Since I learned to program (at age 10) before I learned to type properly (at age 14), I find I have an unusual typing style today. It's not hunt-and-peck, but I don't always hit keys with the "correct" fingers. In fact, I'm not even consistent in which fingers hit which keys -- I sometimes use a different pattern based on which word I'm typing. I type regular text at about 50-60 words/minute, but I also type C/C++, HTML, or PHP code fairly quickly. I'm left-handed too, so I tend to hit more keys with my left hand than I'm supposed to, and I do all ctrl-C/ctrl-V operations entirely with my left hand. I'm sure that if I practiced the correct way of typing for a while, it would speed up how fast I could type regular text (my wife can do 90wpm), but what effect would it have on my coding speed? Is the proper way to type text also the best way to type code? Or is it common for programmers to have a quirky typing style to maximize coding speed?

Well i donno about all that, but I did switch to typing on a natural ms style keyboard and that changed which hands I used for keys forcing me to type 1 hand for the left set of letter and 1 for the right. I think Im faster today than I was on a regular keyboard. I'm a complete mess if I go to an internet cafe though. I don't think I'm faster at code typing vs words or anything like that.

I do pretty much the same thing... I took some typing classes many many years ago, but found that it enabled to literally type faster than I could think :-)

I abandoned proper typing rather quicly, and went back to my quirky typing, because I found that speed more suitable for programming (might sound strange, but that's how it felt for me).

I didn't learn to type until I was about 19 or 20. I use a similar style. I only use my thumb for space and alt, and my pinkie for Ctrl. Other than that, I'd say about 90% of the time I use my index and middle fingers (split evenly) and my ring finger the other 10.

It's somehow just intuitive how far to move my fingers about. I screw up fairly often, but usually I'm able to just hit backspace and get back on track. However, sometimes I have to stop, look at my keyboard to get back on track. Otherwise I'll screw up 5 or 6 times in a row.

The other problem is that it makes it virtually impossible for me to type in the dark. Usually, just working in windows with a white background provides enough light for me to get oriented. However, lately I also set up a linux server, and sometimes I'll walk into the room and want to check something in the dark (stupid me doesn't turn on the light). In that case, with the black background, I don't get nearly enough light, and it makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to type.

Another downside is that it's hard for me to type while reading off of a paper. I have to keep looking back at the keyboard continuously. I'm not sure why it is, because I can type fine when looking at the screen and not at the keyboard at all.

Overall, it's not bad though. I've tried typing tests several times and routinely clock in at about 65-70 WPM.

Originally posted by svero
Well i donno about all that, but I did switch to typing on a natural ms style keyboard and that changed which hands I used for keys forcing me to type 1 hand for the left set of letter and 1 for the right. I

heh the same thing happened to me, up until about a year ago I had a pretty quirky style. I had formal typing lessons in highschool but i always cheated on the center of the keyboard. My MS natural keyboard took a few days to get used too but now im more accurate.

Faster doing things myself than painfully taking classes, although I'm not all that cognizant of what fingers I hit things with - THat's really the problem. It's like asking the caterpillar how it keeps its feet lined up. If I have to think about it, I get confused! :) I started with computers when I was only 9 or so, you see.

I miss often, but I have a good mental image of the keyboard - I *know* I've missed faster than my brain really thinks about it and automatically slam the backspace. :)

As for typing in the dark, I've never tried - why would you want to type with no screen? - but I can type reasonably well with my eyes closed, using my NOSE. Don't ask why I've tried this. :)

I also taught myself to type at a young age. Later I took a typing course in school, and a few years after that I adjusted to the style I use today. I've been told that I type fast (I regularly got 85-90WPM on Typer Shark, if that counts. :)). My accuracy isn't that good, so I rely on very fast backspacing to make up the difference. My left hand is on the regular Mavis Beacon keys, but my right hand is shifted over one, with the pinkie on the shift. I'm worst at punctuation marks. I can type in the dark as long as I orient myself, but I frequently have to glance down to align with the marks over the number keys. Occassionally I'll revert to the "correct" style, and my accuracy goes way up but my speed drops. My sister is an amazing typist, she gets around 120WPM with high accuracy. I hate her.

