
Ask HN: Tips for coding with one hand? - frakkingcylons
After breaking my right (dominant) arm on my bike yesterday, I had to get a cast that restricts the use of my arm to the point where I can only use my left arm with my computer. Seeing that I'll have to wear this cast for at least four weeks, do any of you with experience with this have any suggestions? Typing with just my left hand is very slow and frustrating. Thanks.
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gdi2290
I only type with my right hand so here are my tips for typing fast and
affective. 1\. Make sure you know where the letters are on the keyboard 3\.
Make heavy use of keyboard shortcuts (control key almost useless) 4\. Get
Alfred with powerpack. 5\. Never use command+tab. 6\. Always use Alfred to
switch between programs searching for one letter and hitting enter key fast.
7\. Place your hand in the middle of the keyboard about a half an inch above
your keyboard 8\. Your typing needs to flow with the words. 9\. probably more

If you're in or around San Francisco I can show you more of my technique for
typing fast with one hand. You can hit me up on twitter tweets @gdi2290

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qu4z-2
Have you tried xkcd's mirrorboard[0]? I don't know if you're on Linux; if not
I think I've seen ports for other OSes floating around somewhere. It takes a
little getting used to but is fairly quick to pickup, and cheap (in money and
scripting time). It works in the same way that mirror writing left-handed is
remarkably easy if you do the motions with your right-hand as well (try it
now, if you doubt :) ).

In any case, give it a shot. It's free, right?

[0]: [http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/08/14/mirrorboard-a-one-handed-
key...](http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/08/14/mirrorboard-a-one-handed-keyboard-
layout-for-the-lazy/)

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Sealy
Be careful of RSI, the last thing you want to do is strain your left hand with
the additional work. One thing you have to accept is that you will not be as
quick as before.

If you focus on anything, let it be this, to reduce strain in your left hand
while continuing to work. I personally spend a lot of money on keyboards and
mouses as that is your interface with anything you do at a computer.

The most comfortable setup I have found is a small apple bluetooth keyboard
(low travel laptop style keys) and a logitech mobile mouse. If you have the
money, it might be worth looking into getting a touch pad.

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stephenbez
Take a look at some of the links here: <http://www.onehandkeyboard.org/linux-
one-handed-keyboards/>

In college I had a TA who broke his hand. He coped by using a mirror keyboard
layout so when a button was held down, the values of all the keys changed.

He ended up being able to type 60wpm and ended up challenging some of his
students to a typing contest and beating them.

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ARothfusz
Use a half keyboard? <http://www.matias.ca/halfkeyboard/index.php>

~~~
Pyrodogg
Or some Autohotkey script to simulate something similar on a full keyboard.
Either investing time into a script or money into a physical keyboard are
probably your best bets if you're looking at 4 weeks of something that is
going to impact your daily work.

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dholowiski
I really feel for you. I broke my arm a few years ago, and never found a good
way around it. I really honestly felt like I was mentally handicapped (does
anyone else feel like when they're coding they think with their hands?).

The best I can say is take it easy - don't force the use of your broken arm -
you could really mess things up if you push it before it's healed.

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vishaldpatel
You will get faster. I sometimes eat with one hand and type with the other.
I'd say I get 25 to 30 wpm... which isn't too bad. Mind you, I'm not really
trying to improve my one-handed typing speed. You just need to let your left
hand gain some dexterity and this will take time.

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alatkins
Use something terse, like maybe J [1]. Java or C++ definitely out of the
question, too much boilerplate. Lisp would be difficult with only the left
hand due to the location of '(' and ')' keys.

[1] <http://www.jsoftware.com/>

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mosqutip
I had a similar experience in high school. I stuck a pen in my cast and used
it as a single finger on the right hand to type with. Seriously.

It's not as fast as two hands, but it's a definite improvement over nothing.

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t0
The worst part I imagine would be hitting shift. Maybe onscreen keyboard or
remap certain keys for special characters.

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LarryMade2
If hes on a mac, enabling sticky keys will help with the shift, command and
alt keys. On older macs all you had to do was hold down one of those control
keys for an extra long period of time to kick it into action.

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Kluny
Spend some time training voice recognition software.

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petersouth
type it all on your phone? swype.com

