How can I stop using a mouse while programming in my IDE?

Asked 2009-04-30T12:56:48.723

I love using an IDE, because I get some great productivity gains. However, I have a couple reasons to stop using a mouse with an IDE:

To code faster - It definitely slows down my coding when my typing is interrupted with all of the constant point and clicking.
To relieve pain - I've never had pain from the keyboard, but I get tendinitis from the mouse.

I've got my cheat sheet for my IDE printed out and now I'm ready.

What's the best way get off the mouse?
Are there any hurdles that I'm going to run into?
Are there any tips for specific IDEs (Visual Studio, Eclipse, etc.) ?

Edit Report

2 Answers

For visual studio I use the ViEmu plugin that allows you to use vi commands in visual studio. It's a bit difficult to get the hang of it but once you're done you'll only be using the mouse on the designer.

answered 2009-04-30T13:10:04.760

I am using IntellijIDEA IDE. There is one very annoying plugin - "Key promoter".
For every mouse-inited action it shows annoying alert with keyboard shortcut which you could use to do the same action.

Well, it took about 2 or 3 weeks for me to stop using mouse at all. It was hard to not turn it off (plugin), but very useful :)

answered 2009-04-30T16:02:58.870

How can I stop using a mouse while programming in my IDE?

2 Answers

Your Answer