Originally posted by papillon
As for typing in the dark, I've never tried - why would you want to type with no screen? -

No, I have the monitor on. It's just that my linux server runs a command prompt (no GUI). The background color is black. Thus the only light being emitted is from the few white characters on the screen, which doesn't produce a whole lot of glow. In Windows, on the other hand, the white backgrounds in most applications could light up the room.


And by the way, like many others here I have a MS Natural Keyboard. It helps me a lot. I've just gotten so used to the original version of the natural keyboard, it sucks that they don't make it. The newer models either aren't as comfortable to me, or they have that god-awful arrangement for the Insert/Page Up/(etc) keys.

Originally posted by LordKronos
The other problem is that it makes it virtually impossible for me to type in the dark. Usually, just working in windows with a white background provides enough light for me to get oriented. However, lately I also set up a linux server, and sometimes I'll walk into the room and want to check something in the dark (stupid me doesn't turn on the light). In that case, with the black background, I don't get nearly enough light, and it makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to type.


Funny... I have the exact same problem. Most of the time I type just fine without looking at the keyboard, but occasionally I need to glance at it, especially after I use Backspace or Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V. Once I move my fingers away from the letter keys, I usually have to look to reorient myself. I also noticed that I commonly look back at the keyboard to re-position my left hand after I use the mouse. I use a left-handed mouse with the L/R buttons swapped; the downside is that I can't use a mouse on someone else's PC very effectively.

I learned to type in high school since I wanted to go into computers. Back in the IBM Selectric Typewriter days. Anyway, I still touch type, but I have never been able to do the numbers at the top of the keyboard very well. I always hit the wrong one. Sigh.

My wife has picked up a peculiar way she types, its a simi-hunt and peck. I still don't understand it, but she can type almost as fast as I can with it, and it works for her.

Learning to type was a hellishly boring experience. Practice, practice, and more practice, all while inputting text into the computer much slower than I was used to. It was worth it though, since I can now type normal documents at around 90wpm, and have zero problems typing in the dark. Hunt and peck, or any variation of it, seems so silly once you learn how to type. It's a good idea to learn if you do any significant writing on the computer aside from code (or if you use an incredibly verbose language like BASIC ;)).

I learnt to tuch type from experience. It was a quick learn mainly because i program in the dark (the computer screen is the only light source), and "cheating" (as in looking at the keys) was more complicated then remembering their placement.

I learned to type as a teenager, and it has been a good thing. I type more or less "correctly", but I can't do numbers or the top symbols very well. I can do upwards of 80 words per minute, and coding is pretty quick too.

Typing is one of those skills that I can't imagine living without. Some people swear by the hunt and peck method, but I think that would be like trying to talk with your mouth wired shut.


elund
My left hand is on the regular Mavis Beacon keys, but my right hand is shifted over one, with the pinkie on the shift


Which finger do you use for 'Y', 'H', and 'N'?

I tried to use a Dvorak keyboard a few years ago. It really is a much better layout, I got pretty fast at it, but you're just crippled if you have to use someone elses keyboard. I finally just had to switch back.

I used to type with my index fingers almost exclusively back when I was a kid on my C64. I wouldn't exactly call it hunt and peck because I could type pretty fast that way.

I took high school "keyboarding" classes and just barely passed because I couldn't stop cheating back to my old method when I thought the teacher wasn't looking. Now I use a strange hybrid of both methods. It's closer to proper keyboarding but I'm not consistent with which finger hits which key, my hands basically travel all over the place. I'm also about 50/50 in time spent looking at the screen versus looking at the keyboard.

Those natural keyboards are funky! I like them but unfortunately I share the computer with my girlfriend and she can't stand them.

Originally posted by Siebharinn Which finger do you use for 'Y', 'H', and 'N'? Hmm, let me see. The ugly dog has no hair. Left pointer finger for 'Y', and right pointer finger for 'H' and 'N'. Not sure why I use the left finger to hit the Y, I guess it's closer. Actually, if it's a capital N in quotes then (I'm discovering) my left finger reaches over for the job because my right hand is busy hovering over the end quote... I don't pretend to understand it, I just type. :)

My other half has a split keyboard and his computer is set to British configuration, so I'm *extra* confused trying to use it. :) (for those not in the know, a few keys are swapped around. Most importantly the @ and " keys - if you are a MOOer, which I am, you use those keys a LOT.)

