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Is DVORAK Gaining Traction Among Coders?
coderpath asks: "At a recent Seattle Ruby Brigade hack night someone asked how many people used the DVORAK keyboard layout. Out of 9 people, 7 used DVORAK and only 2 were using QWERTY. I personally made the switch last Christmas, after 25 years of typing with QWERTY. What do you use? Have you switched to DVORAK? Have you been wanting to make the switch? Has anyone else noticed an increase in adoption of DVORAK lately?"
Always wanted to try the Dvorak layout, but I've become a slave to the Vim and that sort of messes things up for me...
I find Dvorak a bit tedious. For coding, I prefer Williams, John, not Andy. Sometimes I listen to something light like Bocelli. Moody Blues. But, never metal when I'm coding.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
At one point, I went out looking for a DVORAK keyboard, starting at my local computer shop and expanding to office supply stores and even Wal*Mart, just to see if anyone had one and if not, how much it would be to order one. After prices over $200, I checked online and found the cheapest, most basic, DVORAK keyboard at about $100 + shipping and taxes.
I know I could get a cheap QWERTY and rearrange the keys. But (at least from the pictures I've seen), wouldn't be a true DVORAK layout. If I could cheaply obtain or emulate a DVORAK layout, I would try it. But right now, I have a laptop, so I would only use it when I'm at my desk and I would need to purchase one first. The idea of switching back and forth day after day and the cost just doesn't help...
--Thomas J. Owens
Dvorak is optimized for writing English. Most coders - like most computer users in general - do not use English as their main language, and for us Dvorak is substantially worse than the qwerty layout in every way.
So no, most coders are not switching to Dvorak.
Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
I probably would switch, if there was a simple way to reconfigure my keyboard. Alas, laptops are not exactly amenable to keyboard layout switches.
I started using it because I heard it can reduce wrist stress. I'm not going back; I love the Dvorak layout. Well supported across Mac/Lin/Win, and speeds my typing up significantly. I dunno about the wrist stress part, but it sure does feel like I'm spending less time contorting my hands to type code.
Not only that, but it's a great way to look elitist and pretentious, now that Macs are gaining market share again.
aoeu > asdf!
OMG! Wau!
Every keyboard except DVORAK keyboards that is.
I always wanted to switch, but coding requires so much punctuation that DVORAK doesn't help. Plus it doesn't work with vi.
DVORAK is another way to show other people that you're different. Any benefits are minuscule and are outweighed by the incompatibility downsides. It's another symptom of the "geek" disease.
Addressing some myths:
Very few people are switching. Very few people ever did switch. And very few people will switch in the future. I use Qwerty, or a national variant of it, as is 99.99% of everybody else using a computer. I have never switched to Dvorak. I once considered it, and determined it would be a waste of time, as I'm not a secretary, I already type pretty fast, there is no Dvorak for Norwegian, and I like having labels matching output on the keys of my keyboard. Also I'm weird enough as it is, and don't need to type weirdly too. So in conclusion, no I haven't really wanted to make the switch, otherwise I would have done it long ago. I have absolutely not noticed an increase in Dvorak use lately. It's probably the same two people who are still using it now, as it was in 1952.
I chpngyd to thp Dvprak kehboxc ank thp qualxpy og my coginq chamgbd drabaciralle.
I have been using Dvorak for years. It has been an interesting mental exercise...but I would not say it is more productive. It's just different.
Some things you should consider before taking the plunge:I also had some unforeseen side-effects occur using Dvorak. When I had first started becoming proficient in it, my QWERTY skill practically disappeared from lack of use. When I had gotten my first web design job, my boss thought I was a computer newbie at first because I was typing so slow and with so little confidence. I didn't want to go mucking changing his keyboard layout so I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Thank God keyboards have the QWERTY letters on them. (I never thought I would say that.)
On the other hand, my computer is an impenetrable fortress of solitude nowadays. I run a desktop with no icons, Dvorak keyboard layout, Left handed mouse setup, all on top of Japanese Linux. You just try and touch my computer. I recommend you use a 6 foot stick.
