As a programmer of far less exalted code, I’ve never felt like I was at risk of an RSI in my hands. (My neck is a different story.) I spend a lot more time thinking than typing. I wonder if this is because I program in a corporate setting, or if I’m just not as smart/fast at coding as these people, or if it is just a reflection of a different era in programming?
For example, I used to develop for feature film post production. Using 3D applications was part of development and there’s a lot of motion of the wrist involved. So I’d use a Wacom tablet along side it or an ergo mouse.
I’ve met tons of developers with RSI in the same field too.
Or it may be as simple as the development environment or task. How often are you moving your hands from home row? A lot of developers have shortcuts on their numpad or elsewhere which necessitates frequent motion. Switching my shortcut keys for minimal movement really helped.
There are other aspects of typing that contribute too. The angle of your wrists can exacerbate the issue. Tented keyboards are better. The angle of your keys from your base hand position matters or you might get rsi in your finger joints. Ortholinear keyboards help. The angle of your shoulders relative to your keyboard can give you shoulder pain, split keyboards can help.
Another thing that matters is also what they do in their spare time. I’m a musician with multiple instruments, I draw etc…
Each of those increase my risk of RSI and indeed I did have pretty bad wrists at one point.
I have maybe been a little more mindful of my posture and ergonomics, but never to the point of using anything but a normal laptop or basic apple keyboard and trackpad.
My surgeon told me that some segment of the population has the same issue and that they are simply born with it, but he is not sure what percentage it is, and some may go a lifetime without ever knowing.