Like the kind taught in grade schools: no looking at the keys, full home row all the time.
And these things:
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Like the kind taught in grade schools: no looking at the keys, full home row all the time.
And these things:
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Latest comments (14)
Not all schools have this kind of programs, but I was fortunate enough to be in one.
I think It those make a difference for me, it is a smooth experience both when coding and writing docs. It is hard to appreciate when you don't have that skill.
Just to enrich the conversation and for those of you who are interested, here are a few resources online:
I am a fast typer and that's a useful skill, but not necessarily for coding, when you usually think slower than you type (and you have to use even combinations of three keys). But I consider important not to look at the keyboard to type, but to look at the code you write. I don't care about how many fingers does a coder use.
And touch typing can lead to a better posture.
It'd be nice, but I can rarely think faster than I can type, especially when writing code.
35 years behind a keyboard and I still peck-away with 4 fingers, I've never thought fast enough or clearly enough for my typing speed to affect my work.
Please do consider the RSI risk that other folks have mentioned; it has never troubled me, but that's easily chalked up to dumb luck.
It's only necessary if I have to sit and watch you hunt and peck for more than about thirty seconds ever 😱 Past that, no, you can get by without it but it's either at or very very near the top of the list of useful-but-not-strictly-essential skills.
I would argue that it's quite important. I learned touch-typing later on, and it's definitely made a difference for me. It makes typing a lot less frustrating. Also, I think it improves ergonomics - you can sit (or stand) in a relaxed position with good posture and just look at the screen. If you're constantly moving your head/eyes between the keyboard and the screen, that's probably not great for your neck, shoulders, and back.
I don't think it's necessary to learn type touching. I get frustrated when I can't type fast enough for my thoughts though, and am personally glad I can type fairly fast now.
No but I would say you must be able to type at least 30 words per minute and be able to write with few mistakes. Any less than that and you pretty much cannot code around anyone else without exasperation.
Great for documentation, email etc. Getting rid of distractions sooner!
For coding not so sure, I find there are too many special characters and the process is too different from writing to have an obvious benefit.
It's definitely helpful, and if you don't I strongly suspect you'll be raising your risk of RSI, which can be painful and debilitating.
That said, if the bottleneck is your typing speed, something is probably wrong. Earlier in my career, when I found the bottleneck was my typing speed, with hindsight I was doing too much - writing a lot of repetitive code that I should have refactored, making things too long-winded, and so on. The bottleneck should be your mind.