[HN Gopher] Programming on 34 Keys (2022)
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Programming on 34 Keys (2022)
        
       Author : todsacerdoti
       Score  : 51 points
       Date   : 2025-05-25 12:35 UTC (10 hours ago)
        
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       | stephendause wrote:
       | My coworker has a similar setup and loves it. Personally, it
       | feels diametrically opposed to the way that I like to use my
       | keyboard. I don't even like holding Shift to type `{`, `_`, etc
       | when programming. I wish I had dedicated keys for those and other
       | common symbols. I don't mind moving my hands a few inches at all,
       | but for some reason, it feels cumbersome to me to hold down a key
       | to activate another layer. To each their own, of course.
        
         | _def wrote:
         | I guess that's why the thumbs get used here to activate the
         | other layers. I have to try it, but thinking about it it seems
         | way more ergonomic compared to the usual position of the shift
         | key
        
           | Hojojo wrote:
           | This is definitely the case. Since the layer key is at the
           | thumb, it doesn't require moving your hand and you barely
           | need to move your thumb. As somebody who suffers from wrist
           | pain, this makes a huge difference.
        
             | layer8 wrote:
             | Unfortunately I developed beginning arthrosis in my thumbs,
             | so pressing space is about the most I can subject them to.
        
               | linsomniac wrote:
               | Foot pedals?
        
               | layer8 wrote:
               | Those are slower than fingers and can't be used as
               | fluidly, in particular when using them as modifiers for
               | keys typed with the fingers with normal typing speed.
        
               | Jeff_Brown wrote:
               | Drummers do it. It takes some training because the nerve
               | to your foot is longer than the one to your hand, but
               | with good audible feedback it can be done. (If your feet
               | are a meter farther from your ears then the sound from
               | them takes 3 ms longer to be heard. Nobody types that
               | fast but I'd you wanted a truer signal you could generate
               | one in software.)
        
               | layer8 wrote:
               | Not sure about the drummer analogy, because we don't type
               | in a rhythm. Hands and feet can maintain the same rhythm,
               | and that has the effect that their actions can coincide
               | with high precision. For arhythmic actions, my experience
               | is it's more difficult to synchronize to the typical
               | subsecond precision for typing. For example, drum your
               | fingers on a table in sequence, and then try to replace
               | one of the fingers with your foot. It is magnitudes
               | slower. While training will improve it, I don't think it
               | will be able to match the finger drumming, unless you
               | introduce a longer-running rhythm. Keyboard shortcuts are
               | similar.
        
           | James_K wrote:
           | What actually has way more of an impact that that is having
           | the home-row keys set to the modifiers. The best part is that
           | it works even with regular keyboard, you just need to have
           | some kind of hot-key tool running on your computer.
        
         | theroncross wrote:
         | There's a non-obvious, but significant, difference between
         | holding with a thumb in a neutral position and holding with a
         | pinky in a stretched position. Layers become effortless on a
         | keyboard like this.
        
         | Hojojo wrote:
         | I have my layer switch key configured to require only a button
         | press, then the next key I type will be from that layer. So I
         | don't have to hold it down. It's so much more comfortable to
         | use special symbols this way. I've also done this for my shift
         | key.
        
         | layer8 wrote:
         | I agree. I also developed serious RSI from overuse of modifiers
         | and cords. Not everyone's RSI is the same, but just as a
         | caveat.
        
         | lawn wrote:
         | I suggest you look into combos (press multiple keys as an extra
         | key).
         | 
         | For example, I don't hold to type either { or _ or any symbol
         | (O can hold of I type multiple symbols in a row though).
         | 
         | https://www.jonashietala.se/blog/2024/11/26/the_current_cybe...
        
       | FrankWilhoit wrote:
       | Are there, really, developers whose productivity is _first and
       | foremost_ constrained by _how fast they can type?_ If so, what
       | else is known about them? What class of problems are they working
       | on?
        
         | spooneybarger wrote:
         | I use a layout like this and I'm slower than on a traditional
         | qwerty layout. OTOH, I also have far fewer RSI problems.
         | 
         | Speed is rarely a consideration in the community.
        
