Here’s the Deal

Workman vs Arensito

34 4

6 0

When comparing Workman vs Arensito, the Slant community recommends Workman for most people. In the question“What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?” Workman is ranked 4th while Arensito is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Workman is:

Colemak's focus on the home row is flawed. Due to differing finger lengths and the natural range of human hand motion, the center columns (even on the home row) take more effort to reach than the top row with the longer middle fingers. Workman takes this into account.

Specs

Bottom Row Key Freq.12.0%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)46.5%/53.5%

Home Row Key Freq.53.7%

Left Index Finger Travel27.9%

Left Index Finger Usage15.4%

Left Little Finger Travel0.7%

Left Little Finger Usage6.3%

Left Middle Finger Travel24.5%

Left Middle Finger Usage11.5%

Left Ring Finger Travel10.6%

Left Ring Finger Usage9.3%

Right Index Finger Travel22.6%

Right Index Finger Usage14.2%

Right Little Finger Travel0.9%

Right Little Finger Usage5.9%

Right Middle Finger Travel7.1%

Right Middle Finger Usage14.0%

Right Ring Finger Travel5.8%

Right Ring Finger Usage8.2%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.15.3%

Thumb Usage15.3%

Top Row Key Freq.19.1%

Bottom Row Key Freq.15.4%

Consecutive Same-Hand Keystrokes (L/R)50.2%/49.8%

Home Row Key Freq.12.9%

Left Index Finger Travel20.5%

Left Index Finger Usage12.0%

Left Little Finger Travel1.1%

Left Little Finger Usage6.5%

Left Middle Finger Travel0.2%

Left Middle Finger Usage11.4%

Left Ring Finger Travel18.4%

Left Ring Finger Usage12.1%

Right Index Finger Travel23.7%

Right Index Finger Usage13.2%

Right Little Finger Travel2.6%

Right Little Finger Usage6.7%

Right Middle Finger Travel13.7%

Right Middle Finger Usage9.9%

Right Ring Finger Travel19.5%

Right Ring Finger Usage12.9%

Spacebar Row Key Freq.0.0%

Thumb Usage15.4%

Top Row Key Freq.56.6%

Number Row Key Freq.15.2%

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best keyboard layouts for programming?

Workman

Arensito

Pros

Pro
Less lateral motion than Colemak

Pro
Common English bigrams are optimized

This is an emphasis shared with Colemak, but Workman focuses on the easiest keys instead of the home row.

Pro
Finger travel is very low overall

This is good for preventing RSI.

Pro
Very comfortable for Vim

Works so well out of the box that I can only think the creator thought about it beforehand.

Pro
Good for programming

Common characters {} [] <> () / ' " are easily accessible by the right hand on the right of the keyboard.
Combinations ( { + } for example) are placed side by side on the keyboard which is useful as well.

Pro
Works on any keyboard, but additional benefits from Matrix style keyboards

Someone mentioned a CON because it was designed for Matrix style keyboards, but it was designed on a standard keyboard. However, matrix style keyboards adds additional benefits on top of this key layout. For those who don't know matrix keyboards are those where the key rows are not offset, but are directly above one another.

Pro
Ctrl- AZXCV shortcuts are still accessible with one hand

AZX are in the QWERTY positions, and CV have only shifted one key right. This lets you use the mouse with the right hand and the shortcuts with the left, unlike Dvorak.

Pro
Mac version has Dead Keys version

The macOS version of Workman has the comma (,) key as a dead key, which allows you to access harder keys on a secondary layer.

Pro
Most symbols and shortcuts are the same as QWERTY

Pro
Reduces load on pinkies

Pro
Emphasizes adjacent finger bigrams

Common bigrams are a fast rolling motion, like Colemak.

Pro
Minimizes same-finger bigrams

Pro
Puts your thumbs to good use

Your strongest fingers are your thumbs. In this layout (unless you have a keyboard with thumb keys) you shift your hands up one row, and you use your thumbs on the bottom row. (Put your index fingers on QWERTY's T and I keys, and rest your thumbs on VB and NM) The Ctrl and Shift modifier keys now use your strong thumbs instead of your weak pinkies. (Ctrl shortcuts are especially important for programmers.) The modifiers may contribute more to RSI than letters.

Pro
Punctuation also optimized for programming

AltGr plane has accessible punctuation and numbers. The most used are directly under your fingers on the (new) home row, and all the bracket types are paired and in easy reach.

Pro
Balances load between hands

Statistically, the left and right hand are used about the same amount.

Pro
Easy access to common punctuation and numbers

Programmer punctuation and numbers are accessible without stretching on the AltGr plane. (AltGr is now on the spacebar).

Ad
Cons

Con
Certain Keybindings don't work in certain applications

In certain apps (like kitty terminal emulator), keyboard shortcuts like Control+C do not work.

Con
Designed to be used on a matrix style keyboard

This keyboard layout wan't designed to be used on a normal keyboard.

Con
Pointing stick is no longer on the home row

Most keyboards don't have one, but if you use it a lot it becomes a bit of a stretch. On the plus side, a keyboard with a pointing stick will have mouse buttons you could remap to thumb keys instead.

Con
Hard to orient in a new position by feel

Most keyboards have bumps on two of the keys to orient touch-typists. On QWERTY, this is usually F and J, but sometimes D and K. On some keyboards you can fix this by swapping keycaps. You could also try adding small stickers with enough thickness.

Con
Letter keys as modifiers may cause jamming or ghosting

Cheap keyboards designed for QWERTY might struggle with the use of Arensito's letter keys as modifiers. Gaming keyboards with n-key rollover don't have this problem. And any keyboard with proper thumb keys (Kinesis, Ergodox, Maltron) works properly. There is an older version of the layout that keeps QWERTY's home row that you can use on cheap keyboards, but it's not quite as nice.