Once upon a time, long-time Slashdot reader tgibson learned how to type on a manual typewriter, back in an 8th grade classroom.
And to this day, they write, “my bias is to nod approvingly at touch typists and roll my eyes at those who need to stare at the keyboard while typing…” But how true is that for computer professionals today?
After 15 years I left industry and became a post-secondary computer science educator. Occasionally I rant to my students about the importance of touch-typing as a skill to have as a software engineer.
But I’ve been out of the game for some time now. Those of you hiring or working with freshly-minted software engineers, what’s your take?
One anonymous Slashdot reader responded:
Oh, you mean the kid in the next cubicle that has said “Hey Siri” 297 times this morning? I’ll let you know when he starts typing. A minor suggestion to office managers… please purchase a very quiet keyboard. Fellow cube-mates who are accomplished typists would consider that struggling audibly to be akin to nails on a blackboard…
Share your own thoughts in the comments.
How important is it for programmers to learn touch typing?