           | bowsamic wrote:
           | Changing keyboard ergonomics is absolutely not the way to
           | deal with RSI. You should instead go to the gym and do proper
           | physio exercises
        
             | jerrygenser wrote:
             | If you have small hands and you are stretching for
             | delet/backspace and a small kb allows you to hit this key
             | without strain, it absolutely helps with strain on fingers.
             | 
             | I tried many things over the years including other
             | ergonomics and gym etc.
             | 
             | Changing to a smaller split keyboard helped the most and I
             | have not had pain since.
             | 
             | Granted mine has about 50 keys or so so it's not as
             | extreme.
        
             | jpc0 wrote:
             | If you hand is in a position that is putting any of your
             | anatomy at a weird angle no amount of exercise is going to
             | sort that out.
        
               | bowsamic wrote:
               | It's the opposite, actually
        
             | danieldk wrote:
             | Going to a split, key well board, solved my wrist issues. I
             | had severe issues on a traditional row stagger keyboard and
             | they have just gone. The only time I feel discomfort is
             | when I type on a row stagger keyboard again for two weeks
             | (e.g. when taking my laptop with me during a trip).
        
             | aarroyoc wrote:
             | It's not mutually exclusive but getting into the right
             | posture is key. Otherwise you're just fighting against it
             | constantly. That's why most doctors advise for change of
             | habits as the first thing to look for. This is sometimes
             | difficult as we want to keep doing the same things but
             | changing keyboards ergonomics is a thing you can try. In
             | fact my doctor was the one to suggest that for me.
             | 
             | Most keyboards have not spent a single thought on
             | ergonomics, unlike chairs where it is common. There's not a
             | lot of real research in this area and there are
             | contradicting theories (some physicians even say that
             | creating muscle in certain areas like the neck is not worth
             | in the long term). Microsoft ergonomic keyboards have some
             | studies behind and many people report success on split and
             | column staggered keyboards.
        
               | bowsamic wrote:
               | I've never come across a doctor who doesn't start by
               | advising physio exercises
        
             | cultofmetatron wrote:
             | > You should instead go to the gym and do proper physio
             | exercises
             | 
             | wish more people would heed this advice. my wrists are jsut
             | as good as when I was in my 20's. in my early thirties I
             | was starting to develop issues. they went away as soon as I
             | started deadlifting and pullups regularly.
        
               | bowsamic wrote:
               | People will do anything to not address the fundamental
               | weaknesses that are the true causes of their issues. They
               | have wrist pain so they try and fix their wrist with
               | crazy setups, even though they have huge tightness in
               | their traps and never do any strength training. It barely
               | needs anything either, just light strength, high reps low
               | weight. Your wrists can take any keyboard and setup if
               | you don't avoid physio
        
             | codr7 wrote:
             | I don't know about the gym, lifting weights is just another
             | way to ruin your body imo.
             | 
             | Yoga, climbing, martial arts, swimming; there's no end of
             | fun activities that lead somewhere while keeping you in
             | physical shape.
        
         | bowsamic wrote:
         | It's an obsessive thing imo, I don't think it's actually rooted
         | in a practical thing. They're just trying to justify an
         | addiction
        
           | anttiharju wrote:
           | Everyone needs hobbies
        
           | yoyohello13 wrote:
           | One man's addiction is another man's hobby.
        
         | jinay wrote:
         | I used to think that typing speed was not really that
         | important, especially when now we have so many LLMs doing the
         | typing for us. But honestly, now I think it's even more
         | important because the specificity and detail in your prompts
         | are paramount to getting a good response, and something like a
         | dictation tool (which is what I'm using right now) is really
         | good for generating very specific prompts.
         | 
         | In fact, I wrote all this out using a dictation tool in ~20
         | seconds (258 WPM).
        
           | carlinm wrote:
           | Curious, what dictation tool are you using?
        
             | carlmr wrote:
             | Same, 258wpm is something.
        
