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by kadoban 535 days ago
Touch typing is objectively better, but 2 finger is enough to have a career at programming, it's not what is going to hold you back.

I'd be more concerned about RSI than speed. You _really_ don't need to type fast for programming. If you do, your tools should be helping you do boilerplate more.
2 comments
Izkata 535 days ago
> Touch typing is objectively better

Even that depends on what exactly you mean. I agree with the literal meaning of the words, but for too many people "touch typing" means "home-row touch typing". Which I find extremely awkward and difficult. But literally just typing by touch, I'm self-taught due to StarCraft multiplayer back in the 90s and early 2000s, and have a style that confuses home-row typists when they realize what I'm doing.

So it's more like, you need to type smoothly enough that you're not thinking about typing. As long as your hands are pretty much moving automatically to get your thoughts into the computer, you can use any number of fingers at (almost) any speed, and you're good.

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atq2119 535 days ago
The RSI thing is real. Until my late 20s I would type blindly with what I jokingly called 5 and a half fingers. But I did start to notice some strain, which is when I decided to finally teach myself "proper" touch typing. I don't think my typing got meaningfully faster, but it got smoother, and the strain went away.
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mark_undoio 535 days ago
Getting a split-layout "ergo" keyboard helped me learn to type better back in the day. I could already touch type fast but not with great technique.

When I got a split layout key it became quite apparent that my technique was "weird" - sometimes I'd notice one hand come wandering over to the other side of the keyboard to find a key it was used to pressing. That became easy to correct once it was so visible!

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