For me, "begin" and "end" are actually much more comfortable to type, because I don't have too move my hands for that, I can stay pretty much on the home row. Curly Braces are way too far on the right top to do that and then you either have to use you weak fingers or move quite a bit.
(Granted I am touch typing and also using Colemak layout, so rarely ever move my hands. For people that hunt and pek, I believe curly braces are easier to type.)
I don't think there is much practical difference between curly-braced vs keyboard based syntax. Both are similarly easy to read, especially with syntax highlighting. After a while, your brain will automatically parse "begin" and "end" as a symbol, same as curly braces, so you won't notice the "noise".
As for the pros and cons:
Pascal style syntax is slightly better for new people learning to program. Learning how to even type those weird curly braces and understanding the difference between all the styles of braces just takes focus away from actually learning how to program.
Curly braced C-style syntax is better for people that already know how to program because everyone is already familiar with at least one curly braced language.
I also find curly braces/parens/etc annoying to type, but recently had my mind blown when I saw a typing tutor program that recommended using left-shift to create those characters.
For 35+ years I’ve been using right-shift for things on the right side of the board, cranking my hand and stretching my fingers and complaining about programming languages with poor typing ergonomics.
It’s taking forever to break the habit, but so far it feels so much better.
When I took typing in high school (mid-80s in the US), on an IBM Selectric, we were taught that way. If the key you wanted to capitalize (or needed the shift for) was on the left hand, you would use the right shift key and vice versa.
I didn't know it at the time, but that one semester class was immensely useful for me throughout my career.
I took typing as an elective class in school in Denmark fully expecting it to be useful for decades. And I was right :)
The teacher was a bored and unpleasant secretary and the typewriters were mechanical (and the shift keys so heavy for our pinkies) but it was still the most useful thing I did in school since I learned to read in first grade.
Wow I'm analyzing some motor patterns I wasn't even aware of...
I think playing video games has made LeftShift + letter a really easy combo, right shift feels quite uncomfortable, but I did find that I use it when typing !
There is no difference in noise for me between curly braces or keywords because my brain parses both as a single token. I don't process "e"-"n"-"d", it is just one thing "end", same as a curly brace is.
Of course some people can't read words by shape and instead have to sound out the individual letters every time, so I guess it can be more annoying for some people.
And I don't mean to be patronizing, I actually have the opposite problem. I am faster at parsing whole words than symbols which is why I really struggle with modern UI that solely relies on icons. It drives me mad.
> because everyone is already familiar with at least one curly braced language.
so, logically, they must have learned how to use {} in the first place, probably with few problems.
i have taught god-knows how many people c and c++ (used to be a commercial trainer for those languages) and i can assure you that very, very few, if any, had problems with {}.
(Granted I am touch typing and also using Colemak layout, so rarely ever move my hands. For people that hunt and pek, I believe curly braces are easier to type.)
I don't think there is much practical difference between curly-braced vs keyboard based syntax. Both are similarly easy to read, especially with syntax highlighting. After a while, your brain will automatically parse "begin" and "end" as a symbol, same as curly braces, so you won't notice the "noise".
As for the pros and cons:
Pascal style syntax is slightly better for new people learning to program. Learning how to even type those weird curly braces and understanding the difference between all the styles of braces just takes focus away from actually learning how to program.
Curly braced C-style syntax is better for people that already know how to program because everyone is already familiar with at least one curly braced language.