To wrap up, I want to say you're a sissy if you actually buy a Dvorak keyboard or dare rearrange the keys. Thank you.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
I'm not a gamer. I like it better than Qwerty, my wrists don't hurt anymore. However, I used to touch type Qwerty, now I can't. This isn't a big deal but would someone point me if a USB device exists that could be plug in between the keyboard and the computer that could translate qwerty signals into dvorak ones? I would find this helpful on computers other than my own.
m l
If you want to learn Dvorak, like a foreign language I would suggest to plunge in and stop using qwerty. Your muscle memory needs to get accustomed to the new system and changing in between is not helpful. I initially tried learning dvorak by taking online lessons in small doses. After six months, I wasn't getting anywhere. I switch cold turkey one weekend, and by Monday morning, was a touch typist again (I spent roughly 6 hours on online lessons that weekend and did all my other computer stuff in Dvorak).
There are potentially better layouts designed recently but I want to ask anyone with experience with the "Neo" Tastatur/Layout - is it better in your experience?
Neo Layout:
(German - has useful visual comparison to QWERTY, DVORAK, and other layouts)
http://pebbles.schattenlauf.de/layout.php
If you never have heard of it:
English:
http://pebbles.schattenlauf.de/layout/index_us.ht
The complaints about there not being many Dvorak keyboards for sale are just silly.
Why would you change layouts without bothering to learn how to touch-type??? If you don't touch-type, you will never type fast, regardless of which layout you use. It doesn't matter what the keys on your keyboard say if you are touch-typing.
The best thing to do when learning a new layout is to have a copy of it on paper taped to your monitor. You want to get out of the habit of looking at the keyboard, not perpetuate it.
A few years ago I went full-blown DVORAK for a few months. I really liked it, but I ended up switching back to QWERTY. Here are the two problems I had:
1) Shortcut keys (control-z, control-x, control-c, etc..) are all over the freaking place in DVORAK.
(If there was some way to do DVORAK for normal typing and switch back to QWERTY when control/alt/command are held down, then that would probably be cool. I don't know of any way to do that though)
2) Other people. If I've been typing DVORAK for weeks, and I try to use someone's QWERTY computer, I turn into a retarded monkey. Similarly, anyone that tries to use my computer turns into a retarded monkey.
But if a wide-spread adoption of DVORAK ever breaks out, I am willing and ready!
My home computer is a Macintosh. I use Windows computers at school. My Macintosh has been setup to use Dvorak for a while. I find it interesting that my fingers trip if I try to type on a Mac in QWERTY or a PC in Dvorak. Something about the OS theme makes my muscle memory choose one or the other like the machines have nothing in common.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
DO you know who ran the study on dvorak? give you one guess, his name isn't QWERTY.
The only reason you may type faster is because you worked harder on it, nothing more.
In fact, most keyboard shortcuts are designed for the QWERTY layout.
God, what is it with people that makes themignore relevant studies and common sense to jump on somehting just because it isn't popular.
and for God sakes, your age doesn't mean a thing when it comes to this.
oh, and why would you feel pressure? no one gives a damn about your keyboard layout.
do you think the QWERTY police are out there, looking for you?
gah, I'm out of here.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"I hope you don't screw like you type."
Sometimes when I'm working on projects things disappear, I suspect gremlins.
Wow, i didn't think anyone used Dvorak anymore. I've been using it for years and i agree with other people here that it's not particularly great for coding. The right hand pinky gets nearly as much of a workout in Dvorak as it does in QWERTY.
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:-) )
Now, as to how to learn it. The way i did it was to grab an image of the layout off of the web and i edited it to separate the keys into three groups by column:
The left-most group was everything under keys 1 - 4, the middle column the things that were under 5 and 6 and the right-most group everything else. Then i put the image up on the screen in a corner and referred to it whenever i needed to hit a key and i didn't know where it was. I found the spliting it up made it much easier to visualize which finger i should be using for each key since all of the fingers (except for the index fingers and the right pinky stay in their own columns. Hmm... if i had to do it over maybe i would further separate the extra right pinky cluster.
