>devs that can't touch type.

Hey, that's me :)

Out of curiosity, why is this a yardstick for SW developers? I assumed the more valuable skill of the profession would be critical thinking and problem solving skills, not finger dexterity on pressing buttons without looking. That's why I didn't become a secretary or court stenographer.

I mean, a lot of doctors can't hand write for shit, but is that in anyway relevant to being a good doctor?

What about SW devs with handicaps or mobility issues?

Touch typing feels like a pretty niche hill to die on.

It's a signaling mechanism more than anything, as you can see from the other responses here.

"I can touch type" == "I spend enough time writing things on the computer every day that I have invested in the fluidity and comfort of my own hands" == "I'm enough of a nerd to actually be good at my job".

But it's also worth it from an ergonomics standpoint. I learned to touch type over the space of a few weeks of practice, meant years ago, and it's the reason I can use a split ortho keyboard today, which is much nicer on my wrists than the alternatives. I can also keep a notebook between the two keyboard halves which is much nicer to scribble on than having it to the side somewhere.

I would personally say that you should ignore it.

Programming isn't bottlenecked by how fast you can enter or type text, it is about focusing and thinking and then solving a problem. In other words, being able to enter text faster does not imply also being able to solve a problem faster.

I would even say that on the contrary, taking longer and reflecting on what you are typing more may perhaps result in a better quality solution of the problem being solved.

Thoughts go faster than fingers. It's already hard enough to keep up with my stream of thoughts when coding, when I'm touch typing pretty fast. I can't imagine my coding experience if I had to look at the keyboard to input my thoughts into the editor. It's subjective, everyone has a different experience, but I feel I would be severely impaired.

Consider me amazed! I would have thought it's something people pick up naturally by virtue of spending hours every day working with a keyboard.

I wouldn't link it to competency as a dev.

It’s exactly because of having more valuable things to do that you should have typing just be a subconscious act instead of having to take your eyes off the monitor all the time.

Touch typing is not super useful. I picked it up naturally over time, but it was just an accident. In general, the desire to type fast is a symptom of insufficient automation.

It is sort of nice to turning your laptop screen red and dim, and code on a dark porch at night (OLED screen required to get real darkness). Just you, the vim, and some fireflies. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness, and maybe you’ll see some animals that you don’t normally see.

I started programming in grade school, and never learned to touch type. I was faster than my teachers, and ended up becoming a professional dev without touch typing.

When I was 29, I got very bad RSI in my right wrist, and re-evaluated my whole computing life as a result: switched to dvorak, removed the mouse/touchpad in favor of keyboard-centric tools, and swapped to a trackball when the pointer was needed. I also learned to touch type.

Of all the changes I made, I think the one with the most lasting value was touch typing. I didn't want to learn it, but I just bit the bullet, and I'm glad I did. It makes doing everything else on the computer very fluid and comfortable. It sounds like the touch typing position doesn't work for you, but the core point is that being able to effortlessly interface with the machine while your eyes can do something else is empowering.

I bothered writing this because I spent decades both before and after learning to touch type, so I feel I have some perspective on how they compare.

As a software developer, written communication is your main output -- no matter whether it's code, Mails, documentation or presentations

Unless you are thinking slower than you are typing, you should invest in learning a basic and very easy skill

The main output of doctors is not written notes though.

Our main output is typed code.

Yes, our most valuable skill is critical thinking. So I don’t want to waste time and thought on wondering where the “f” key is. If I’m thinking about typing, I’m not thinking about the problem.

I see it as being willing to invest time into your craft. A few hours spent learning to touch type will save countless time over a lifetime.

It’s an invaluable skill not just for developers, but for anyone whose job requires frequent typing.

Out of curiosity, why is this a yardstick for SW developers?

In my college, if you couldn't type 40 WPM, you didn't graduate.