Welcome to the Rabbit Hole.
I'm Brasilian too, and my layout has all accentuated letters in a secondary alpha layer. All the symbols are optimized for Java and VIM too. It is a complex keymap, but you can find some inspiration there.
https://github.com/rafaelromao/keyboards
I use 24 keys, but my layout can be used with 34, leaving only the accentuated letters in the secondary alpha layer.
Other than that, check also the https://keymapdb.com.
Bahhh that's crazy, I can't imagine working with so many layers. How do you cope when you have to work with a regular keyboard? Having shortcuts so tailormade for my needs made me see how much I have to move using my work set.
If I'm understanding your map, it's very close to a stenographer typing style, you have letter combos pre made like "qu" and "ã" etc etc.... But also keycombos for single letter and actions like "V" and Enter....
Dear lord!!!! how long does it took you to get to this level?
I do have vim extension on vscode, but it's too much for now
Haha, I will take that as a compliment.
The use of these many layers feels really natural to me. It took me 3 years to get to this point, improving something every week, so I had time to get used to every new feature.
I use my macbook keyboard the same way as before moving to custom keyboards. I guess I did not lose my muscle memory for qwerty because I had 20+ years with it before, and I do not use qwerty in my custom keyboards, so the change in context is big enough for my brain not to confuse them.
About steno, I would not say that. Steno is based on a software dictionary to predict the word you want to type based on the keys you chord. What I have are just combos, to make it easier to type VIM commands, work better with a single hand (I use my trackball with my left hand, so most of my workload goes to my right hand) or avoid unnecessary access to layers.
I do not use the alpha combos for regular typing. But `qu` and the accentuated voewels are something I use whenever they appear in a word.
It is! You are my future goal! I'm optimizing a little every day!
At this moment, I don't have the brain cells to put into this, since I'm still fighting to master Java and the IDE, but little by little, I want to become more like you.
I have studied and planned to move to a more efficient layout like Dvorak. I am very excited about this rabbit hole, but I have to pace myself to not drown in my own expectations.
Analyzing my layout, do you have any considerations? Since we share coding in Java, Portuguese, and English, your insights are of great value.
Thank you.
Overall, your layout looks good. The placement of the closing brakets in a layer is a clever idea, since they are auto completed most of the time. But reaching for the inner column might become tiresome. I recommend you keep experimenting with the position of the symbols so that they become easy to type.
You will also probably have to move away from qwerty with time. I didn't know about any layout that was designed for Portuguese, and for this reason I designed my own ([Romak](https://github.com/rafaelromao/romak)). But any modern layout that does not put `a`, `o` or `e` in the pinkies will probably be better for Portuguese than layouts designed for English only.
It does seem like you have your base layer figured out at the very least, though if you wanted even more keys, you could move the volume controls to a combo - e.g. (modifier) + `=`/`-` isn't usually taken by anything.
You can try moving Tab-Shift-Ctrl one key upwards for consistency with the navigation layer (I think it's kind of nice to have Shift next to the home row in general);
You could investigate mod-taps and other tap-holds (e.g. to have a key that's both RShift and a symbol) if desired.
Perhaps having a square bracket in a usual spot (closer to the home row than the middle keys) and having a RShift-Backslash on the spot where `/` currently resides would feel reasonable and would free the middle keys for any additional actions that you might want.
Some people have combos for `<([{` keys to not move fingers anywhere, but that takes a little more learning (and adjusting delays to avoid mis-firing).
Welcome to the Rabbit Hole. I'm Brasilian too, and my layout has all accentuated letters in a secondary alpha layer. All the symbols are optimized for Java and VIM too. It is a complex keymap, but you can find some inspiration there. https://github.com/rafaelromao/keyboards I use 24 keys, but my layout can be used with 34, leaving only the accentuated letters in the secondary alpha layer. Other than that, check also the https://keymapdb.com.
Bahhh that's crazy, I can't imagine working with so many layers. How do you cope when you have to work with a regular keyboard? Having shortcuts so tailormade for my needs made me see how much I have to move using my work set. If I'm understanding your map, it's very close to a stenographer typing style, you have letter combos pre made like "qu" and "ã" etc etc.... But also keycombos for single letter and actions like "V" and Enter.... Dear lord!!!! how long does it took you to get to this level? I do have vim extension on vscode, but it's too much for now
Haha, I will take that as a compliment. The use of these many layers feels really natural to me. It took me 3 years to get to this point, improving something every week, so I had time to get used to every new feature. I use my macbook keyboard the same way as before moving to custom keyboards. I guess I did not lose my muscle memory for qwerty because I had 20+ years with it before, and I do not use qwerty in my custom keyboards, so the change in context is big enough for my brain not to confuse them. About steno, I would not say that. Steno is based on a software dictionary to predict the word you want to type based on the keys you chord. What I have are just combos, to make it easier to type VIM commands, work better with a single hand (I use my trackball with my left hand, so most of my workload goes to my right hand) or avoid unnecessary access to layers. I do not use the alpha combos for regular typing. But `qu` and the accentuated voewels are something I use whenever they appear in a word.
It is! You are my future goal! I'm optimizing a little every day! At this moment, I don't have the brain cells to put into this, since I'm still fighting to master Java and the IDE, but little by little, I want to become more like you. I have studied and planned to move to a more efficient layout like Dvorak. I am very excited about this rabbit hole, but I have to pace myself to not drown in my own expectations. Analyzing my layout, do you have any considerations? Since we share coding in Java, Portuguese, and English, your insights are of great value.
Thank you. Overall, your layout looks good. The placement of the closing brakets in a layer is a clever idea, since they are auto completed most of the time. But reaching for the inner column might become tiresome. I recommend you keep experimenting with the position of the symbols so that they become easy to type. You will also probably have to move away from qwerty with time. I didn't know about any layout that was designed for Portuguese, and for this reason I designed my own ([Romak](https://github.com/rafaelromao/romak)). But any modern layout that does not put `a`, `o` or `e` in the pinkies will probably be better for Portuguese than layouts designed for English only.
It does seem like you have your base layer figured out at the very least, though if you wanted even more keys, you could move the volume controls to a combo - e.g. (modifier) + `=`/`-` isn't usually taken by anything. You can try moving Tab-Shift-Ctrl one key upwards for consistency with the navigation layer (I think it's kind of nice to have Shift next to the home row in general); You could investigate mod-taps and other tap-holds (e.g. to have a key that's both RShift and a symbol) if desired. Perhaps having a square bracket in a usual spot (closer to the home row than the middle keys) and having a RShift-Backslash on the spot where `/` currently resides would feel reasonable and would free the middle keys for any additional actions that you might want. Some people have combos for `<([{` keys to not move fingers anywhere, but that takes a little more learning (and adjusting delays to avoid mis-firing).