The first two or three days... it was pretty darned painful, but it got better quickly after that. (Note, i didn't touch type in Qwerty (and still don't)).
To clarify what i meant about the keyboard layout... my picture looked something like what's below (but i've added my newly devised separation for the area where the right pinky reaches out to the right from its own column):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 [ ]
' , . p y f g c r l / = \
a o e u i d h t n s -
; q j k x b m w v z
Note: if you have a MS Natural keyboard or similar you'll have to hit the 6 with your left index finger, but c'est la vie.
check out this guy's blog entry for a picture one might modify.
http://www.leeholmes.com/blog/CommentVie
(hmm... maybe i should copyright and or trademark this split keyboard image idea
Yes, Microsoft has trained people well in the are of cussing.
- Ensuring that code is as clean, simple, and easy to understand as possible;
- Having very fast and high quality feedback cycles (i.e. fast running tests, continuous integration, frequent client involvement, etc.)
One of my work colleagues uses a Dvorak layout, and having seen the code he produces I wonder if he'd be better off with a data entry system that slows him down long enough so that he can think a little more. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic, but I remember being very careful about my coding back in the days of paper cards.After considering switching for a long time, I finally made the jump. I had an image of the layout on-screen and used only that for learning where the keys were. After a week, the speed was OK, after two weeks I was at my former Qwerty-speed but with much less finger- and hand-movement. I tell you; Norwegian and the other Scandinavian languages work great with US layout Dvorak (of course with beloved extra characters (æøå for .no)). Anyway, if your language is further away from english - then you should have your own layout. French has it own Dvorak layout, so they can still type with less strain on hands.
And to people saying it's an urban myth, well - they're wrong - you might not be a better typist by switching, but you do move your hands considerable less and that is really nice. I type much text, if I use Qwerty - I can feel how much quicker my hands get weary.
I have been typing in Dvorak for about 2 years now. Before I managed to fully make the plunge, I made 2 attempts that I chickened out from after a few days.
It was a difficult transition, but made easier by doing it during summer break from school. It was about 2 weeks before I could type comfortably, and probably 2 months before my speed was up to my previous QWERTY speed.
Here are the good things about switching. It forced me to learn touch typing, which has lead to an increase in typing speed and ease, simply because I never look at the keyboard anymore. Your fingers don't have to move as far from their baseline position as much, and you tend to alternate between right and left hand much more, which is much more comfortable on the fingers. Having the _- key so close at hand has been very handy.
Here are the bad things about the switch. I technically could have learned touch typing on QWERTY and achieved a similar speed increase. The windows computers in the computer lab I frequent have the settings locked down so I cannot change the keyboard layout, though I solve this by using the linux computers at almost all times. The 'c' and 'v' are less conveniently placed for coping and pasting. Typing on other peoples computers, which I must do on occasion results in a few minutes of awkwardness while I readjust. It is harder to type one-handed since I use a mapped keyboard layout, and must therefore remember the key locations rather than just looking.
Ultimately I am glad that I made the switch. There are some benefits to my typing abilities, and the inconveniences are not too great. I also take a certain amount of pride in it, like being an early adopter of metric units in a time when everyone is still using imperial.
In other words, Dvorak gets you the same result with 39% less effort.
"Good news, everyone!"
That's a really big sample!
"And the purported benefit of dvorak is that it's more ergonomic. This results in it being a little faster, but it's not the point."
I seem to recall that the point of dvorak was that it was faster, then that claim was subsequently discredited with force. When did an ergonomic benefit become its selling point? Has this claim of a physical health benefit been tested?
RTFM; please, I beg you.
Oh dear god...
Being an introverted egomaniac asshole is not a disease. It's not a disorder. It's a buzzword, as you actually pointed out.
For the 0.0001% of the population that is truly and utterly incapable of emoting to any other human being, I apologize and you have my deepest sympathies. To the rest of you who use a crutch like Asperger's as your defense for not being remotely civilized - grow up.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
When developing software, it's the speed of thinking that is usually the limiting factor, not the speed of typing. Quality code can't be written contiguously at 100 WPM.