             | arcanemachiner wrote:
             | FYI I wrote a comment in the same thread where I described
             | the tools I use (TLDR: Whisper).
        
             | jinay wrote:
             | https://github.com/JinayJain/dictator
             | 
             | Built one for myself. It's context-aware and promptable.
             | 
             | Tested well on Linux, not so much on other platforms but in
             | theory should support them.
             | 
             | It's a bit meta but I wrote it mostly using Claude Code.
             | Once I had an MVP, I was able to prompt much faster by just
             | speaking out what I wanted it to change.
        
           | arcanemachiner wrote:
           | Agreed. I installed Whisper on my Linux computer with a
           | program called SpeechNote. The dictation is all done offline,
           | and it is astonishingly good.
           | 
           | I also have a whisper dictation app on my Android phone (the
           | app's ID string is 'org.woheller69.whisper', there's a few
           | Whisper apps with the same name "Whisper", but this one is my
           | favorite).
           | 
           | FWIW this was typed by hand on my phone, but these apps are
           | both amazing.
        
         | lawn wrote:
         | It's about comfort, not speed. Moving to a minimalistic
         | keyboard did wonders for me RSI.
        
         | throwaway71271 wrote:
         | For me its not how fast I can type, my brain(ADHD or whatever
         | this is) needs certain flow of speed; I think of something and
         | want to type it, if I am delayed (e.g. imagine I change from
         | qwerty to dvorak and am still learning) for whatever reason,
         | e.g. key is stuck, my mind goes somewhere else, and then I have
         | to "bring it back".
         | 
         | Also as I am typing one thing I am thinking of another, or even
         | third, so if something goes wrong with the mechanics of the
         | first thing, then whole set of dominoes fall and I have to go
         | back.
         | 
         | Sometimes for a given thought I even type 3rd of 4th word
         | instead of the first if for some reason my keys are not
         | pressed. And then I type a word from the next thought and etc.
         | It even gives me anxiety.
         | 
         | As I am typing the code, I am thinking about the code that is
         | going to use the it, and then the code one layer up, I also
         | think of the machine itself, its wires, cache lines, or I think
         | of how the variable I am typing now is related to its
         | surroundings, I imagine a ladder to the moon each step with its
         | address, and I think how far are things from "me", and so on.
         | 
         | I cant speak of others, but for me keyboard layout and even key
         | feeling/rythm is important just because it allows me to think
         | uninterrupted.
        
           | throwaway71271 wrote:
           | btw thats why I hated the old butterfly keyboards, a tiny
           | crumb gets in and then the probability of a key drops to like
           | 80%, or sometimes it double presses.
           | 
           | I am very happy that apple moved away from the quest of
           | making the keyboard 0 height.
        
         | yoyohello13 wrote:
         | Just because it's not the main bottleneck doesn't mean it's not
         | worth optimizing. Also, yes I have seen devs that type so
         | slowly they really would benefit from learning how to type
         | properly.
         | 
         | I actually switched to an alternative layout and minimal
         | keyboard like this just because it's fun. If I can make my work
         | day more fun, that's a win in my book.
        
         | rgoulter wrote:
         | Conversely, do you think there are developers who would not
         | benefit from being able to type quicker?
        
         | carlmr wrote:
         | I find fast typing is super important to my programming, not
         | because I need to write walls of text, but because if I get
         | into a flow state, I find it irritating if my thoughts are
         | constrained by my typing speed.
        
         | NobodyNada wrote:
         | It's not about how fast you can type, it's about how
         | _effortlessly_ you can type.
         | 
         | Programming involves long periods of thinking interrupted by
         | short periods of typing. Anything you can do to reduce the
         | mental effort of typing reduces the impact of this interruption
         | to your train of thought.
         | 
         | Try programming by hunt-and-peck typing -- it's certainly
         | possible, but having to think about putting each individual
         | character on the screen is incredibly tedious and distracting.
         | This is why people learn things like Vim motions or minimalist
         | keyboard layouts -- anything that speeds up the feedback loop
         | between your brain and your code is an improvement. It's not a
         | _drastic_ difference, but it 's significant enough that I now
         | feel mildly annoyed using a regular keyboard when I have to
         | move _my whole arm_ to reach the arrow keys rather than having
         | them right under my fingers on the home row.
        
