I don't know about this. Co-workers and myself can run console commands so quick that for moments at a time (esp with console text scrolling, deploying, etc) it looks like we're hacking. I've heard more than one sales/project manager who's hovering mention it looks like Hollywood hacking. The part that looks like BS in Hollywood hacking to me is the green "matrix" text.
I'm anything but fast at my typing, etc. I've never been that way, but I've also experienced the "soul crush" of taking down a production system because I was doing things too fast, not paying attention, and then BAM - bye-bye production DB - so since that time I take a more cautious, think-before-hitting-return attitude (it was the early 90s, I was 18, blah-blah - we eventually got things back to normal, and somehow I kept my job).
That said, I once worked with a guy who could type, switch windows, desktops, etc - at what seemed like lightning speed. I mean, when he was at it and "in the groove" - his screen, fingers, etc - were a blur of frantic activity. In some ways, it even reminded me of "hollywood hacking". He was expert at what he did, though - more often than not, his solutions and designs were spot on, and even these "quick fixes" or whatever - would work right first time out the gate.
Definitely when I get "in the groove" my typing, editing and code navigation are at least 3x faster. That's why I know it always pays off to learn all the hotkeys and optimize my workflow in the software I use.
When at normal speed the increase in productivity may seem minimal, but after a while, when you get that groove moment, the benefit compounds.
Another way to see it is that the less time and effort you spend on actually doing the thing the less it stays in the way of your mental process.
I'm a designer first and foremost, have been for well over a decade. Started coding (Basic) a decade before that.
However, circumstances have led to me being more than that. I'm a copywriter, social media manager, web developer. Content manager, product designer and manager. This means a TON of switching tasks.
But sometimes, I have to do something small, like spend a couple of days launching a WordPress site. Switching between the mockup PSD and the template files, the various browser tabs where I have the CMS open, the FTP client, etc.
I've always loved keyboard shortcuts and all the tiny little hacks, hidden double clicks and ctrl+alt+right-clicks that made this go faster.
And when people watch when I'm plugged in like that, "magic" is the word most people use to describe what I'm doing. (Even some medium level devs do!)
Not boasting btw. Just happy about life in the industry. We're lucky fucks.
The tab key with autocomplete really makes you look like you're typing more than you really are. Not to mention the amount of output relative to the input. Sure, all you typed was 'ls -al' but look at all that useful output!