I use fairly normal keys, though if my right hand is typing something in the lower-right of the keyboard and I need a Y for instance, my left hand will take over that key for efficency. The same doesn't happen if my left hand is typing in the lower corner - I think it's because I'm also a lefty; my right hand is lazy.

Steve: What you might want to try for copy/paste is the "old DOS" way; ctrl+insert/shift+insert. I've always used it and still do - I find it so much less disruptive to typing than ctrl+c/ctrl+v. That may just be me though.

LordKronos: It's amazing, but a coworker is exactly the same as you about the older MS natural keyboards - he even went to the trouble of buying a new keyboard for the IT dept here so he could take an old MS natural keyboard to use at home. Honestly I don't understand it - I much prefer normal flat keyboards.

I have a natural split keyboard but I still use my own "quirky style" as you are all calling it. :) Actually I use all of the fingers on my left hand (though I'm not a lefty) and primarily index and middle finger on my right hand, and right pinky for shift. I haven't counted my typing speed since high school, and I don't remember what it was then either. I type fast enough for my needs though.

For cut/paste I prefer shift-delete and shift-insert (right hand) over the ctrl-c and ctrl-v. Feels more intuitive, and I make a lot more mistakes with the ctrl method than the other one because I don't feel where the c and v are.

As far as programming goes, I don't think it matters how fast you can type. I read an article that said the average programmer only codes 6-10 lines of code per day! Now keep in mind, game programmers are not your 'average' programmer ;), but in the long run of a game, typing speed will have a minimal impact. (unless of course you have all your code written down on paper and are typing it all in at once... eegadss!:eek: )

-Bruno

I tried using a natural ms-keyboard for a few days until my wrists began to ache. Then realized they keyboard made me position my hands in an ackward position.
I've been typing on keyboards since I was eight or nine and I once took a class in typing and proved to my teacher that I was a lot faster than him, so he let me type in my own way.

I type around 90-95 wpm according to http://typera.tk (around 480 letters a minute) although I feel as if my brain always get priority issues when I'm doing typing tests. When you read you usually read one word at a time but when I do typing tests I somewhat try to break down the words into letters, which slows me down somewhat.

I would really like to learn to type fast with one hand so that I could use the mouse with the other hand.

Ah, confessions of the ham-fisted typists - I'm one too... years of programming with absolutely no typing tuition has left me with a 4-fingered style which, while looking extremely ungainly, does reach a respectable speed, and I can pull it off fairly well and accurately without looking, despite the fact that my hands are all over the place. I'd like to learn to type properly but I simply cannot be arsed right now. Or at any point in my life before now. And probably for the forseeable future too.

Probably makes no appreciable difference to coding, I agree. The amount of actual typing that goes on in a coding session is not huge.

After years of coding, common commands and keywords do tend to roll right off the keyboard for me though. Sometimes they appear unbidden when I'm typing an email or something and I go to type a word that starts with the same combination of letters!

That's a nice test. I tried it twice and got 63 and 69 wpm.

I was fortunate enough to inherit a copy of Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing when I was 8 or 9, and almost worshipped the program. I could type at around 40 WPM before I entered my HS typing course when I was...12? (the high school was a combination of middle school and high school. Don't ask...). Anyway, I do have a couple "quirks." When I use backspace (not TOO often when I'm paying attention), I use my ring finger to get there (not pinky). Not exactly sure why, but that was one reason I didn't score well in my typing course ;). Also, I now type E's, R's, T's, 3's, 4's, 5's, and 6's with my middle finger on my left hand because about a month and a half ago I broke my index finger playing football. I only notice a speed difference when typing any of the previously mentioned letters together (which occurs WAY too often in the English language in my opinion, evidenced by the word "difference" :P). Oh, and I never look at my keyboard. That's one thing the typing course actually managed to hammer out of me :D

I just took the test on www.typingtest.com and scored 80 WPM at 97% accuracy. Nice test, check it out :D

I don't really think typing speed matters much when coding, since most the time coding consists of thinking, and much less is spent putting your thoughts on the screen.

