Does Programmer Need To Learn To Type Faster?

Does Programmer Need To Learn To Type Faster?

In addition to that, I get the question "I am a beginner programmer who cannot type fast. How can I improve my touch typing so I can program faster?" so often.”

Although, for those that like to push themselves in this area, improving their typing speed test can be very fun. According to this wpm test app, I type 101 words per minute (WPM), and that puts me ahead of 98.69% of people who took the same test. Who's up for cheap thrills?

I took a type-a-test to keep myself entertained. Please do not take this as a validation that you will grow up to be a programmer or a disqualification.

Let's discuss a major misconception today. Let me put it out there... being a programmer doesn't entail typing fast. Do programmer type fast?

Why?

It has a lot to do with the fact that your brain is almost always playing catch up with your fingers.

While I continue coding every day as a professional programmer, I am becoming increasingly aware of several important factors that affect my brain processing speed and typing speed.

The secret to being a good programmer isn't typing fast

1.Coding speed is not the same as typing speed

Even though you may not be surprised to hear this, it's worth repeating: touch typing is not coding. Code can be written without using a lot of touch typing with modern text editors and integrated development environments (IDE).

The text editor, like Atom, has several fantastic features that allow you to code without typing every single character. (I use Atom, which has quite a few of these features).

When you use autocomplete, you can conjure up multiple lines of code within seconds. By touch typing "form" in Atom and clicking Enter, the opening and closing *form> tags, along with the typical attributes embedded in forms, will be inserted.

An additional neat trick: whenever you press Cmd + D during a word search, Atom highlights that word the next time it appears. It is very useful and saves you a lot of time.

The amount of python typing practice there isn't very much, is it? Several of the letters I typed into that code were just letters, so I quickly hit enter, moved my cursor using the arrow keys, then copied and pasted them to make it work.

2.Coding is more about thinking than programming and typing

The fact that programming involves more than just writing code also means you don't have to type quickly to be a faster in coding.

A typical day for me includes about half the time spent thinking about how to properly solve the problem related to a bug or partial feature to be implemented. A good developer will consider things like the code's efficiency, its readability, and its ability to work independently without affecting other code segments.

So I'm usually only hammering the keys about 1/5 of the time. In my head, the rest of the time, I'm a lunatic.

Is touch typing worth it for programmers?

That being said, for CODING purposes, it's not all that useful. For general life use, yes it is. Touch typing or not, 48 wpm is pretty slow. While WPM doesn't really translate to anything directly related to programming, not being able to keep your eyes off your keyboard will.

Typing matters in certain situations

Hollywood and zealots of real-life programming argue that touch typing still matters, but not the way they would like us to believe.

You should be able to type faster without thinking too hard if you want to become a programmer. When you are a programmer, touch typing matters. Break-finger speeds aren't the point.

The speed at which you can type faster does not matter: what's important is that you can type faster without interruption. For programmers, it's an essential skill. Programming is indeed all about thinking, and the code you write is often just an imperfect interface between your mind and the computer. To make thinking easier, you should do everything you can.

It is an advantage if you can type fast at that end, though a small one at that. The returns are diminishing, similarly to the graph. Most of the gains are related to being able to type quickly and accurately type, and the other twenty percent is related to being able to type faster without thinking too hard.

Therefore the truth is out - you don't need to type faster to be a developer!

Average Typing Speed for Programmers

Around 40 words per minute (within 200 symbols) are typed worldwide on average. My experience is that developers typically type 70 words per minute or more. This is the average coding speed of programmer.

My team and I just did a programmer typing speed test. We received 96 words per minute from our lead on the front end. Our team leader did 98 words per minute. Though I can go up to 96-98 words per minute, I average about 94 words per minute.

We just hired a developer less than a year ago that smashed us with 165 words per minute! A good typing speed. (That's near the world record).

As a developer, you are also responsible for producing other forms of content such as email reports, documentation, and comments. As you might imagine, this usually doesn't require much "thinking" (such as analyzing the problem and developing a solution). There is a factor of typing speed to consider.

No matter how fast one works, a brilliant software engineer who averages 40 words per minute will still be able to produce more than a junior who works 100 words per minute. You might learn faster and produce slightly more if you practice your typing speed compared to someone who is a slower typist with the very same background and experience.

How to Improve Programming Efficiency

Following are some programming typing tips that will lead you towards speed coding. Here is the answer for your question How to be a faster developer?

Before writing code, think it through

You will make fewer mistakes if you think before typing any code. While your code, you can spend less time thinking about the next steps if you know exactly what the problem is.

Learn how to touch-type faster

The speed at which you type is directly related to how fast you code. Once you become familiar with the keyboard on your computer, you can use it more quickly. Getting used to your keyboard requires a lot of practice.

But don't get frustrated if you type slow. It will not stop you from making a good coder. Just practice daily and make touch typing a part of your coding. Daily 10 minutes of touch typing will give you pretty big results within just a week or two.

Code as a hobby

If you want to quickly increase your typing and coding speed, there is something you can do: Find little side projects you like and learn how to build them. During practice, you can search for what you're looking for and build your application. There are few online code typing games are available where you can practice coding. If you are python developer, it can be a advantage for you as here you can identify your typing speed as a programmer.

Taking up coding as a hobby increases your knowledge of the code as well. These practices will help you think about problems more clearly if you are more experienced in what you want to write.

Identify and resolve coding challenges

You might be able to program faster if you solve coding challenges. It may take a specific amount of time for your program to accomplish some of these challenges.

Having fast code means testing it faster, and building more robust applications is enhanced.

Check out open source project codes

Reading open source projects will give you a deeper understanding of what's behind those libraries and will enable you to use the same approaches the project's maintainers use.

Keep track of your progress

You will be able to determine your most efficient work style by tracking your progress. If you divide your project process into periods and set some goals, it will be easy to keep track. Your coding habits will become more confident as a result.