Also, it's something that's hard to appreciate the value of until you experience just how big a different it can make.
Strong typing skills also form a good foundation for learning Vim and other editor/stystem wide shortcuts, which can make the whole experience of interfacing with the computer an order of magnitude more efficient and enjoyable.
Fewer distractions means more uninterrupted thinkning time and better code.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
> Instead, Keybr.com generates random, but readable and pronounceable words using the phonetic rules of your native language. These words look almost natural, and often they really are. Typing sensible text is much easier than repeating random letters, and it helps you to remember frequent key combinations. The latest point is very important.
100 wpm when no-look-pecking, 60 wpm when no-look touch typing.
Feels weird man. xD
Also, I have a friend who used to be a court typist. Does zero coding. Borders on comically-computer-illiterate. Types like 170 wpm. So jealous. Such a gift, so wasted.
We have autocomplete for writing code that is likely more of a speed improvement than cramming out "words".
I would think it gets to a point where wpm doesn't matter since you've likely to stop and think about the logic etc.
I can see how it would help for emails and more generally.
I find that I get pretty slow speeds when doing typing tests, but most of the time it's because I need to stop every word to figure out what the heck it is wanting me to type.
When typing out my own stuff, I don't have that break because I already know what I want to say.
If you don't already have one get a good ergonomic keyboard. I recently switched to an ergodox ortholinear layout and it immediately exposed my bad typing habits. The split hand layout saves my neck and shoulders and my working posture has noticeably improved. Took about a month to get back to 80 wpm and don't feel like I've plateaued yet trying to get to 125 wpm.
I had a Judo coach who used to scream "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." In practice sessions focus on not making any mistakes & using only the correct fingers to strike keys. It can be hard to resist the temptation to start hammering as fast as you can in practice but slowing down once in a while can greatly improve muscle memory.
I use https://www.keybr.com/ to track stats, practice limited or different key sets, it also supports non qwerty layouts for stretching your comfort zone. For touch typing practice it displays a real-time keylogger map so you can auto-correct your finger positioning without looking at the keyboard, if you've got a fancy keyboard (Shout out Arts and Crafts HN) you can hook up the firmware to do the same.
Did one test for this comment. https://imgur.com/a/GISaU6n
You must know that average touch typing speed is 40 wpm, professional is 75 wpm, therefore you have nothing to gain by optimizing further. Especially since bragging about doing it the hard way lets you seem like you'd be even faster if you tried.
For me the main reason I value touch typing so highly is due to the reduction in cognitive load. I think things and they appear on the screen without any conscious thought. I honestly couldn’t tell you what fingers I’d just used to type the words.
The benefit of touch-typing is being able to get your thoughts into the computer without interrupting said thoughts to figure out where stuff is on the keyboard. Keeps the flow going.
I ended up tracing my pain to lazy technique in my right hand. Sorted that out and I’ve been pain free for years. It was _no fun _ before I figured it out.
And I secretly judge people on their typing skills as well, especially programmers.
My version of this would be learn not to use a mouse.
http://steve-yegge.blogspot.com/2008/09/programmings-dirties...
It makes a massive difference in comfort. 5 minutes typing at full speed on QWERTY and my wrists start to hurt. (I really don't know how people do it.) On Dvorak, I can type all day at full speed with no pain at all. Surprisingly, the keyboard hardware itself doesn't seem to matter.
(Details: I mostly use a Mac, with caps lock mapped to control, NSRepeatCountBinding set to ^u, and -- obviously? -- I rarely touch the arrow keys.)
Wrist-bending to maintain the home row, I suspect. I have a different, self-taught style that partially involves holding my hands above the keyboard and using muscles all along my arms to move my hands without bending my wrists much - never had any problems.
Wrist discomfort with QWERTY completely disappeared upon switching to Dvorak.
I do always change one thing, and recommend it for others too, is to change caps-lock into a control.