they are disjoint cycles).Ī quick Python script can compute the cycles for us ( dv_map is a dictionary encoding the action of \(\pi\) on each of the 35 characters). While the traditional Dvorak layout inherits awkward symbol locations from QWERTY, Programmer Dvorak makes the symbol row more intuitive. Group theory says that any permutation you can think of can be decomposed into combination, or product, of such cycles, where no two cycles share elements (i.e. The Programmer Dvorak keyboard layout is the most comfortable and efficient layout for programmers. Dvorak proponents claim that it requires less finger motion and as a result reduces errors, increases typing speed, reduces repetitive strain injuries, or is simply. This is a small, length 2 cyclic permutation - but they can be longer, of the general form \(A \to B \to C \to \dots \to A\). Dvorak is a keyboard layout for English patented in 1936 by August Dvorak and his brother-in-law, William Dealey, as a faster and more ergonomic alternative to the QWERTY layout. Such a permutation can be decomposed into a product of cyclic permutations, for example Qwerty “w” goes to Dvorak “,” and as it happens Qwerty “,” goes to Dvorak “w”. But the invention that bears his name, and that he hoped would bring both fame and fortune, never caught hold commercially. QwertyĪs anyone with some group theory under their belt can tell you, this mapping is a permutation of the set of 35 elements. Dvorak, August (1894-1975) August Dvorak had a variety of accomplishments as an efficiency specialist in the Navy and as an education professor at the University of Washington. There are 26 letters and 9 punctuation characters that get switched around (ignoring the shift key) for a total of 35 symbols. Let’s suppose that the QWERTY layout is “standard order”, and investigate the Dvorak permutation that maps each key of the standard QWERTY layout to its respective Dvorak key. It has 70 of the most commonly used letters. This sounds like group theory! I didn’t major in mathematics for nothing, after all. Dvorak is a keyboard layout that is more efficient, faster, and more comfortable than the standard QWERTY layout. Wait a minute… a mapping between permutations of keys… There is no rhyme or reason to the mapping itself, just one arbitrary permutation of keys to another. To see different keyboard states, click or move the mouse over the state keys. People make some funny guesses about how the keys have been remapped – a common first guess is that everything is shifted over one. An interactive representation of the Windows United States-Dvorak keyboard. Very hard to hunt and peck when the keys are not labeled correctly! This has the amusing side-effect that anyone who tries to type on my computer is immediately bewildered. Instead, I remap them at the software level, and rely completely on muscle memory for typing. I don’t remap my keys at the hardware level. When people look at my keyboard, they see what any other keyboard would look like. By now, QWERTY feels horribly awkward to type with and I figure that I’m stuck with the Dvorak choice. I’m non-zealous about this choice – it’s simply what I learned to type on in ninth grade, and has been getting in the way ever since. I use the Dvorak keyboard layout instead of the standard QWERTY.
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