
Learn to type before you learn to code - hvd
http://hkelkar.com/2014/03/02/learn-to-type-before-you-learn-to-code/
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duiker101
I would like to disagree. While it might be true that being good at typing can
help and certainly doesn't hurt I don't think it is a requirement. Also being
slow at typing will make you think twice at what you are writing, which is
good! Personally I learnt to type properly only finding my first full time
job!

~~~
cl8ton
I used to type extremely fast but over the years I developed nerve damage in
my left hand from what docs told me was bad posture and bad keyboards.

5 years ago I switched to a split keyboard and now type half as fast but
surprisingly I’m more efficient.

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j45
I've found typing faster means thinking faster, reading faster, comprehending
faster, developing faster, debugging faster and generally getting things done
faster.

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joshontheweb
I cheated my way through the typing classes in Computer Lit and couldn't touch
type for a long time after I was coding professionally. Eventually I felt a
bit ridiculous about it and bought a Das Keyboard Ultimate. I never did
exercises or anything, just committed to typing on that keyboard at work.
After a couple of weeks I was typing faster than ever without looking. One of
the better investments I've made.

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hvd
Point noted duiker101, I think though typing well is a discipline in itself
and enhances dev productivity. I think there was a post by Steve Yegge a few
years back on learning to type [http://steve-
yegge.blogspot.com/2008/09/programmings-dirties...](http://steve-
yegge.blogspot.com/2008/09/programmings-dirtiest-little-secret.html)

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tasoeur
The way you type _is not_ related to the way you think, and therefore code.

I must say extensive computer use (and mainly coding) is what made me type
fast & accurately enough (according to the various tests found on this blog
post).

Knowing how to talk in a foreign language will help you write better in this
same language. I'm not sure that such an analogy can be drawn from
typing/coding.

I know some dyslexic people coding pretty well and I'd say that most of the
time it's a problem of accuracy.

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zebra
Question to any touch typist who codes: how do you cope with all the special
characters: (){}[];:'`!@#$% ?

Do they slow you or make you leave the home row?

~~~
eaurouge
You should be able to touch-type all those keys. The braces and square
brackets may take some getting used. I find these characters to be the
toughest: |+=

I have to really stretch my right pinky to reach those keys; slows me down and
impacts my accuracy.

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jjsz
I felt this was a subliminal advertisement for Ratatype so I tried it out. Not
many people use it: I got placed 4 / 75 with these mediocre stats:
[http://imgur.com/ikSxiSE](http://imgur.com/ikSxiSE)

I suggest to add some WPM time visualization and a shortcut for restarting.
Thank you, it was fun.

~~~
AdamFort
90 wpm is far above the average.

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billyjobob
If you are a non-typist and you are going to learn to type you should learn
Dvorak or Colemak. For anyone who already knows Qwerty it isn't worth the time
to re-train, but if you don't know any layout yet it's a good opportunity to
chose an optimal one.

~~~
dkersten
Agreed - this is what I did.

I didn't know how to type properly for a long time, so when I finally decided
to learn to type, I had the same thought: learn to type using something that's
actually designed for typists.

I looked at a few layouts: Dvorak, Colemak and fully optimised QFMLWY. I chose
Colemak because QFMLWY takes too much effort to install (Colemak is supported
in Linux and OSX out of the box and is easy to install on Windows) and Dvorak,
while an improvement over QWERTY, still seemed archaic to me (having been
created before computers).

I absolutely love Colemak - it does exactly what it advertised to do. Its very
comfortable, alternating hands a lot and moving the most used keys to strong
fingers and easy to type keys. I'm also often amazed by how much I can type
with just the home row (in fact, I have a cheapo laptop with a cheapo keyboard
that i use and the home row keys are most worn of all, except maybe that one
spot on the space bar). Of course, since I never touch typed qwerty, I can't
compare.

For learning, I used a blank DAS keyboard. Took about two weeks of pain, but I
feel the blank keys really helped force me not to look at the keyboard. Now I
don't care about key markings and happily use qwerty markings on my Colemak
keyboards.

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hvd
Yes my technique improved after i purchased a kinesis advantage split keyboard
which forced me to separate hands, Now with gtypist drills I am much better on
regular ones as well. Great to know learning to type has worked well for you
@joshontheweb & @j45

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shalmanese
Jeff Atwood wrote something similar about this:
[http://blog.codinghorror.com/we-are-typists-first-
programmer...](http://blog.codinghorror.com/we-are-typists-first-programmers-
second/)

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AdamFort
Great thing. Pass a test at [http://www.ratatype.com/typing-
test/](http://www.ratatype.com/typing-test/) and print a typing certificate,
put in CV.

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kstenerud
Meh. You don't need to type that fast to write software. You'll spend far more
time designing your program than you will actually typing on the keyboard.

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ahp
I disagree. Typing is boring, coding is fun.

Learn to type _by_ learning to code.

~~~
dkersten
You don't automatically learn to type by learning to code, though. You have to
make a conscious effort to learn to type. I was coding for _years_ before I
eventually decided to take the plunge and learn to touch type.

