Keyboard shortcuts

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Overview

Questions

• What are keyboard shortcuts?

Objectives

• Learn commonly used keyboard shortcuts as a time saving tool.

Keyboard shortcuts are your friend

Though we will get more computational over the course of the programme, we can start our adventure into programming - as many of you will have already - with very simple things like keyboard shortcuts. We all have our favourites that are labour saving but also allow us to use this machine in the best possible way. You can do all the lessons in Library Carpentry without keyboard shortcuts, but note that they’ll likely come up a lot.

Action	Windows	Mac	+ Keystroke
Save	Ctrl	Command	+ S
Copy	Ctrl	Command	+ C
Cut	Ctrl	Command	+ X
Paste	Ctrl	Command	+ V
Switch Applications	Alt	Command	Tab

Keyboard shortcuts are the first step towards automation. Sometimes you don’t have to write a programming script or use a program to automate.

What keyboard shortcut(s) do you find helpful?

Discuss in groups of four to six or altogether and note your discussion in the workshop collaborative document. For a list of common keyboard shortcuts, see Wikipedia’s Table of Keyboard Shortcuts.

Key Points

• Understanding keyboard shortcuts.
• Keyboard shortcuts are the first step towards automation.