Background
UPDATE: 01.02.2008
Due to a hard-drive crash, I lost sources for HomeRow and other hobby projects of mine. I’ve been requested to add configurable keys (was planned anyway). That will take time, since I’m reversing .Net IL into C# (but not too much time).
Usually experienced programmers navigate their code without using the mouse. This means, moving the right hand to arrows, and home/end/del keygroups. Alot of time can be lost by leaving the homerow in such a harsh way.
Someone already have defined it as a sort of VI mode for mode-less editing.
Getting it back!
HomeRow overloads your keyboard with additional functionality, using the CAPSLOCK key to toggle on/off. It isolates you from every IDE’s specific configuration, and gives you the same consistent interface without changing keyboards.
This is what your keyboards becomes only when CAPSLOCK is active.
Go wild…
You can now navigate your code using an FPS-like key layout (not really, FPSs use ASDW, this uses SDFE because its more natural)
Dont forget power-navigating, try CTRL-W which is now equivalent to CTRL-BKSP to delete whole words.
Try CTRL-F to jump to next word.
Play around!.
Download
This is free software, and no installation needed. It doesn’t do any permanent change to your layout of course.
Here is the Windows version.
Linux and OSX are in the works.
Notes and reqs
Reqs: .NET Framework 2.0, only tested on Windows XP.
Note: it does take time to get used to the fact that the keyboard is “overloaded”. You will notice yourself trying to move the caret and getting a stream of “ffffdddddwww”s, because you forgot to enable HomeRow. Once your mind adjusts, it [HomeRow toggling] becomes really fluent and addictive.