         | kfrane wrote:
         | Typing speed might not seem that important if you're looking at
         | the speed of typing and the overall amount of code that an
         | engineer produces that ends up in a PR. But it might take 10x
         | more code that are ephemeral versions that lead up to the full
         | solution. If you're very comfortable with typing and editor
         | commands to manipulate code efficiently then you can iterate
         | faster, creating more intermediate versions of the code that
         | then lead to better overall solutions just because you've tried
         | out more stuff.
        
         | anxoo wrote:
         | of course not. it's fun to mod and geek out about random
         | topics.
         | 
         | i also assume that if you have RSI/carpal tunnel/etc then
         | experimenting with your keyboards switches from negative
         | switching costs to greatly positive
        
         | linsomniac wrote:
         | I recently replaced all my decade old consumer-level battery
         | power tools with contractor-level ones. The old tools were fine
         | to use, but the new ones are just an absolute joy to use. Some
         | of that is just better design and build, some of that is just
         | my perception, but in any case I love using them more.
         | 
         | My "fancy" keyboard is a lot like that. It lets me do some
         | customizations that I really enjoy (ctrl when I hold z and /,
         | esc + win next to a and ', "CAPS WORD", using thumbs for more
         | than just space). I just enjoy using it more. Though it does
         | have a few rough edges I probably need to see if I can fix, I
         | _CAN_ fix them.
         | 
         | I am however thinking that I probably would prefer one of the
         | low-profile ones that is more like a laptop keyboard keys, the
         | regular Cherry Blue desktop keys I feel like I'm tripping over
         | a lot.
        
         | James_K wrote:
         | There are developers whose wrists explode after years of
         | holding down the shift and control keys. I honestly can't
         | recommend a split keyboard enough from an ergonomics
         | perspective. It's even more practical than a regular keyboard.
         | You can put drinks or food in between the two halves, and if
         | you get one using laptop-style low-profile switches you can put
         | it in your pocket and take it with you anywhere on the go.
         | Combined with some of those Android apps that give you a VTT
         | and you can fit an entire coding set up in your pocket.
        
         | FireSquid2006 wrote:
         | I'm one of the people that uses neovim, a tiling window manager
         | on nixos, and a weird split keyboard.
         | 
         | It's true that it will lead to healthier wrists and more
         | productivity, but thats not the point. I know people with
         | incredibly unergonomic setups and habits (vscode with membrane
         | keyboard and a chronic overuse of the mouse) that get around
         | the same or more actual features implemented as me. There might
         | even be something to be said for more friction forcing you to
         | think more.
         | 
         | The reason most of us do it (at least if we are honest with
         | ourselves) is because it's fun---and that's ok. Jumping around
         | in vim on a split keyboard gives me the same joy that watching
         | my first lines of code execute in Gamemaker Studio 2 did in 8th
         | grade.
         | 
         | It's always worth investing to make your work joyful.
        
         | userbinator wrote:
         | Communicating with coworkers efficiently is important for
         | productivity too. While it's true that average speeds are low,
         | I think the ability to quickly and effortlessly write out code
         | or paragraphs of prose when needed is important to
         | productivity.
        
         | magarnicle wrote:
         | Yes: https://danluu.com/productivity-velocity/
        
       | xkriva11 wrote:
       | ColorForth environment uses only 27 keys. See
       | https://www.greenarraychips.com/home/documents/greg/cf-edito...
        
