak is that you need to download and install software to use it. It isn't an standard yet. But yeah there are much better options than Qwerty. PS FYI: to activate dvorak on windows: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardlayout.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/windowsxp/keyboardl... to activate dvorak on Mac http://www.chimoosoft.com/articles/dvorak.php http://www.chimoosoft.com/articles/dvorak.php