Ninja Speed Vim-like Debugging with Ergonomic Keyboard and Trackpad

This article is also published at my blog and dev.to

Have you ever felt wrist pain after long time typing and using a mouse? Yep, I bet you are like many of us, who spends their entire life in coding, it’s inevitable to experience the pain of wrist at some point. Your career is like a marathon, to go far, it’s critical to treat yourself well.

A while back, wrist pain stroked me again, I’ve lost count how many times it is. It made me decide to spend some effort to find out the best ergonomic keyboard and trackpad setup that works for myself. After I did my research and bought the keyboard, while exploring the right keyboard layout configuration, I noticed that with the customizable layout, I can design a layout that makes Vim mode like debugging experience that I’ve been dreaming for a long time. As a result, it boosts the speed of tracing code by orders of magnitude. Basically, it makes you debug like a ninja.

So in the end, I not only feel more comfortable when working with a computer but also become more productive. Sounds too good to be true? Read on, today I would like to share the experience of my keyboard, its layout, and trackpad setup with you. Before we jump into the article, let’s what it looks like:

My setup

First thing first, this article is not sponsored by any vendor, I am buying all these equipment myself. I am just here to share my own experience, it works for me, but your mileage may vary.

Okay, now back to my setup, the keyboard I am using is ErgoDox EZ Glow, with backlit and Kailh Copper switches. I also bought their wrist rest. The buying decision was mostly based on online research and a few bullet points:

• Need to be ergonomic
• Split design, more natural way to type
• Never compromise productivity

I also referenced a few reviews on the internet, like this one from Linus Tech Tips