Why Developers Need Fast Typing (And How to Get There)

There's a popular myth in programming circles: typing speed doesn't matter because developers spend most of their time thinking, not typing.

This is half true and completely misleading.

The Real Value of Typing Speed for Developers

Yes, programming is mostly thinking. But here's what the "typing doesn't matter" crowd misses: slow typing interrupts thinking.

When you can't keep up with your thoughts, you lose them. You have a solution in your head, but by the time you've hunt-and-pecked it onto the screen, you've forgotten the next step. Your brain had to juggle maintaining the idea while waiting for your fingers to catch up.

Fast typing means your fingers are invisible. You think in code, and it appears on the screen. There's no bottleneck between your brain and the computer.

This matters most during flow states — those magical periods when code pours out of you effortlessly. Slow typing breaks flow. Fast typing sustains it.

Symbols and Special Characters

Here's where developer typing differs from prose typing: code is full of symbols.

function() { return arr.filter(x => x > 0).map(y => y * 2); }

That line has parentheses, brackets, arrows, pipes, and dots. Most typing speed tests don't prepare you for this. You can type 80 WPM on prose and still fumble through code because you've never practiced reaching for { or =>.

Developers need to master the entire keyboard, including the number row and symbols reached with shift. If you find yourself looking down for brackets or semicolons, you're losing time on almost every line.

The Communication Factor

Modern development is highly collaborative. You're constantly communicating:

• Slack messages with teammates
• Pull request descriptions and code reviews
• Documentation and README files
• Issue tracker comments
• Stack Overflow answers
• Email discussions about technical decisions

All of this is typing. If you type 30 WPM instead of 60 WPM, you're spending twice as long on communication that has nothing to do with coding itself.

Some developers avoid written communication because it's slow for them. They'd rather hop on a call than type out an explanation. This isn't always bad, but it limits asynchronous work and creates bottlenecks when you're not available.

Refactoring Becomes Cheaper

When typing is expensive, developers avoid changes. They'll live with imperfect code because fixing it would take too long.

When typing is cheap, refactoring is easy. You don't hesitate to rename that poorly-named variable, extract that messy function, or rewrite that confusing comment. Your code gets better because improvements don't feel like work.

The same applies to documentation. Developers who type slowly write less documentation because each word is a cost. Developers who type quickly document more because the marginal cost is negligible.

How to Improve Developer Typing

Master the Symbol Keys

Standard typing practice won't help with your coding-specific weaknesses. You need to practice:

• Brackets: (), [], {}
• Operators: =>, ===, !==, &&, ||
• Common symbols: ;, :, @, #, $
• Arrows and pipes: ->, |>, <-

Create a practice file with common code patterns and type it repeatedly. Or find typing practice that includes programming syntax.

Practice in Your Language

Different programming languages use different character patterns. Python relies heavily on colons and underscores. JavaScript loves curly braces and arrows. Rust uses angle brackets and colons.

Practice typing real code in your primary language. Open-source projects provide endless sample code to type.

Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Fast typing isn't just about raw WPM — it's about efficiency. Learn the keyboard shortcuts in your editor:

• Navigate without arrows: Ctrl+F for find, Ctrl+G for go to line
• Select and manipulate: Ctrl+D to select word, Ctrl+Shift+K to delete line
• Multi-cursor editing when appropriate
• Search and replace with regex

Keyboard shortcuts often save more time than typing speed improvements because they eliminate entire actions.

Touch Type Consistently

Many developers are partial touch typists. They know the letter keys but still look down for numbers and symbols. This context switching is slow.

Commit to full touch typing, including the number row. Yes, it'll slow you down at first. But within a few weeks, you'll be faster than before, and your flow states won't be interrupted by hunting for @.

What Speed Should Developers Target?

There's no magic number, but here's a rough guide:

30 WPM or below: Typing is definitely holding you back. Prioritize improvement. 40-60 WPM: Functional for development. You might have room for improvement, but it's not urgent. 60-80 WPM: Solid typing speed. Focus on symbol proficiency and keyboard shortcuts instead of raw speed. 80+ WPM: Typing isn't your bottleneck. Improve elsewhere.

These numbers are for prose typing. Your actual coding speed will be lower due to thinking pauses and symbol complexity, and that's normal.

The Compound Effect

Here's the most important thing about typing speed: small improvements compound over a career.

If you type 10 WPM faster and you code for 6 hours a day, that's hundreds of hours saved per year. Over a 30-year career, that's thousands of hours — years of your life.

Those hours can go toward better architecture, more thorough code reviews, improved documentation, or just going home earlier. The investment in typing improvement pays dividends forever.

You don't have to become a speed typing champion. You just have to remove typing as a bottleneck. When your fingers keep up with your thoughts, you can focus entirely on the problem you're solving.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a good typing speed for a programmer?

Most developers are comfortable at 50-70 WPM for prose typing. More important than raw speed is fluency with programming symbols and keyboard shortcuts.

Should I learn a special keyboard layout like Dvorak?

Probably not. The gains from alternative layouts are modest for most people, and the retraining cost is significant. Time spent practicing standard QWERTY is usually more effective.

Do I need to look at the keyboard while coding?

No — touch typing the entire keyboard, including symbols, significantly improves coding flow. The investment in learning to type without looking pays off quickly.