I’m starting to learn to touch type correctly on a keyboard, but typing something like :q with the pinky finger always feels so awkward to me. Is it worth using it?
Yes, I use Dvorak exclusively, and touch type.
Yeah. I use it for ctrl, shift, enter, etc.
Yes, I decided i wanted to learn touch typing a while ago, I switched to a different layout from QWERTY called Coleman, it’s fairly similar but puts the most common letters on the home row or near your first and second fingers, while keeping the position of common shortcut keys like Z, X, C.
I also switched my keyboard to an Ortholinear style which i found helped with my accuracy as i was learning.
Similarly I learned to properly type (which means using your pinkies) with Dvorak back in 2007. I stuck with it since anything is a gain beyond QWERTY &
_on the home row helps with programming & config.If you haven’t learned to touch type, you may as well use a layout that is gonna strain you less in the long run.
The pinky is smaller and less flexible, but it’s like piano and you just have to move your hand a bit to use them effectively.
I switched to a somewhat custom keyboard and only use my pinkies for 1 key each during normal typing. It’s probably not an issue for most people, but for me the pinkies were the most affected by repetitive strain before i switched.
I do…mostly. I hit Q and P with my ring fingers instead of pinkies. For AZ;/ and shift and enter I do use my pinky fingers always, except (as I’ve just noticed) when I’m typing a capital A or Z. I seem to almost always hit the left shift instead of the right, so I end up using my left ring finger to hit the A or Z in that case.
As I was thinking about this, I thought that I don’t use my pinky’s nearly as much as I’m finding that I do after a brief evaluation. Yes, go all in on learning to touch type with proper form. I also don’t use my pinkies for :q, however. Well, I used the pinky on my left for the shift key but the ring finger on my right to type the colon.
Yes. I’m using the standard typing system on an ANSI keyboard which requires pinkies.
Yes, i do and yes, it’s worth it.
Also, practice the number row, too! That’s my weakest area by far. I can touch-type everything else but i always have to check the number row.
This advice can’t be overlooked. When I was in HS I was out sick for the week we practiced the number row and man, many, many years later I still can’t blind type numbers (but can on a 10key).
Never thought about it, but I think it’s mainly left shift and control key.
Yeah. But I’m also using a keyboard layout where frequently used keys aren’t on my pinky, and a keyboard where modifiers are on my thumb cluster, rather than on my pinky.