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Jens Genberg
Jens Genberg

Posted on

How to stop relying on the mouse

I have recently been looking into keyboards, mechanical and otherwise, and decided that I will most likely upgrade my old Logitech one that I got with my desktop to a nicer one. This is part of my plan to encourage myself to program more at home (my last step was getting a really comfy chair).

Since I'm going to be getting a "high end" keyboard for the first time, I would like to also use it as much as possible. I would like to stop relying on the mouse for most tasks and learn more about keyboard shortcuts as well as get better at touch typing.

Do you have any tips on how to accelerate this process and possibly make it more fun? I am using Windows 10 and Visual Studio Code as my primary tools at the moment.

Latest comments (25)

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nans profile image
Nans Dumortier

Not a vim user here, but I tried using Vimium and I'm having fun for now. I don't know if I'm ready to switch to vim for code edition, but I guess if I learn a little at a time I'll be able to switch without loosing too much productivity !

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abrandao profile image
Anderson Brandão

About Vim. I think it's not so necessary if you're using vscode like me. But, if you want this, use vim plugin to vscode.

Just this, learn about keybinds and fight against the mouse temptation.

Just a complementation: There is a linux interface called i3. It's completely designed to works only with shortcuts. Search about "Manjaro i3" on Google if you apreciated the idea.

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bgadrian profile image
Adrian B.G.

Yes

  • do NOT switch to VIM, switch to a more powerful IDE based on your needs
  • when you are doing something with your mouse, stop it, look up for a way to do that action with the keyboard, and if is faster then learn it for future use
  • print some cheat sheets around you

IDE's has also functions to generate code like templates, live templates and to to help you like multi cursors, quick view/edit of the function.

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sgharms profile image
Steven G. Harms

I've been largely mouseless for years.

On Linux: xmonad, terminal + tmux + terminal vim, vimium

OS X: same thing minus vimium

I do use the mouse on OS X because OS X is optimized for mouse use. Nevertheless all my dev work is done in terminal in tmix in vim.

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medeirosjoaquim profile image
Joaquim Jr.

use the notions of workspaces in your OS I use xmonad as window manager (but gnome would do the trick) . e.g You set a workspace with a shared sceen with browser + vim*. and other workspace with a terminal for commands. With keyboard you quickly switch between then and (for xmonad) I can even switch the workspace layout. Use vim. Vim is great by itself and with a set of plugins its even better. The learning curve is not that high and it sure worth it.

It's almost a year since I did this changes because of a Tendinitis and now I do everything more quickly and my right hand is getting better!

If you are a windows user, consider setting a virtual machine for development!

to learn vim:
just execute vimtutor (comes with vim)
play around with the free version of vim-adventures.com/
(it's good enough to learn, but it's so fun that you will want to
have a license for some months)

also: shortcutfoo.com/app/dojos

Quick start: seriously, just open vim
ESC gets out of any mode to normal mode
i or a (there are other keys) puts you in insert mode,
if you need to select something use visual mode

h(left) j(down) k(up) l (right)

good luck

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pystar profile image
Pystar

I use Linux Mint with i3wm

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denvercoder profile image
Tim Myers

The following is a true story:

"1998, Grunge is all the rage, computers are becoming ubiquitous but still expensive. I have spent my last dime getting a new Pentium machine. My cat chewed through my mouse cable. I couldn't afford to buy a new one so I went without for about 2 weeks. I learned to use the Windows key, (commonly referred to as the 'Four Flag Key'), and I learned to tab my way around websites and word documents. The End"

But seriously, pick a task, give yourself 20 minutes and unplug that mouse! (NOTE: I mean unplug in the existential sense, I realize that most people don't use a wired mouse anymore...EXCEPT FOR => #PCMASTERRACE.

:P

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nikolamalesevic profile image
Nikola Malesevic

A very good point on getting rid of the mouse physically.

Btw, PC Master Race went wireless years ago. #logitech

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denvercoder profile image
Tim Myers

Not really. Most gaming mice are wired. There is an inherent latency involved in wireless. I don’t know many gamers that use a Wireless mouse. Plus, I have played for 27 hours straight before and a wireless mouse might not last that long.

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argherna profile image
Andy Gherna

Pick one application a week and prepare yourself to lose a little productivity to learn the keys. Once you've gained that productivity back, choose another. Sounds silly but that worked for me.

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brunoti profile image
Bruno Oliveira

I would suggest to Vim or NeoVim or, at least, its simulators for other editors. Vim is great tool for Mouseless Development and it has a great community of users who loves it and share their configs and plugins. It's cool to do everything in a terminal window. Vim + Tmux is the way for me.

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jeansberg profile image
Jens Genberg

I plan on taking this soon! thoughtbot.com/upcase/onramp-to-vim

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brunoti profile image
Bruno Oliveira

Nice man! Didn't know about that course. Ben Orenstein is a great Vim user.

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zolli profile image
Zoltán Borsos

For IntelliJ IDE's install the KeyPromoter X addon. It's really useful.