I recently stumbled upon a statement that, in its essence, programming is simply about pressing keys on a keyboard. While it might sound overly simplistic, there’s a core truth to it. Programmers, at their most fundamental level, are indeed typists. We meticulously arrange characters in sequences that compilers can interpret, transforming them into machine code.
Consequently, if you’re a slow typist, even the most advanced IDE or text editor, or the most streamlined workflow, will only take you so far. Your typing speed will inevitably become your bottleneck.
Now, the argument that typing speed isn’t paramount for programmers often surfaces. The focus, it’s said, should be on problem-solving and solution design, rather than the act of typing itself.
I largely agree with this perspective. However, all other factors being equal, wouldn’t it be advantageous to type faster, allowing you to move swiftly to the next challenge? Consider the sheer volume of code a programmer writes over a career – tens, possibly hundreds, of thousands of lines. That’s an immense amount of typing.
Assessing My Typing Skills and the Need for Improvement
Let me clarify, my typing wasn’t atrocious. I clocked in around 40 words per minute, which, from what I could gather, is roughly the average. I could even type reasonably well without constantly looking at the keyboard. Over time, I had developed a peculiar four-finger typing style, primarily utilizing my index and middle fingers.
While I had a general sense of the alphabetic key positions, I still had to glance down occasionally, particularly for numbers, symbols, and punctuation.
I recognized the potential for greater efficiency. What harm could there be in dedicating a month to learning touch typing with all ten fingers and evaluating the results? I could always revert to my old method if no improvements materialized.
So, at the age of 29, I decided it was time to properly learn how to type, embracing the touch typing technique.
Embarking on the Touch Typing Journey with the Right Tool
A quick Google search for “learn touch typing” led me to TypingClub. Its free access and user-friendly interface made it an appealing choice, so I decided to use it as my primary learning platform.
It’s been nearly a month since I started, and I’ve invested 14 hours and 44 minutes into practice on TypingClub.
My TypingClub statistics showing progress in words per minute (WPM) and accuracy over time.
As the stats indicate, starting around July 31st, my typing speed (the orange line representing WPM) has shown a consistent upward trend.
In just one month, my typing speed has already increased by 10 WPM. My keyboard coverage has also improved significantly. The journey hasn’t been entirely seamless, but it hasn’t been overly difficult either.
Here are my weekly observations and progress notes:
Week 1: Foundational Steps in Touch Typing
Average typing speed for the week: 15 WPM
The initial days were quite basic, focusing on learning one key at a time. Progress felt rapid as new keys were introduced. Within just an hour or so of practice each day, I had learned the positions of roughly three-quarters of the alphabet. Typing felt relatively smooth and straightforward during these initial lessons.
However, attempting to apply these nascent touch typing skills in real-world scenarios was a complete disaster.
Not only was I significantly slower, but my accuracy was also appalling. This made even simple tasks incredibly unproductive and frustrating. It became clear that I couldn’t yet rely on my touch typing skills for actual work.
Week 2: Expanding Keyboard Coverage and Facing New Challenges
Average typing speed for the week: 22 WPM
By the end of the second week, I had covered the entire alphabet and started learning number keys.
An interesting observation emerged: the right shift key felt completely alien. I realized I had never consciously used it before. Touch typing emphasizes using the right shift to capitalize left-hand keys and the left shift for right-hand keys. This coordination required conscious effort and felt unnatural at first.
Real-world typing remained too slow. I still lacked sufficient practice with all the keys, especially symbol keys, which are frequently used in programming languages.
Week 3: Breakthrough to Previous Typing Speed
Average typing speed: 39 WPM
Week three marked a significant milestone. I had finally covered the entire keyboard layout. Incredibly, I was already typing as fast as I had been before starting touch typing! After just three weeks of focused practice, my speed had rebounded to my old method’s pace.
Even more encouraging, I began to incorporate touch typing in real-world situations.
Two primary factors were still holding me back:
- Hand Positioning Delay: It took a noticeable moment to correctly position my fingers over the home row keys (A-S-D-F for the left hand and J-K-L-; for the right). Accurate initial placement was crucial; otherwise, my accuracy plummeted.
- Right Pinky Finger Inefficiency: Touch typing assigns numerous keys to the right pinky finger. I was still inefficient and inaccurate when hitting these keys, many of which are essential in programming (like brackets, quotes, and symbols).
The right pinky’s broad responsibility was evident, and mastering its keys would clearly require more time and dedicated practice.
Unsurprisingly, TypingClub’s finger efficiency analysis highlighted my right pinky as the least efficient finger.
At this point, I was approximately 70% through the TypingClub curriculum. There weren’t many new concepts to learn; it was primarily about practice and refinement. I aimed to complete the entire course. My average typing speed hovered around 50 WPM, with peak speeds reaching about 61 WPM. My accuracy consistently remained around 95%.
Conclusion: The Value of Investing in Typing Skills
I believe this one-month investment in upgrading my typing technique has been exceptionally worthwhile. Weeks three and four witnessed substantial improvements in my typing speed, with the potential for further gains.
I have already surpassed my previous typing speeds and can now confidently use touch typing in everyday scenarios without significant frustration.
The most persistent annoyance currently is the initial hand positioning. For short bursts of typing—just a few words—it feels like it takes a relatively long time to set my hands correctly on the keyboard. However, I anticipate this will improve naturally with continued practice and familiarity with touch typing.
I also need to enhance my accuracy with numbers and symbols, but again, this will come with time and focused practice.
Overall, I am genuinely grateful that I dedicated the time to improve this fundamental skill. I am confident it will serve me well throughout my programming career, enhancing my productivity and efficiency.
