Wow, never realized qwerty was this annoying
For the longest time i've been typing in a hackish way, using only 5/6 of my 8 fingers, and when it came to programming, it caused quite a few typo's because my hand movement kept changing.
Recently I decided to fix this and am now using all 8 of my fingers, but oh my god is it annoying. Whole words typed with a couple fingers, multiple letters in a row using the same finger...etc.
I was wondering, those of you that use any other keyboard layout(dvorak...etc), which do you think is the best for all around typing and for coding? I know Dvorak gets high marks for efficiency but I always read that in terms of regular typing, with very little tests done while coding(since you using much more than a regular typist uses).
So, could anyone give me their opinions on this matter?
Thanks.
DVORAK only gets higher marks for efficiency because of selection bias -- people that are concerned about efficiency choose DVORAK, everyone else sticks with the default QWERTY.
Quote:Original post by capn_midnightIs that sarcasm? If not, my ancedotal evidence is that a friend of mine tried many different layouts from DVORAK to SHRDLU and found DVORAK fastest (and it's what he uses now), but his test was just to use it for a while so it's not quite a rigorous benchmark.
DVORAK only gets higher marks for efficiency because of selection bias -- people that are concerned about efficiency choose DVORAK, everyone else sticks with the default QWERTY.
I think that every keyboard bace should be something else than qwerty. Computer is not old type machine, which buttons can stick together , so we should get rid of old historical system.
Come on! Dvorak was made in the 1930s. Use something more modern! Like Colemak (what's wrong with dvorak?, other alternate layouts)
I also like the idea of the Arensito programming layout, using the alt-gr button to access an alternate layout with frequently used special symbols (especially since the Swedish qwerty-layout already uses things like alt-gr + 0 for ending curly braces. If you already require a chordic combination, why not make the secondary character easy to reach?
And even if you don't want learn a new keyboard layout, please consider mapping backspace to your caps lock button. Just how often do you erase characters? How often do you use caps lock? Which button is closest and easiest to use without moving your fingers from the home row?
While we're talking special keyboard layouts, one thing I've been wanting to try is Maltron keyboards, the keyboard that unleashes the power of your thumbs (they can do more than just push the space button). However, they're a bit on the expensive side and I'm a bit hesitant to order one over the Internet without getting a chance to try it out... So I've settled for MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. For the interested reader, there's also TypeMatrix and Datahand
I also like the idea of the Arensito programming layout, using the alt-gr button to access an alternate layout with frequently used special symbols (especially since the Swedish qwerty-layout already uses things like alt-gr + 0 for ending curly braces. If you already require a chordic combination, why not make the secondary character easy to reach?
And even if you don't want learn a new keyboard layout, please consider mapping backspace to your caps lock button. Just how often do you erase characters? How often do you use caps lock? Which button is closest and easiest to use without moving your fingers from the home row?
While we're talking special keyboard layouts, one thing I've been wanting to try is Maltron keyboards, the keyboard that unleashes the power of your thumbs (they can do more than just push the space button). However, they're a bit on the expensive side and I'm a bit hesitant to order one over the Internet without getting a chance to try it out... So I've settled for MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. For the interested reader, there's also TypeMatrix and Datahand
Quote:Original post by Ksero
Come on! Dvorak was made in the 1930s. Use something more modern! Like Colemak (what's wrong with dvorak?, other alternate layouts)
I also like the idea of the Arensito programming layout, using the alt-gr button to access an alternate layout with frequently used special symbols (especially since the Swedish qwerty-layout already uses things like alt-gr + 0 for ending curly braces. If you already require a chordic combination, why not make the secondary character easy to reach?
And even if you don't want learn a new keyboard layout, please consider mapping backspace to your caps lock button. Just how often do you erase characters? How often do you use caps lock? Which button is closest and easiest to use without moving your fingers from the home row?
While we're talking special keyboard layouts, one thing I've been wanting to try is Maltron keyboards, the keyboard that unleashes the power of your thumbs (they can do more than just push the space button). However, they're a bit on the expensive side and I'm a bit hesitant to order one over the Internet without getting a chance to try it out... So I've settled for MS Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. For the interested reader, there's also TypeMatrix and Datahand
So basically you settled for a keyboard that just creates new, magical problem areas?
I use qwerty because it's standard. Most times I'm at a computer, I don't have a choice of keyboard, so I use qwerty.
I actually count being able to type many words with only a couple fingers as a plus; it makes one hand on the keyboard, one hand on the mouse easier.
I actually count being able to type many words with only a couple fingers as a plus; it makes one hand on the keyboard, one hand on the mouse easier.
A good friend of mine uses DVORAK. He loves it. I really think what made him switch was because of how his hands would hurt at times due to using QWERTY for so long. Ever since he has switched, it seems to have helped him out a lot.
Quote:Original post by Way Walker
I use qwerty because it's standard. Most times I'm at a computer, I don't have a choice of keyboard, so I use qwerty.
I actually count being able to type many words with only a couple fingers as a plus; it makes one hand on the keyboard, one hand on the mouse easier.
Revolutionary. I know one person who uses a Dvorak layout. He moans every time he needs to use the vulgar QWERTY layout. Every other person uses Qwerty, or just uses the tried-and-true hunt & peck technique. The way I see it, the Dvorak makes perfectly good sense if you're a left-handed Hawaiian, otherwise it's not much of an issue to me. Most people using one standard layout works pretty well; I don't particularily care which standard it is, but QWERTY does it well enough and enough people know it.
Quote:Original post by AnonymousPosterChild
So basically you settled for a keyboard that just creates new, magical problem areas?
The fact that Colemak is not perfect does not imply that it's not better than Dvorak. Sure there are problem areas. But they aren't as common as Dvorak's problem areas.
In Dvorak, the common digraphs "gh", "ct", "rn", "up" and "pi" are all written with single fingers (eg. gh --> right index finger), which is slow. In Colemak, some of the more troublesome digraphs to write are "za", "kn", "ue", "nl" and "nk". I'm afraid I couldn't find a listing of the frequency distribution of less common English digraphs, so this isn't much of an argument (the best I could find was this).
However, comparing digraph frequencies is a poor measure of a layout's merit. Head over to the compare page and see some more thorough statistics.
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