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Do programmers have to have a high WPM ? / Mine is 53 WPM, what is yours ?

Bek Brace on July 24, 2022

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jamesvanderpump profile image
James Vanderpump

Yes, I fire every developer that falls below the 70 wpm threshold. Kidding of course. I think code quality is much more important. Think carefully about variable naming, function signatures, etc. I don't think there is even room for fast typing.

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codebytesfl profile image
codebytesfl

I can average about 130-140 wpm. I can hit 160+ if I'm concentrating. I do not hit that at all when coding. Does it help? Yes it helps, I can code relatively fast if I know exactly what I want the next 30 lines of code to be, but when is that ever the case? It is not something you "have to have". The difference in WPM is not going to improve your code quality which ultimately is the most important aspect. I've also been through many jobs and I've only come across one that required a minimum wpm, and it was pretty low like 35 wpm or something.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

Jesus !!!
And you have the same WPM with all keyboards that you are working with or you have a preferred keyboard on which you get this "monster level WPM" ?
Agreed, maybe i did not mean have to have, but I wrote this and shared my experience as I am a programmer and I have a low WPM 50 more or less, so i wanted to know if i should be ashamed of myself or not 😆

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codebytesfl profile image
codebytesfl

Sorry for the late reply, I didn't see this. I actually don't have the same WPM with all keyboards. I am a bit slower on the keyboard at my office (Apple Magic Keyboard), and faster on my keyboard at home. At home I have a custom built QK65 with tactile switches.

I honestly am not sure why the difference, but my home keyboard "feels" better, so somehow I type better lol. My wife has some cheap keyboard from amazon and I am significantly slower on that one than anything. Again, not really sure behind the science of why, but it is something I have noticed. It's easier to type faster on a quality keyboard.

You definitely should not be ashamed or anything. 50 WPM is still faster than the majority of the population, and I rarely can utilize that fast WPM as I use code snippets and stuff all the time!

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dhruvindev profile image
Dhruvin

whoa dude that's crazy.
I do agree that high wpm does not help in coding but it's great to have, searching bugs and using the laptop overall feels snappy and i think it'll save a lot of time if we add up the years.
It's alway better to use a tool faster, especailly when it's such a integral part of our lives these days

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jmplourde profile image
Jean-Michel Plourde

WPM is like LoC: very poor measure.

I try to improve my WPM because it has the side effect of knowing my keyboard like the bottom of my pocket. I have a split keyboard with multiple layers: I want to test my layout as much as possible, tweak it where I see the weaknesses and make the most used keys highly available.

The goal to all of this getting my typing out of the way of my thinking. I want to have ideas and let my hands rely on muscle memory.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

wow Fantastic !!
The average is 41 WPM, you have 67 WPM with 97% accuracy !
I will practice everyday
My problem is that i am not moving my fingers but rather my hand !! And I have been doing this for 30 years now ! (it sucks!)

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felixselter profile image
FelixSelter

Hi, my Wpm is also quite low with about 50.
However I still feel that I could type code way faster than what these typespeed checkers want me to type.

  1. If I think it its inside my mind and I do not have to look at the screen.
  2. The logic is cleaner for me
  3. As a none native I may struggle with spelling and other stuff

Currently I try to get a better desk so I have a healthier and more productive writing position. Also I do not like my keyboard

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

yeah exactly exactly that what was I thinking, if i don't have to look to those words i would type way faster especially for code that I have written and got used to write.

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websilvercraft profile image
websilvercraft

Mine is 70-80. I started to develop my own web app, to measure my typing speed, wrote a tutorial on how to do it: Create a typing game in javascript to measure wpm speed.

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samjarvis244 profile image
Samuel Jarvis

My Top WPM is 70. But I actually want it to be better than that. But I stopped seeing the effect on my code. I spend most time thinking about what to type than actually typing.

Having a high WPM is cool though. I can impress your friends and they'll think I'm a pro😂😂

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mistval profile image
Randall

I have never been a particularly fast typist either. I'm only a little better, at 78 WPM, according typingtest.com. Also it made me type about an interesting fact: there are only two escalators in the US state of Wyoming. Wow!

Like most people my age (I think?) I never learned to type correctly, but developed a fast-enough guerilla typing style just by using computers a lot. Some time I'd like to try to learn to type better.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

Yep. I'm 39 years old, despite the fact that the first keyboard i've ever used was actually Atari 800XL machine with this cute cassette recorder :)
You're right, I've never been taught how to type properly or how to position my fingers properly on the keyboard.
Cheers from Poland.

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poisonintheink profile image
poisonintheink

interesting question but i would side on 'no'

if we coded at the same speed we typed or spoke then i think it'd be relevant. but even the snappiest of typers would sit there mulling over a function block for far longer than it took to actually type it out.

maybe its more that employers/peers would look at slow typing as an indication that you're not familiar with a keyboard?

... just to pick a bit of a wild example to make my argument. our robo-boy Hawking wasnt the quickest of typers either, but there he was, unfolding the universe for us with his chin <3

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armousness profile image
Sean Williams

I just did a quick test and scored 101. I could probably do better, but there were grammatical errors in the test that threw me off.

Anyway, I doubt typing speed matters too much with programming. For one thing, typing quickly is more about writing full sentences, while programming is very—stylized. That is, I doubt many people can quickly type block-structured text, and some of the key combinations are a bit gnarly, especially < and >.

And as others have said, and I definitely agree with, you spend much more time thinking about the right thing to type than you do typing it.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

wow !! this is a beast level, Sean !
Well, my perspective was with higher WPM you will be more productive, I think I did not formulate the question properly, but you got my point :)

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lalit64 profile image
Lalit Yalamanchili

I just took monkeytype and got my high score because I was trying so hard.
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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace • Edited

monkeytype ? I will try that
BTW my target is to reach a 80 WPM

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lalit64 profile image
Lalit Yalamanchili

Thanks.

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raguay profile image
Richard Guay

55 WPM just me, but around 200 with my text expansions while coding!

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

Advancing with this new keyboard 😄 :
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sacleuxbenoit profile image
SacleuxBenoit

Mine is between 97 / 104 depand on what i'm typping
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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

OMG !!!!!!!!! This is Incredible !!!

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muhammadmp profile image
Muhammad MP

About eighty words per minute.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

interesting, i tried on monkeytype for the first time and mine was 68 WPM
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star-codex profile image
E

Probably abysmally low when coding due to thinking but I also try to substitute a majority of my typing with snippets so I'm focusing on solving problems instead of writing the solution.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

that is a great point of view, Erin and I agree with you

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arrofirezasatria profile image
Arrofi Reza Satria

Shortcut VSCode is important.

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

indeed

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unsungnovelty profile image
Nikhil • Edited

This was one of the best investments I made during covid lockdown. I reach an average of ~45 WPM. But while you're are coding, you are not always peaking. Hell you are not even typing enough at times. But it is important to type without looking at the keyboard. It is a basic skill which is overlooked at times.

For anyone who doesn't know, use keybr.com/ or monkeytype.com/ and start practicing. Your future self will appreciate it.

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dhruvindev profile image
Dhruvin

Mine best is 120.
But it depends what I'm typing

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bekbrace profile image
Bek Brace

wow !! 120 WPM is insane !