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Comment by christiangenco | Hacker News Reader

I've been using a keyboard layout I made with Ukulele that swaps the symbols with the numbers and I couldn't be happier. You get used to it in less than a day of typing and it makes all the () $ @ ! so much easier. It makes so much sense as a programmer when symbols are typed so much more frequently than numbers.

Here's a link to download my .keylayout file (goes in ~/Library/Keyboard Layouts): https://www.dropbox.com/s/8hy5391ay2u0dta/US%20Symbols.keyla...

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I use programmer dvorak, which also has swapped numbers and symbols and it's a blessing. The good thing about this one is also changes layout of the symbols so it's really a lot nicer to use.

Whoah I never even thought of doing that. It seems like it would work, I mean I really don't type numbers all that often these days... hmmm. I might chuck it on my laptop and see how I dig it for dev. Tempted to swap [] and {} as well. It's a similar concept to swapping F-keys for media keys, which I have and much prefer.

This is exactly what I've done with KeyRemap4MacBook. It has built in options for switching around numbers and symbols, as well as changing {} and []. Makes so much more sense for a programmer, and you can make multiple sets of options so you can disable them if someone else needs to use your machine for a bit.

Brilliant! I especially like how it would work with any of these keyboard layouts and requires minimal retraining.

any idea how to combine this with vim/vimperator/pentadactyl?

it seems to work with ^ but with the vim plugins, following a link requires numbers. pressing shift every time is less ideal. and in vim you use numbers quite a bit too (for moving and editing).

:hintkeys

sure but switching to homerow hints would mean i lose the ability to use the text of the link to narrow it down?

I'm using Vimium and it uses from one to three letters as a label for a link. I used Vrome earlier where the links where numbered. I find Vimium scheme much faster. Especially because the labels are generated intelligently, from adjacent (and preferably home row) keys. I never missed an ability to write a bit of text from the link to select it - instead of text, which can be both longer and less convenient to type, I have short labels, displayed over the beginning of link when I press F. I don't need to look down on keyboard or move my hands to numpad.

So I suggest you try this mode and see for yourself if it suits you.

thanks. i actually used homerow instead of numbers for a month or two. for some odd reason, i find it quicker to discern what combination i have to press with numbers. 'dk' is harder to pick up then '18' for me. or on company websites you can just do 'fconta' and off it goes. you dont even have to look for the link

> I don't need to look down on keyboard or move my hands to numpad.

that does not happen for me anyways. i use my numbers too much (e.g. switching windows/tabs).

No, just use uppercaps letters for hintkeys :) That way, you can still type to narrow down the links, and then press shift and select whatever link you want with homerow.

or put your keyboard in AZERTY mod, it does the same.

holy !!!! never noticed that!

it also makes ç and é easier to type, which is a must for all latin languages i know!

will remap my number row to azerty's

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