Why practise typing code?
Code is full of characters that normal text rarely uses: brackets, braces, semicolons, quotes, operators and underscores. Many developers type prose quickly but slow down on symbols. Practising with real code trains exactly those keys, so you spend less time on typing and more time on thinking.
How the test works
- Choose a language. You get a short snippet, typically 5 to 12 lines.
- Type it exactly as shown. Press Enter at the end of each line.
- Indentation is filled in for you, so you don't need Tab or lots of spaces.
- Mistakes turn red. Fix them with Backspace, or keep going. Press Esc to start the snippet again.
How your score is calculated
As in our typing test, every 5 correct characters count as one word. WPM counts the characters you got right, raw WPM counts everything you typed, and accuracy is the share of your keystrokes that were correct. Automatic indentation is not counted.
What is a good speed for code?
Expect to be slower on code than on normal text, often by a third or more, because of all the symbols. The ratio between the two tells you how much the symbols cost you. If your code speed is far behind, practise the number row and the punctuation keys with the touch typing course.
Tips
- Learn where brackets and braces are without looking. Your little fingers do a lot of the work.
- Use the correct Shift key: the one on the opposite hand from the key you press.
- Accuracy matters more in code than anywhere else. A single wrong character can break a program.