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49 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# ErgoDox EZ C# Developer configuration
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## Changelog
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* Feb 12, 2016 (V1):
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* First version commit
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* Mar 20, 2016 (V2):
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* Removed "Classic QWERTY" layer, inverted GUI and SHIFT on Hold for Space and Enter
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## About
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This layout was conceived in an attempt to optimise keyboard layout for developers (C# more specifically, but it can work with most of other languages), and limit the keys required to perform the most frequent actions.
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I came to the realization that my main tool as a developer, the qwerty keyboard was something that did not evolved at its core in almost 150 years.
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There are a lot of reasons to this, and it would be a massive entreprise to change a standard so strongly anchored, but I wanted to give it a try and see how would look an input device dedicated to developers, more specifically a C# developer in my case.
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The biggest flaw in standard QWERTY keyboards was that I always needed to perform key combination to access commonly used characters or actions. Think about it a minute, how many times a day do you press a modifier key such as Ctrl or Shift, it's insane and could be so easily optimized to require only one key press.
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Then I came across the ErgoDox EZ project, that allowed a full customization of its firmware, and a unique 2 parts design.
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## Layout design principles
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* No key combination required for the most common input characters ( (),[],{},<> ... )
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* No key combination required for the most common actions (copy/paste/undo/save)
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* Regroup characters by usage ( + - * = ...)
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* Easy access to the most commonly used characters: ; / " . ,
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* Preregistered macro for the most common C# langage instructions: public / private / string / int / float ...
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## Why is it specific to C Sharp
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I defined the characters priority based on their usage in C# language, most of this characters are also used in other coding languages but it may require some tweaking.
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For example there is no direct access to ~ or $ keys which can be very common in some languages.
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Note it is also specific to Windows environement as the shortcut used in action keys would not work on Mac Os
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## In usage
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It was relatively easy to get used to the layout, but it's hard for me to define how easy it was as I was getting used to a blank Ergodox keyboard at the same time.
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Still it's extremely satisfying to Save your file with just one easily accessible key or to have one big key to end your code line ( ; )
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## Improvements
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This layout was shared after a bunch of iterations and only once I was happy with it.
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Still there are many way to improve or iterate on this:
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* Make it language agnostic
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* Check and compile language's keyboard's heatmaps to statistically define keys priority (e.g. https://dzone.com/articles/most-pressed-keys-various )
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* QWERTY is still not the most efficient typing layout, I would like to create a Dvorak based similar layout in a near futur
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## Issues
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One of the issues encountered while creating this layout was that I did not find a way to have a key to send a modifier on hold, and a key combination while pressed (e.g. I can't set a Key to do Save (Ctrl + S) when pressed and Shift modifier when hold )
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