If you need to be forced to learn to touch type, many community colleges have keyboarding classes, some of them free as part of workforce development. The classes at my local community college run for 2 hours a day, two or three days a week, for three weeks. If you spend this much time practicing, you should get at least a start on touch typing, although developing speed will probably take longer.
As for whether it is a worthwhile pursuit, I think the main advantage is that you can type without having to look away from the screen. You can focus on getting your thoughts into the machine without the distraction of looking away from the screen. Increasing your typing speed is also useful because you can type as fast as you can think. Imagine if you had to dictate your code to someone else who was a hunt and peck typist. Image how frustrating it would be to wait for them to type your thoughts.
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If you need to be forced to learn to touch type, many community colleges have keyboarding classes, some of them free as part of workforce development. The classes at my local community college run for 2 hours a day, two or three days a week, for three weeks. If you spend this much time practicing, you should get at least a start on touch typing, although developing speed will probably take longer.
As for whether it is a worthwhile pursuit, I think the main advantage is that you can type without having to look away from the screen. You can focus on getting your thoughts into the machine without the distraction of looking away from the screen. Increasing your typing speed is also useful because you can type as fast as you can think. Imagine if you had to dictate your code to someone else who was a hunt and peck typist. Image how frustrating it would be to wait for them to type your thoughts.