Coding along with the series - day 29

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Edited by lclhstr on Reason: progress update
I watch Casey's videos and look over the source code using diff afterwards. I would like to follow along by typing, but starting and stopping takes too long. Perhaps if I had dual monitors I could do it, but I don't have that set up.

I was interested in learning Emacs, but looking at Casey's gauntlets made me fear getting RSI. Then I read the creator of Emacs got RSI too, so I thought perhaps its better to learn the vim way. I haven't done anything about it though. Soon.
Mór, I had same problems and fears. I Tried a 2 monitor setup - still did not work, because once you shift focus to the other monitor to type something, you don't see anything Casey's typing and it's even more frustrating. (Maybe if you're touch typing it's possible. I'm not so I don't know)

So yeah, I did starting and stopping the video for 60 episodes.
It took up to 3-3,5 hours per episode to type everything and understand the code.
But was worth it. I now work roughly as fast as Casey (was nowhere near it! it was shocking at first)

As far as RSI goes, I would definitely recommend vim. I guess this is individual, but I started having issues after ~1 year after HH started.
Now I switched to vim and about to start wearing braces like Casey. RSI is no joke.
I've been "typing" a text editor tutorial from Per Vognsen (https://www.youtube.com/user/pervognsen) which is around 10 hours of material, and its very interesting how, even though its mostly mechanical, I feel like I learned to write a text editor, and that wouldn't happen just watching the video passively.
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Edited by lclhstr on
lclhstr
I also have certain RSI-like issues, but I think mine are caused by mouse clicking, not keyboard usage. These days I'm using an extra numpad on the left of the keyboard with certain custom actions attached (see my AHK file on the website). So I can still move the cursor with precision, but don't have to click anymore.


I wrecked my right wrist using cheap traditional mice. Its not just their bad ergonomics, the buttons on the cheap ones are stiff which can cause muscle strain. A few years ago I switched to my left hand and got a Kensington Expert Mouse (its a trackball) and so far no problems.

Edited by Mór on
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Edited by lclhstr on
sound gets properly fixed at episode 20. Not to mention that square waves are too "noisy" for detecting sound issues. A sine wave is a much cleaner wave form and the human ear can detect errors in one much more easily.
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Edited by lclhstr on
Mór
lclhstr
I also have certain RSI-like issues, but I think mine are caused by mouse clicking, not keyboard usage. These days I'm using an extra numpad on the left of the keyboard with certain custom actions attached (see my AHK file on the website). So I can still move the cursor with precision, but don't have to click anymore.


I wrecked my right wrist using cheap traditional mice. Its not just their bad ergonomics, the buttons on the cheap ones are stiff which can cause muscle strain. A few years ago I switched to my left hand and got a Kensington Expert Mouse (its a trackball) and so far no problems.


Have you seen this? It's a vertical mouse designed to lesson the strain on your wrist.

Also, switching keyboard layouts to something more optimal than qwerty can help. ( I use Colemak.)
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Edited by lclhstr on
BillDStrong
Mór
lclhstr
I also have certain RSI-like issues, but I think mine are caused by mouse clicking, not keyboard usage. These days I'm using an extra numpad on the left of the keyboard with certain custom actions attached (see my AHK file on the website). So I can still move the cursor with precision, but don't have to click anymore.


I wrecked my right wrist using cheap traditional mice. Its not just their bad ergonomics, the buttons on the cheap ones are stiff which can cause muscle strain. A few years ago I switched to my left hand and got a Kensington Expert Mouse (its a trackball) and so far no problems.


Have you seen this? It's a vertical mouse designed to lesson the strain on your wrist.


Yes, I looked at that one and all kinds of strange shaped ones when I was researching it and found a flaw in all of the designs. The problem with mice in general, its not just the angle, its the fact you have to move your entire arm just to move the mouse, so its physical location is always changing. With a trackball it never changes location, you just move your hand over it. Even with the trackball, I take care to rest my finger tips on the ball and my thumb on the pad so my wrist remains straight.

Edited by Mór on
Mór


Yes, I looked at that one and all kinds of strange shaped ones when I was researching it and found a flaw in all of the designs. The problem with mice in general, its not just the angle, its the fact you have to move your entire arm just to move the mouse, so its physical location is always changing. With a trackball it never changes location, you just move your hand over it. Even with the trackball, I take care to rest my finger tips on the ball and my thumb on the pad so my wrist remains straight.


THere are different ways of gripping the mouse. maybe it pays to try a different one. Though I won't expect that particular habit to change.
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Edited by lclhstr on
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Edited by lclhstr on