       | gryn wrote:
       | I started using (programming and everything else) with a 34key
       | keyboard with miryoku layout with inverted T arrow keys & native
       | mouse emulation layer enabled around 2years ago and I haven't
       | looked back. it's more comfortable, it fixed my pathological
       | touch typing too.
       | 
       | for those a want to give it a try, here are my the problems I
       | encountered so far:
       | 
       | - stuff like Figma where you need to keep holding the space bar
       | to change editing modes, won't work you need to make you custom
       | (single purpose) space button if you want it.
       | 
       | - you can't play video games, unless you make you own custom
       | layer or give each game a custom key bindings. I don't game much
       | and when I do I use a gamepad so this haven't been much of a
       | bother for much of bother for me but if you do It's something to
       | keep in mind.
       | 
       | - the MCU boards that are available are very finicky, the
       | nice!nano breaks easily I bought multiple replacements, they are
       | very heat senstive. I had pins die, the charging circuit die on
       | multiple ocasions in different boards. also I think using the
       | mill-max pin was a mistake on my part even if it was the
       | recommendation, they more expensive, annoying and you can't just
       | plug them in a breadboard to test & debug them. on the web
       | there's also an alternative commendation to use the leftover
       | metal parts of the resistances/diodes. I would also recommend
       | against it, with time the connections to the board start
       | disconnecting since you probably won't cut all of them to the
       | same exact length and that they wiggle inside the mill-max pin
       | sockets. just use the standard ones that are used in most PCBs
       | even if they are bigger.
       | 
       | - avoid using jack connectors to connect the sleeves, they can
       | fry your MCUs and when they don't with time they give out and
       | they start to disconnect and need time to reconnect and it makes
       | for a bad user experience.
       | 
       | - if you make a wireless keyboard don't add LED backlights or
       | individual per key LEDs they significantly drain your battery
       | life even when you're not using them.
       | 
       | - Bluetooth connection is still somewhat unreliable, having
       | something with wireless 2,4ghz would be better but I don't think
       | there's an open source solution for that which is off the shelf,
       | so if you want it you'll probably to make your own or tweak
       | something from somewhere else.
       | 
       | I want to make a keyboard like the one that was submitted here a
       | few weeks or months ago that takes these notes into account but I
       | haven't found the time or the motivation. EDIT: this one
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43255529
       | 
       | I've also seen some people sell some open-source versions in ali
       | express recently for around 60eur pre-assembled. I haven't
       | ordered one so I'm not recommending it, just curious if anyone
       | here ever did.
        
         | abhinavk wrote:
         | > - stuff like Figma where you need to keep holding the space
         | bar to change editing modes, won't work you need to make you
         | custom (single purpose) space button if you want it.
         | 
         | https://zmk.dev/docs/keymaps/behaviors/hold-tap#quick-tap-ms
         | should work.
        
       | danieldk wrote:
       | Some observations from someone who has also used minimalist
       | layouts on similar keyboards for a while:
       | 
       | - Thumbs can also get overuse. I would generally only recommend
       | to use one key for each thumb very frequently to avoid too much
       | lateral movement. Also don't go overboard with layer holds on
       | thumbs.
       | 
       | - The thumb key placement on some of these boards, e.g. the
       | placement of the inner thumb key on the Ferris-based keyboard in
       | the linked post, is quite disastrous. Unless you have very small
       | hands, the thumb will be very close to the palm or even under the
       | palm, and this can get very painful over longer periods. Even
       | worse is that if you type very fast, the index finger can cross
       | the thumb. Just try it a few times. If you keep your thumb on the
       | thumb key while doing that, there is a lot of tension in the
       | fingers.
       | 
       | - The obsession with minimalist layouts is to minimize
       | finger/hand movement. But I could find not much evidence in the
       | scientific literature that less movement is actually good. It's
       | also a huge trade-off, because you end up with a lot of holds
       | (which are probably not great for your fingers either) or
       | additional key presses (Callum mods). There are also other ways
       | to decrease finger travel, like using a key well keyboard, which
       | not only reduces distances, but also puts your fingers in a more
       | natural resting position and makes the finger movements more
       | natural (since keys are laid out along the natural arcs of the
       | fingers) [1].
       | 
       | I went away from small keyboards and minimalist layouts. I
       | certainly use far fewer keys than most people and some layers.
       | But I have found that key well boards make more keys reachable
       | and have superior ergonomics.
       | 
       | Also, if you have a finger/hand issue as a result of
       | keyboard/mouse use, visit a medical expert, not
       | /r/ergomechkeyboards .
       | 
       | (I am _not_ a health /ergonomics expert, just speaking from
       | experience. Though it's probably best to ignore this and consult
       | an expert.)
       | 
       | [1] There is a lot of pseudo-science in the whole ergo keyboard
       | community, with folk wisdom like "Dactyl-style squeeze thumb
       | clusters are better, because we naturally squeeze our thumbs to
       | grab objects", meanwhile a lot of folks had thumb injuries from
       | that type of cluster. The only types of keyboards that I could
       | find research papers about were Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard-
       | style boards, which seem to have their design decisions grounded
       | in actual human trials and some of the early Maltron keyboards.
        
