Faster Than The Speed of Type

Back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, I had a typing class in the 7th grade. I immediately liked the simple repetition, building muscle memory, and the constant striving to get faster and more accurate.

Fast forward to today. I still love typing. As a computer programmer, the ability to type fairly quickly is very handy. Programmers usually type in bursts; I have seen slow (very slow) typists with incredible minds flourish as programmers despite an abysmal typing rate.

One does not have to type fast to be a programmer. But . . . .

It really, really helps if they can type 55 wpm or more, and here's why. I make the argument that programming is a team sport most of the time. And when a co-worker is screen-sharing or hunched near an array of monitors peer programming or mobbing a bizarre problem, it's a benefit to all involved if their typing speed is faster than a sleepy turtle. It's not the end of the world if their wpm makes a better golf score than typing speed. However, since programmers sit at a computer typing all day long, why not strive to improve and maintain a decent speed at this most foundational skill?

There's the issue of thinking ones typing skills are "good enough", which I argue is a slow killer of curiosity, productivity, and plain old fun. But that's a different post, so let's go with the next reason which is likely "typing for typing sake is boring." That's harder to argue with. Luckily there is a solution.

Improving typing is an area where gamification really delivers. Of all the gamified platforms for typing, I recommend Nitro Type. You can see a screenshot of my public profile as the header of this article. I encourage anyone, not just programmers, that want to improve the foundational skill of typing to head over to Nitro Type and if so inclined join my typing team; or, create your own team. I'll see you on the race track!