Keyboard Layout, Is Inverted Number Row Better?

Some keyboard layouts have inverted number row. For example, the French Layout, Programer's Dvorak, NEO, Bépo.

I have tried the inverted number row, for a few weeks around 2005, but in the end i abandoned it.

One problem is that the numbers are needed often too, especially a sequence of numbers like credit cards, ID numbers, dates “2010-08-30” or if you do a lot scientific programing with code such as x^2 - 1/5 * 1.6. But now you need to press ⇧ Shift for the numbers.

The bottom line is: “is numbers used more often or the symbols?”. The answer depends on what type of text you type.

• If you code lots of C, Java, Ruby, JavaScript: symbols is more frequent.
• If you code number crunchers such as Mathematica, Julia, R: number is more frequent.
• If you don't program but writes lots of blogs or chat: number is far more frequent.

If you have a number pad, you can always use the number pad for typing long numbers, but that also means you move your hands away a lot. Number pad is very good as extra function keys. ⁖ switch windows/tab/workspace, close window, max/min/hide window, switch app, …. 〔☛ Computer Keyboard: Using Number Keypad as Function Keys〕

See also: Computer Languages Character Distribution.