       | cenamus wrote:
       | The navigation and symbol layer (not the limited number of keys)
       | seem very reminiscent of the Neo layouts.
       | 
       | In german, but should be clear enough: https://www.neo-
       | layout.org/
        
       | pandastronaut wrote:
       | I am always amazed by the dedication and craftmanship that
       | keyboard enthusiasts put in their creation.
       | 
       | In the meantime, I have spent my life following the opposite path
       | : minimizing all form of customization so that I can switch
       | computer at any time without feeling lost or missing something (
       | I have to use computers from several clients all the time).
        
         | whartung wrote:
         | I am absolutely in this camp.
         | 
         | I won't say I never customize things, but, 99.99% of things, I
         | do not customize.
         | 
         | I just cope with what's there, make do.
         | 
         | E.g. the limit of my emacs customization is Slime for Lisp
         | (and, honestly, it took me several years to pull that trigger).
         | 
         | Same reason I learned vi a zillion years ago, while my friend
         | was pushing emacs. I had to jump around random Unix boxen as a
         | daily thing, and they weren't mine.
        
           | CTDOCodebases wrote:
           | I'm 100% this for software.
           | 
           | Living off the land with minimal customization.
        
         | eddd-ddde wrote:
         | On my main keyboard I can activate custom "layers" by holding
         | some special keys, then each layer turns every other key into a
         | special binding.
         | 
         | I have so many shortcuts programmed that whenever I'm working
         | directly on my laptop's keyboard I found myself pressing wrong
         | keys expecting it to do something different. It's really funny
         | how muscle memory works.
        
         | CTDOCodebases wrote:
         | You can do both.
         | 
         | I use to type on 60 key boards using layers but when I switched
         | to using a laptop keyboard it would mess me up as I used caps
         | lock to switch layers and I had a navigation layer that used
         | hjkl for arrows.
         | 
         | So what I changed to a TKL 80 key keyboard for QWERTY and then
         | use Colemak Mod-DH on my split (Cantor Remix).
         | 
         | The result is I can type on both due to the context switch. So
         | if I need to use a QWERTY board I am fine.
         | 
         | Also my golden rule with split keyboards is I only use open
         | source designs. I don't want to invest time into a layout if
         | the keyboard isn't going to be available in the future.
        
         | lawn wrote:
         | So then you'd have to be comfortable with multiple operating
         | systems, IDEs and to some extent keyboard layouts.
         | 
         | If you use a custom keyboard (and layout) then you only have
         | one extra thing to learn.
         | 
         | I can still use VSCode and a regular keyboard/layout but I
         | still maintain my own custom keyboard layout and highly
         | configured Neovim setup.
        
         | mihaaly wrote:
         | Exactly!
         | 
         | Dependence on special hardware instead of generally available
         | ones is the making of future trouble for yourself.
         | 
         | Also in collaborative environments allowing others to work on
         | your computer, assisting you in an easy way, is important.
         | 
         | For people working 40 years alone in a remote cellar the exact
         | very same way throughout, and making several reserve clone of
         | the unique and specialist hardware replacing the worn out ones,
         | this could be ok.
        
