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Can you blind type?

 
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I mean using all your ten vingers and not looking at the keyboard?
I just wonder how many programmers can do it.
I was unemployed the first few months after graduation, and used that time to teach me that when I was about 25.
A silly thing maybe, but I never regretted it!

(And I saw our scrum master struggling with two fingers during our meetings.)
 
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I would consider myself of moderate competency at touch typing.

You wouldn't immediately think it's a great skill for programming but having to explicitly think about the physical act of typing is a distraction I'm happy to live without.
 
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Yes, I can, but same as Tim, I don't think it is a must skill for programmer.

I learned blind typing back in 1998 or something close to that date. And I just did a test, results here (<- link). And the results says I am a pro (89 words per min), sorry Tim
I was typing in English (text never seen before), in my native language I'd do faster I think, as I wouldn't need to think about words too much in my head.

And yes, I use 10 fingers to type, each is responsible for particular set of keystrokes.
 
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Yes, I took typing in high school. That was in the Late Stone Age so I learned on manual (not even electric) typewriters.

And I do find it useful for programming, although right now I'm typing on one of those tablet keyboards.
 
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I have Das Keyboard at home, which has no symbols on the keys. I could type fairly fast before I had it, but I would always look at my hands as I typed. Since I started using it, I became pretty decent at touch typing, except that my finger positions are probably not what they teach in typing classes. I use my left pinky finger only for the shift key, and the right pinky finger only for the enter key.
 
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Sort of. No formal typing class. When I was in high school, that class was for girls. Looking back now, why the hell didn't I take it?!?

I can type fast and fairly accurately, but I have my own "style" that's developed over 30+ years. I'm sure I'm not using the "correct" finger for most of the keys, but it works for me. Usually the only time I have to look at the keyboard is when my fingers are off by one and I have to readjust my hand position.
 
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I'm an advanced hunt and pecker. While i often type without looking (being very self-conscious right now), i often look to be sure, or out of habit.
 
Jan de Boer
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J. Kevin Robbins wrote:When I was in high school, that class was for girls. Looking back now, why the hell didn't I take it?!?.



Is the headbang for not being able to blind type or for missing a chance to meet these girls?

Anyway, to confess.., I took language classes to meet girls! But after learning German, Spanish, French and Korean, I am still single.
 
Jan de Boer
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Paul Clapham wrote:Yes, I took typing in high school. That was in the Late Stone Age so I learned on manual (not even electric) typewriters.



Ha, yes, when I was fifteen we had a similar class with these mechanical things, you could hurt your fingers on those. I did not take it though. As an arrogant adolescent I thought when I grew up, I would have my own private secretary, and would not need to know how to type. That appeared to be adolecent wishful thinking..
 
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Not to save my life.
 
J. Kevin Robbins
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Jan de Boer wrote:

J. Kevin Robbins wrote:When I was in high school, that class was for girls. Looking back now, why the hell didn't I take it?!?.



Is the headbang for not being able to blind type or for missing a chance to meet these girls?


The girls of course. I am not a smart man.
 
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I use all EIGHT fingers (and two thumbs) to type. I am pretty good at the alphabet, but even after coding for years, generally have to look for digits/symbols across the top.

I can 10-key numbers on the numeric keypad without looking at all. 10 years of retail and keying in ISBN numbers drilled that skill into me.
 
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It look a lot of practice but I think that I can type without looking at the keyboard. In fact, I am doing it now...

However, in my opinion, to be a good type typist, you have to be able to not look at the keyboard or the screen -- meaning just looking at the document that you are transcribing. In this regard, I am not sure if I can do it for very long.

Henry
 
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I also have my own eight-finger system and I can type pretty quickly. I learned to type on the Commodore 64 but never did a course for it.

I prefer a simple, regular keyboard. I've tried one of those curved, ergonomic keyboards, but I found it really hard to type on. Apparently it's not compatible with my 8-finger system. It's hard if my left hand wants to go to the right side of such a keyboard or vice versa.
 
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I can touch type without looking at the keyboard or the screen. I learned that I did this when a co-worker came by a number of years ago. I turned around to tell her I'd be with her in a minute and kept typing. She noted this and I realized I was in fact typing without looking at anything.

(I typed this with my eye closed to check I can still do it. I made one typo.)

I can't type code without looking at the screen; just text.
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