[laylomo2]

For the record I regularly hit speeds of >140wpm on 10fastfingers https://10fastfingers.com/user/1725123/ and typeracer https://data.typeracer.com/pit/profile?user=richivinsky

I switched to Dvorak about 15 years ago, and while I’m not going to advocate switching, I would like to provide one point of view.

I switched in high school for all the reasons people switch the Dvorak. Before switching, my QWERTY avg was around 60. Switching allowed me to relearn touch typing with a clean slate.

Now, 15 years later, I still regularly use QWERTY and Dvorak. But the contexts are different. I use QWERTY on my phone when typing with my thumbs, and Dvorak on my keyboard.

Recently I did an experiment with myself where I replaced all the keys on my keyboard with blank keycaps. Then I tried playing typeracer with a QWERTY layout. As expected, I consistently scored around ~40wpm.

However, if I allowed myself to look at the BLANK keycaps, it’s like a switch triggered in my brain and I was able to consistently type around ~60wpm. It’s like the visual input unlocked something in my brain.

When I type Dvorak, I use proper form, and don’t rely on the visual signals. I believe that because of this, my fingers have had to learn more deeply the shapes of the words as I type them.

One thing which I do is to type words up to about 7 characters as a single fluid motion. For longer words, I subconsciously chunk them into smaller parts, and type each of those parts in a single motion.

So my suggestions is to block all visual signals in whatever layout you use, and allow your fingers to develop a deep intuition about the shapes of words. Typing with proper form will definitely help, but the fastest typists in the world typically don’t use proper form. They just have really good accuracy.

Finally, I don’t think the physical keyboard matters that much. I would not recommend dropping >$150 on a fancy keyboard in order to practice typing faster. I use a fancy keyboard because I like fancy keyboards and how they feel, but that has very little impact on my typing speeds. I can be equally competitive with most off the shelf membrane and scissor switch keyboards.

[im3w1l]

In what way(s) do they deviate from proper form?

[laylomo2]

It’s hard to say really, each person does things differently. Some people consider their pinkies too weak and only use the stronger three fingers.

I saw one video of a guy with a bone problem who was actually able use his thumbs to hit speeds in excess of 190.

Sometimes people will type properly but shift the home position depending on the word. I’ve even seen some people use 5 fingers on their left hand and one finger on their right hand.... quite astounding really.

One thing all of them have in common, which is excellent accuracy.

[thedance]

Trying to use your smallest finger to get all of the programming-relevant punctuation isn't going to make you happy as a programmer. I tend to just shift my hand over and alternate my ring and pinky fingers for the -=[]\;'./ keys.

[laylomo2]

That's a good point. I know I definitely do that for the -= keys... but then again, my proper form breaks down for the top row of the keyboard. That's my biggest weakness by far. For ,./;'[]\ I would argue that you should be able to use the proper finger just fine.

Also, fun fact, Dvorak has one major flaw if you are a CLI addict like I am. The command "ls -l" is typed entirely with the right pinky finger. If you want to know what it feels like on a qwerty keyboard, then simulate it by typing "p; 'p"

I struggled with this combination a lot, but eventually I drilled it into my fingers, and now I can type it totally naturally.

[laylomo2]

Here's a jaw-dropping video of Hunter Shaffer typing >200wpm for 60 seconds despite not using "proper" technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GrOhwPryAs