           | pandastronaut wrote:
           | That's also part of my reasoning. I don't want to feel
           | uncomfortable because of whatever customization I would be
           | missing or make other people unable to use whatever
           | environment or computer I work with. Most of the time, I am
           | not allowed to plug a personal device or modify the setup
           | anyway.
           | 
           | But I am cool with people that customize everything, from
           | software to hardware, as long as this is not in the path of
           | other people. Everyone can find its one and best way to work
           | :)
        
         | James_K wrote:
         | My keyboard fits in my pocket. I never have to deal with using
         | a computer that doesn't have it. And, as a bonus feature, you
         | look like a mega-hacker when you take some hand-soldered
         | circuit-board-looking keyboard out of your pockets with blank
         | keycaps and plug it into a computer.
        
       | mrbenjihao wrote:
       | I feel that most tend to not realize that typing on a keyboard
       | like this actually forces you to type correctly. In the past I've
       | gotten by through my own typing style, however since moving to
       | this type of split keyboard I've found myself using every finger
       | to a much greater degree - especially my pinkies.
        
         | ivanjermakov wrote:
         | I got my typing style fixed this way. Not because of a split
         | design, but because of ortholinear design. It makes so much
         | sense to have columns vertically align, since there is no
         | ambiguity what key to press.
        
       | hackernudes wrote:
       | I didn't see any way to type function keys (f1, etc...). I see
       | some of the allure of minimalist keyboards but when I imagine
       | myself using it it seems painful.
        
         | CTDOCodebases wrote:
         | The firmware that is loaded on these devices is _very_
         | configurable.
         | 
         | There are layers and double/quick/long tap keys that can let
         | you add these keys to the layers.
         | 
         | To use keyboard shortcuts though you need to put a lot of
         | thought into the layout and what shortcuts you use.
         | 
         | The payoff is better ergonomics. No bent wrists (if you type
         | that way) and open chest when typing and less slouching. It
         | opens up a multitude of options e.g. mount the keyboard halves
         | to the sides or arms of your desk chair and code on your
         | loungeroom TV or supine computing.
         | 
         | The downsides is the time spend configuring a layout and
         | learning it.
        
         | ivanjermakov wrote:
         | I have my f key layer set up very similarly to digit layer, so
         | that 1-9 and f1-f9 are the same keys, just on different layers.
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Discussed at the time:
       | 
       |  _Programming on 34 Keys_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32648245 - Aug 2022 (69
       | comments)
        
       | James_K wrote:
       | I've been doing a similar thing for a while now, but I have a
       | 36-key board. I take a slightly different approach to the one in
       | this article, namely I just have the space key on the left thumb
       | cluster to raise to a layer with the numbers on the home-row
       | keys, and then I have the Shift+Number combinations that you
       | would have on a normal keyboard. I mainly do this so that I'm not
       | completely at sea when typing on a regular board, though one of
       | the great advantages of a 36-keyer (and mine uses low profile
       | laptop switches) is that you can just put it in your pocket and
       | take it around with you. You can cover all of the standard typing
       | symbols in just two layers which are nicely similar to that of a
       | regular keyboard (and if you use Vim keys, that's all you need).
        
       | lolive wrote:
       | Remapping my CapsLock as a layer activator has been the best idea
       | of my life.
       | 
       | [CapsLock+Space=Enter, CapsLock+jklm=arrows,
       | CapsLock+uiop=Backspace,PgDn,PgUp,Delete.
       | CapsLock+1-9=FunctionKeys. All that on a 60% AZERTY keyboard.]
       | 
       | Highly recommended !
       | 
       | [Just added CapsLock+f=. and CapsLock+u=/ , as they are
       | particularly impractical characters to type on a french keyboard]
        
       | userbinator wrote:
       | Looking at things like this is like gazing into an alien world. I
       | wonder if people who do this are able to use a regular keyboard
       | layout, or if their muscle memory has been completely replaced
       | with that of their custom input device. A standard full-size
       | keyboard works best for me, having experienced the frustration
       | that is modern laptops' castrated layouts.
        
         | magarnicle wrote:
         | I'm most of the way to OP for my work keyboard, but at home I
         | just use a regular keyboard as it's shared with family members.
         | I have no problem switching, apart from very occasionally
         | holding down f and expecting that to be shift.
        
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