Best Mouse For Programming?

LosManos writes "Which is the best programming mouse? Mandatory musts are wireless, and that it doesn't clog up like old mechanical mice. Present personal preferences are for: lots of buttons, since if I have moved my hand away from the keyboard I can at least do something more than move the pointer; sturdy feeling; not too light, so it doesn't move around by me accidentally looking at it." What would you recommend?

Comments

Mouse?

[gameboyhippo]

Since when can you use a mouse in Emacs or VI?

Re:Mouse?

[Abreu]

... with vi, your keyboard becomes a huge specialized text-editing gamepad with almost a hundred buttons. Each of them has at least two functions, shifted and unshifted, so you have almost two hundred functions at a single keypress (not counting Shift).

That's... not exactly the best sales pitch

Re:Mouse?

[Exception Duck]

Great minds tell stupid jokes ?

Re:Mouse?

[Neil Hodges]

>> For some kind of activities, such as the highlighting of square blocks of text Ctrl-v is your friend in vim (And of course, Shift-v for line select).

Meh, marks are good enough for me. I never use select mode.

Re:Mouse?

[Dun Malg]

Stop being an idiot. OK, I'll extend you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've never experienced the type of jackass he's talking about. He's not talking about reading web pages, or testing the fucking interface of what he's working on. He's talking about unnecessary mouse-centric foolishness within the IDE. It's about the kind of dumbass that repeatedly clicks four deep into a menu to recompile a unit, rather than just hitting ctrl-F12.

Re:Mouse?

[Z34107]

I second the logitech G5. They're cheap, I love the adjustable weights, and just enough buttons for my taste. Middle-click for opening and closing tabs, and two side buttons for forward and back.

But, mousing in an IDE? Even in Visual Studio, the only button that gets any use is the left mouse button, and maybe the middle-click scrollwheel button for opening and closing tabs. Everything has a keyboard shortcut.

I'd recommend a good keyboard instead - I have an IBM Model M I whip on for nostalgia, but I'm very happy with my Das Keyboard II. THAT will make more difference in programming! Unless you're using Lego Mindstorms :P

Why wireless?

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is wireless a must? Do you enjoy changing batteries or having your mouse accidentally dropped on the floor? Do you enjoy troubleshooting why you suddenly lost your signal?

Re:Why wireless?

[Pajaro]

Really? I would also say, WHY?

I use a microsoft mouse... with cable. No need to recharge or change batteries. I keep my workspace clean and just the most minimal stuff, and it's so much better than when I let it be cluttered. If you have so much mess, you have worse problems than the mouse cord. Begin there.
The cord NEVER tangles, I don't even notice it at all.
Wireless are BULKIER, HEAVIER, more EXPENSIVE and the ones I bought have frizzled out. They might be prone to interference with other mice or other stuff. It's really annoying to sit down to work and find your mouse does NOT work, and you have no fresh or charged batteries.

Really, the cord does NOT get in the way. Well, not if you use it right.

Programming + Mouse ?

[DriedClexler]

Isn't this kind of like asking, "What are the best training wheels to use on the Tour de France?"

Elite programmers should be using an environment where they don't have to use the mouse at all, or use it minimally. They know key commands for everything, except maybe when you want to test out a mouse feature, in which case you can't assume the user has a cool mouse anyway.

Re:Programming + Mouse ?

[rm999]

"Elite programmers should be using an environment where they don't have to use the mouse at all"

Programming is 90% thinking/planning, and 10% typing. The idea that using a mouse makes you a worse programmer in any appreciable sense is about as stupid as the idea that the mouse you use matters.

Wireless? You've already ruled me out

[mdarksbane]

I never want to have to worry about replacing batteries, recharging, or waiting for the mouse to make up from sleep on anything as core to my workflow as a mouse.

Personally I think that any good gaming mouse works well for coding. You've got your extra buttons (which mostly just give you an extra forward/back in your browser) and good accuracy. I'm a fan of my Razer Diamondback, although by this point the grippy paint they put on it is coming off so it looks a bit shabby.

I would say with 100 certainty that your keyboard is ten times more important than your mouse for programming. The mouse just has to not get in your way.

None?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously, once you get used to key bindings, you end up being much faster in ide's like vim and emacs than with a mouse (yeah, I consider them ide's).

It takes some time thought, but believe me, it's worth it.

Re:Huh? WTF is a programming mouse?

[MpVpRb]

I have been programming since 1971.

Back them I used punch cards.

Then, teletypes.

Now, I use a mouse and keyboard.

I definitely consider myself a "real" programmer.

Times change, so do tools.

Are you bored?

[iamapizza]

Quite possibly the worst ask-slashdot question ever. While we're at it, let's also discuss the best mousepad for programming as well as the best type of wood for desks for programming.

Re:Huh? WTF is a programming mouse?

[immakiku]

While mildly funny, this reeks of elitism and untruth. You are associating memorization of esoteric editor commands and customization options with programming skill. While there's likely a good correlation, one can have one without the other.

On a separate note, modern IDEs, such as Eclipse, require the use of the mouse. I would argue that this streamlines the coding process, leaving the developer to focus on the actual design and logic.

Re:Huh? WTF is a programming mouse?

[Whorhay]

I think there is a happy medium somewhere between totally eschewing the mouse and copy pasting individual letters to form words and lines.

Re:Huh? WTF is a programming mouse?

[Anonymous Coward]

While mildly funny, this reeks of elitism and untruth.

No, it's very much true. The "developers" who use a mouse when coding are always slower when writing code and are also usually poorer programmers.

You are associating memorization of esoteric editor commands and customization options with programming skill. While there's likely a good correlation, one can have one without the other.

Well yes. Actually knowing how to use your environment as efficiently as possible would be a sign of good skill.

On a separate note, modern IDEs, such as Eclipse, require the use of the mouse.

Only if you have no clue what you're doing.

I would argue that this streamlines the coding process, leaving the developer to focus on the actual design and logic.

I'm sorry, but I've never once been sidetracked from designing and coding by not using a mouse with my code editor or IDE.

Wow, a preposterous post by a goofy new age programmer who hasn't the faintest idea of how to actually program a computer. Only green horn programmers (see: script kids) like 'Tardo Jones use keyboards. REAL programmers use FORTRAN and PUNCH CARDS!

Re:Huh? WTF is a programming mouse?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not using the mouse doesn't make you a better programmer, it makes you a better code monkey.