Here’s the Deal

QWERTY vs Norman

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When comparing QWERTY vs Norman, the Slant community recommends QWERTY for most people. In the question“What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?” QWERTY is ranked 5th while Norman is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose QWERTY is:

You don't have to carry your own keyboard everywhere, QWERTY is pretty popular.

Specs

Bottom Row Key Freq.13.9%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)65.5%/34.5%

Home Row Key Freq.27.0%

Left Index Finger Travel28.5%

Left Index Finger Usage18.6%

Left Little Finger Travel0.4%

Left Little Finger Usage6.4%

Left Middle Finger Travel22.0%

Left Middle Finger Usage18.2%

Left Ring Finger Travel2.6%

Left Ring Finger Usage7.1%

Right Index Finger Travel25.5%

Right Index Finger Usage15.4%

Right Little Finger Travel3.5%

Right Little Finger Usage2.4%

Right Middle Finger Travel8.6%

Right Middle Finger Usage6.2%

Right Ring Finger Travel8.8%

Right Ring Finger Usage10.4%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.15.3%

Thumb Usage15.3%

Top Row Key Freq.43.8%

Bottom Row Key Freq.10.3%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)54.3%/45.7%

Home Row Key Freq.53.7%

Left Index Finger Travel20.6%

Left Index Finger Usage13.1%

Left Little Finger Travel0.8%

Left Little Finger Usage6.4%

Left Middle Finger Travel19.6%

Left Middle Finger Usage18.2%

Left Ring Finger Travel4.6%

Left Ring Finger Usage7.1%

Right Index Finger Travel25.2%

Right Index Finger Usage14.8%

Right Little Finger Travel0.7%

Right Little Finger Usage3.0%

Right Middle Finger Travel17.2%

Right Middle Finger Usage11.8%

Right Ring Finger Travel11.2%

Right Ring Finger Usage10.4%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.15.3%

Thumb Usage15.3%

Top Row Key Freq.20.8%

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?

QWERTY

Norman

Pros

Pro
Popular

You don't have to carry your own keyboard everywhere, QWERTY is pretty popular.

Pro
Default keyboard shortcuts

The keyboard shortcuts for most applications were designed with QWERTY in mind.

Pro
Good for Vim users

Vim is most natural in QWERTY, since this is the layout it was designed on. Learning a good editor will help with your programming a lot more than learning a new layout.

Pro
Easy access to important keys

Some of the most used keys in programming such as ; . / " | ' < > * are very easily accessible because they either have their own keys or are "shift options". People who grew up using alternative layouts, such as Belgian AZERTY, know from experience this shouldn't be taken for granted.

Pro
Uses the same fingers as QWERTY for most letters

Norman keeps 22/26 letters in their original QWERTY finger, making the transition easier, and, according to many tests, does so without much loss in ergonomics.

Pro
Keeps many common QWERTY shortcuts intact

Common shortcuts, such as ctrl + z, ctrl + x, etc., are kept in their original positions without much loss in ergonomics, making the transition easier.

Pro
Feels fast and comfy

Pro
Focuses on the keys easiest to reach for the human hand

Like Workman, Norman takes human anatomy into account.

Pro
Designed using normal keyboards in mind

Unlike keyboard layouts such as workman that are desgined to be used by matrix keyboards, norman is made to be used by a standard keyboard.

Pro
Favours the right hand

Unlike other layouts, such as workman, norman favours the right hand due to it usually being stronger than the left.

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Cons

Con
Not an easy to gain speed on QWERTY

Learning to touch type using traditional touch typing methods, you would not be as fast as others on Dvorak and you would be making quite a few mistakes.
The reasons that most of record holders have placing in typing speeds is because they do not use traditional typing methods.

Con
Made for typewriters, not computers

It was created before computers got popular. This layout was created for typing machines, so as to prevent collision between character hammers from slowing down the typist.

Con
Very unintuitive

Why QWERTY?

Con
Correct typographic letters and symbols not easily reachable

Con
Bad on SFBs

Lots of same finger bigrams (when 2 keys are hit simultaneously by one finger like the qwerty "ed".

Con
A very small user base and community

Con
Designed for right handed use

The Norman was designed with right handed use in mind, making it a less attractive choice for left handed users. However, tests done by some users (can be found in the comments) suggests that the Norman layout might be balanced.