How Well do You Type When Writing Python Code?
This thing with typing is, if you type badly, you will get a lot of practice at typing badly, whereas if you learn to type properly, you will practice typing well every time you do it. The difficulty comes in making the transition from being a bad typist to a good one. It takes an investment of time and energy and can be frustrating, as to begin with, you will find that your typing speed decreases while you transition from “seek and peck” to the disciplined approach of “proper” typing.
It’s worth it though.
Why should I learn to type properly?
- It is faster than bad typing
- It is much better for your posture and therefore your health
- You can focus completely on the work on your monitor rather than constantly switching your attention between your keyboard and your work
- If you want to be taken seriously in a computing job, it is a fairly basic requirement
- You get to seamlessly connect you thoughts with your output making you an unstoppable content ninja, whether writing code, essays or sales copy, or just chatting in real time.
- It’s pretty satisfying when you get the hang of it.
How do I learn to type properly?
The key here (no pun intended) is consistency. If your attempts at learning are sporadic, you will lose motivation and likely give up. You don’t actually need to do much practice in one sitting, but the sessions do need to be regular. Literally just 5 minutes a day is enough if you are disciplined enough to make sure you actually stick to it.
So don’t delay – remember every day you put off learning to type properly, you will reinforcing your bad typing by practicing doing it wrong!
In terms of resources to help you, there are absolutely loads available. Some are free, some are paid and many have both free options and paid options to unlock advanced features.
Two resources which I particularly recommend are:
for general typing from total beginner to advanced level, and
for practicing typing specifically for programming, with extracts from open source code in JavaScript, Ruby, C, C++, Java, PHP, Perl, Haskell, Scala, and more.
I know it can be a drag and seem to slow you down in the sort-term, but if you spend any significant amount of time at a computer, learning to type properly is definitely an investment you should make.
Happy computing!