My right pinky saver .kbd file

[Spookfish163]

I started the day looking for something pre-existing like this. Couldn't find it so here we are.

The aim is to reduce strain when reaching for the worst offending programming symbols like "-_=+[]{}". There are also a few other tweaks for QoL and a sense of consistency. The layering approach vs a full remap means your muscle memory should remain intact for regular keyboard use.

The main changes are:
uiop -> {}[]
jkl; -> -_=+

The layer will also give the super version of most surrounding symbol keys just because it feels weird to reach for shift+your layer key and your brain is in "symbols mode" already. It's especially nice for type hinting combos like -> or => to not need to reach for an additional key.

;; Kanata config for programming symbols layer

(defcfg
  process-unmapped-keys yes
)

(defsrc
  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    0 min =
  u    i    o    p    [    ]    
  j    k    l    ;    '
  m    ,    .    /
  lalt
)

(deflayer base
  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    0 min =
  u    i    o    p    [    ]    
  j    k    l    ;    '
  m    ,    .    /
  @sym-layer
)

(deflayer symbols
  S-1  S-2  S-3  S-4  S-5  S-6  S-7  S-8  S-9  S-0 S-min +
  S-[  S-]  [    ]  S-[  S-]    
  min  S-min =   +   S-'
  S-IntlBackslash S-,  S-.  S-/
  _
)

(defalias
  sym-layer (tap-hold 180 180 lalt (layer-toggle symbols))
)

Enjoy and let me know if you use it!

[gerhard-h]

There seem to be much more symbols (and the number row itself), that annoy me compared to you :)

~   ˝   (   )   $   &   #    ?  \   %    @ 
`   ^   [   ]   '   /   @dsk -  _   esc  €
´   <   {   }   >   =   *    +  |   !    

Gladly, from my experience, learning a symbol layer is very easy.

[Spookfish163]

Looks good! Hitting the number row isn't great but it's good enough for me. I'm going for a minimal change for maximal effect deal. Although I did add the pipe character over "m" since I find myself reaching for the layer on the command line too.

What are you using for modifier keys?

[gerhard-h]

Good you ask, I wrote a whole article on the best way to implement homerowmods #1656 :)

Btw
a) for all keys that are not home row mods I not even enter the symbol layer, just holding the key for longer will produce the symbol.
b) when nothing is typed on the symbol layer immediately, I switch to another layer, that way I can use the same key for multiple layers
not sure that would appeal to the masses