I tried the test a couple of times. The first time I was sloppy and got around 120WMP and the 2nd time I was more careful and fell between 90-100

- S

I type using my own custom 'home key' position and system of keys which has been carefully adapted to a C programmer's needed keystrokes-- but is pretty inefficient for typing most regular text. Since about 70% of the keys I hit are brackets, braces, parentheses, shift, and tab/arrow keys, I position my hands as such when I sit down in my text editor:

Left hand - D W A Shift
Right hand - ; ] Enter

(and my pinky on my right hand sits free in between the arrow keys and nav keys).

When I'm coding I can use any of the bracket keys, tab, arrow keys, nav keys, and a few of the letter without looking down at my keyboard, or moving my hands hardly at all for that matter. But when typing lengthy text like now, I turn into a fairly typical hunt-and-peck keyist, running about 40 WPM and watching as I type all the way. My right hand moves in a bit to cover more alphabetical ground, but my left pretty much stays put.

I learned to touch-type in middle school, and could ramble off about 80 WMP, but it was so inconvienient for coding compared to my already-estiablished system above that I just never stuck with it and eventually forgot how to touch-type at all.

- Air

A typing question to all: Anybody using NumLock off?

I want to hear that I am not the only one.

ergas

Both of the typing tests posted here hate me. I averaged about 85wpm, but I kept having to fight with the programs. They don't let you correct a word after you hit spacebar. If you don't notice that your correction didn't take, TypingMaster will actually be one word "off," and your recorded accuracy will drop to zilch. I guess I should probably try to make fewer typos...

Oh -- and my numlock is on, just the way I like it. :)

Originally posted by ergas
A typing question to all: Anybody using NumLock off?

I want to hear that I am not the only one.
My numlock is off, defaults to off when I boot, and in fact, has never been on once as long as I can rememer having used a computer. Frankly, that whole number pad could just as well be lopped off my keyboard and I'd fail to notice it was missing for a few weeks probably.

A typing question to all: Anybody using NumLock off? Yes, I always have NumLock off, I use the numpad for the arrow keys and the Ins, Del, PgUp, PgDn, Home and End, I actually never use that other block with these same keys (under the Print Screen, Scroll Lock and Pause keys).

I hardly look at the keyboard, it's always easy to feel where the "F" and the "J" are so where to put your index fingers. And of course the numpad is also easy to find by feel.

Originally posted by BrewKnowC
As far as programming goes, I don't think it matters how fast you can type. I read an article that said the average programmer only codes 6-10 lines of code per day! Now keep in mind, game programmers are not your 'average' programmer ;)
That quote is about productivity, not speed. If you take the final line count and divide it by the number of programmers and days, you get that figure. That doesn't mean programmers actually write 6-10 lines of code per day (I've heard 15) - you write much much more, but it gets rewritten, discarded, refactored, and so on.

Originally posted by Jake Stine
My numlock is off, defaults to off when I boot, and in fact, has never been on once as long as I can rememer having used a computer. Frankly, that whole number pad could just as well be lopped off my keyboard and I'd fail to notice it was missing for a few weeks probably.

Jake, I was happy to hear someone using NumLock off, but then I realised that you are a third category. That's the funniest numpad approach I've ever heard. :D

Originally posted by Mike Wiering
Yes, I always have NumLock off, I use the numpad for the arrow keys and the Ins, Del, PgUp.....


Then Mike comes. Yes that's the way. I think with that use Mike and I have a great advantage over all other programmers. Hehe!
( ;) Mike)

ergas

Originally posted by ergas
I think with that use Mike and I have a great advantage over all other programmers. Hehe! Yes, I agree! ;)

I recently bought Mavis Beacon and it has completely transformed me from a hunt and peck typer to a full 10-fingered touch typist. Now I usually type at around 65-70 words-per-minute, which is good for me considering I used to do around 40. I love you Mavis Beacon! :)

When I type code I am usually a little slower, but there's nothing wrong with that since when you're programming you need to think a lot. :p

I recently bought Mavis Beacon, and it has completely transformed me from a 2-fingered hunt and peck typer, to a complete 10-fingered touch typist! I love you Mavis Beacon! :)

But when typing code, I am usually a little slower since when you're programming you need to think a lot, and you need to type lots of symbols such as +=*-/\()[]{}%&#|_ etc. :p