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Ask HN: How can you make a MacBookPro keyboard productive for programming?

by apphrase on 11/25/13, 1:31 AM with 12 comments

  • by alexmorse on 11/25/13, 1:44 AM

    Type code on it, productively.

    Seriously though, where do you feel it's failing compared to other keyboards? As far as laptop keyboards go, it's one of the best I've used.

  • by kmf on 11/25/13, 2:01 AM

    Someone else mentioned Keyremap4macbook (https://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/). There's a huge amount of customization there, enough that you should be good to go just by looking through the options there. My favorite is remapping Caps Lock to Left CTRL. Then you can remap Left CTRL to be escape by itself, and CTRL+<yourkey> when pressed with other keys. It's very handy in Vim, especially.

    A couple other recommendations, however:

    BetterTouchTool: The MBP trackpad has a surprising amount of complexity in terms of recognizing gestures. BTT adds to that . http://www.boastr.net

    Keyboard Maestro: Scripting and advanced keyboard shortcuts. Includes support for per-app shortcuts, which is pretty phenomenal. http://www.keyboardmaestro.com

    TextExpander: Less practical when you're programming, but TE can be great for automating things you write often (email address, email responses, URLs, etc.) http://smilesoftware.com/TextExpander/

  • by typografy on 11/25/13, 1:57 AM

    Get https://pqrs.org/macosx/keyremap4macbook/ , then pick the keys you need. I have my right side command and option as page up and page down, eject as (forward) delete, and PC style home/end on the arrow keys (I think that removes some inconsistencies between programs).

    I had been using Windows for the previous 17 years or so, so I also switched control and command.

  • by bcl on 11/25/13, 3:41 AM

    Use a different keyboard. Seriously, I've had to take mine in 3 times now because the keys keep breaking their hooks and flopping around. Right now my 6 key is feeling like it is about to go.

  • by mattwritescode on 11/28/13, 9:05 AM

    Make the thing using the keyboard more productive by not asking question on HN.

  • by benologist on 11/25/13, 1:47 AM

    Learning the relevant keyboard shortcuts and building that muscle memory.

  • by Randgalt on 11/25/13, 3:17 AM

    Use a great IDE like IntelliJ IDEA. I use a MBP solely.