
Ask HN: How did you learn to touch type as a programmer? - Jefro118
I&#x27;ve done some typing courses to get to grips with the main keyboard, but I still often make mistakes when programming and using e.g. curly braces and parentheses. Moreover, I have an 82&quot; wingspan and big hands which make things even more awkward.<p>I want to get to the point where typing is so effortless and mistake-free that it doesn&#x27;t interrupt my thought process.<p>Not sure if this an ergonomic issue or just a case of practice, practice, practice.<p>Is there anything anyone did to master touch typing beyond just standard practice? (esp. tall and lanky people)
======
Multicomp
I am tall, not lanky. I never properly learned to touch type, at least not via
Ms. Mavis Beacon or Mario's teachings. I found practice was very useful, but
with programming in particular, it's been my experience that consistent speed
helps me get into a flow. If I'm not sure what I'm going to type next, my
brain focusing on what to tell the computer to logically do next 'crosses the
stream' with what last statements I want to write out and causes typos.

As far as general touch typing goes, my dad showed me the keyboard he
connected to the Gateway Win 98 box and said "that there is an IBM Model M
keyboard, and if you learn how to use it right, it will last your whole life".

I was inspired to learn to type without looking at the keyboard, so over the
age 9-12 years, I worked on it. These days, I don't have to look at it much,
but still do things like typing 'ahve' instead of 'have'.

Oh, and that IBM keyboard was lost in a move, since replaced by a identical-
if-i-didnt-otherwise-know keyboard I 'disposed' for my work with the evilest
grin.

------
JJarrard
Just the daily use of a keyboard has given me the muscle memory to touch type.
I lose my hand placement frequently as my work keyboard doesn't have the bumps
on the home row, so the start of every sentence I take a glimpse at the first
key I'm going to press.

I find with programming I make an incredible amount of mistakes as I'm typing
and thinking ahead at the same time, leading to me to spamming the backspace
every few words (maybe I should pay more attention).

To get good at touch typing, I believe it's just practice without getting
lazy, as in, pay attention to the fact you're touch typing, maintain good
habits, and prevent bad habits.

------
rzzzwilson
40 years or so as a professional programmer and I never learned to touch type.
Never found slow typing to be a bottleneck. _What_ to type is the hard part.

------
a3n
I learned how to type on a typewriter in a typing class in middle school,
early seventies. #OldSchool

What helped me get good (but not excellent) was to write lots of English. Lots
of that was/is email. Lots more than 140 characters at a time.

------
morkfromork
I played typing games years ago. Those force you to focus on quickly &
accurately hitting the correct key.

