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Out of Dvorak and QWERTY which would be most beneficial to learn touchtyping on, as a programmer?

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8 Answers

up vote 0 down vote

I'd say QWERTY. But I guess it matters what spoken language you use and keyboard layout.

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up vote 11 down vote

If you are only capable of learning one, I'd recommend Qwerty. For Dvorak, you'd need to change it on every computer you went to work on. If you were helping a colleague, you'd either have to ask them if you can change it for a moment, or look like a child picking at the letters.

It's not an either/or thing though. If you feel Dvorak provides a decent productivity boost for your work, then learn that as well. Just be sure you know where the keys are in Qwerty too.

Don't have Dvorak as the keyboard setting on any team VMs or servers you manage though. That'll just upset/irritate people.

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1  
Its possible to know both. Its kind of like playing two musical instruments. It can be a little funny too if anyone sits down at your PC and tries to type... – Doug T. Mar 31 '11 at 11:18
@Doug - indeed. I spent some time where I was using both quite effectively, but it wasn't really benefiting me in any way. My programming speed generally isn't related to my typing speed, though. – TZHX Mar 31 '11 at 11:33
Mmm, ctrl-shift easily shifts between keyboard layouts. Easy to setup your servers. – Carra Mar 31 '11 at 14:50
On Windows at least, there's no visible way to change the keyboard layout at the login screen. – TZHX Mar 31 '11 at 15:27
up vote 1 down vote

whatever is the most common in your region. For most of the world that'll be a US QWERTY keyboard layout.

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QWERTY, yes, US, no. – user1249 Mar 31 '11 at 12:49
most countries that technically have their own variant to QWERTY use mainly US layout anyway :) And where not using the localised variant for programming is such a pain that at least programmers do use the US version (e.g. the Dutch and US international variants won't type quotes unless you type a space after them, defaulting to seeing them as accents on other characters). – jwenting Mar 31 '11 at 12:54
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probably, I just dispute the "most of the world" part. – user1249 Mar 31 '11 at 13:06
up vote 3 down vote

The only reason to consider Dvorak is if you're so convinced of its superiority that you'd never really even consider asking whether to use it or not. In other words, the simple act of asking about it is nearly absolute proof that you should stick with QWERTY.

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Yeah, I can type fast and easy enough with QWERTY(Z) so I don't even bother to try a different layout. If I would feel uncomfortable with it, I might consider it, but it's much easier to use the “normal” solution. – poke Mar 31 '11 at 11:27
up vote 2 down vote

Colemak. Made for the computer-age (unlike Dvorak), better than Dvorak, easier to learn, keeps a number of hotkeys in the same place (C, X, V, Q etc.).

A lot of people here take the approach of "qwerty – easier when using other computers". How much of your time will be spent on your own computer vs. someone else's? Plus: the qwerty-layout is printed on most, so you can look down at the keys if necessary. In addition to probably already being familiar with it. It is possible to keep two layouts in the same head.

(Consider the keyboard "TypeMatrix" as well (has hotkey for Colemak; Fn+F5))

Edit: Oh, and in addition, the creator is a programmer, and has taken this use into consideration.

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Couldn't make "TypeMatrix" into a link. Too fresh apparently. Someone fix? – Jonta Mar 31 '11 at 12:35
up vote 3 down vote

There is a point at which raw WPM will not help you code faster. Let's say you manage to learn to type 200 WPM or whatever is good for Dvorak these days... you still have to stop every few lines and think about what you're going to do next.

A 100+ WPM QWERTY typist is therefore not at any significant disadvantage to you.

Besides, assuming you typed your question out on a standard QWERTY keyboard, you're probably halfway there already.

+1 for QWERTY.

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Absolutely! What slows you down as a programmer is thinking, not typing! – louisgab Mar 31 '11 at 13:23
up vote 1 down vote

QWERTY. Yes, it's non-optimal. Yes, there are better/more efficient/cooler keyboard layouts. Yes, it's there by default on darned near every computer you will ever step up to. No, you don't have to install special software to enable it. Yes, you can fart around with a lot of other layouts but you're going to eventually learn QWERTY anyways, so you might just as well bite the bullet and do it now.

Share and enjoy.

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up vote 0 down vote

As a developer, the only important thing about touch typing is that you must be able to type without thinking about typing. If you can do that, you can type faster than you can program, and any additional ability in typing will be only marginally helpful.

Therefore, learning any keyboard layout you have access to will give you most of the benefits typing can give you, and it really doesn't matter which one.

Dvorak was advertised as a keyboard layout that allows people to type more and faster. You, as a developer, don't need that. (You might want it in other roles.) Therefore, I'd recommend that all developers learn to touch-type in QWERTY. It's almost always completely available, and doesn't require work to set up.

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