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Features for Developers

On the base layer Control (both side) and Tab are both on the home row.

Symmetric modifiers make key combinations straightforward:

  • Control + ...
  • Control + Backspace
  • Control + Shift + ...
  • Alt + ...

Special Layer

The second layer contains numbers and all symbols used in programming. They have been logically placed based on their usage. Please check the Interactive Guide for all details.

CAPS_WORD

This variant of CAPS LOCK is extremely useful as it allows for capitalizing only a single word LIKE_THIS_ONE without holding SHIFT or having to disable CAPS LOCK manually.

Once the word is completed, the capitalization is automatically disabled.

In addition to the letters, the mechanism also supports numbers, underscores, dashes, and Backspace.

Additionaly to the developer features already described in the previous sections, we can highlight the following points:

  • Esc available on thumb
  • Arrow keys at the same placement as HJKL

The Vi key placement and modal editing have been influential in the development because they offer a more efficient and ergonomic way of editing text. Modal editing is available in most editors and as extensions in many application.

To design the ADM42, we went back to the roots of the vi editor, taking inspiration from the original terminal on which it was created: the ADM-3A.

ColeMAX

Numerous developers who utilize vi modal editing are reluctant to transition to better layouts because of the non logical placement of HJKL keys on them.

The ColeMAX layout is an exclusive layout developped for the ADM42 that adapt the Colemak layout with the requirements for vi modal editing by applying only two decisives permutations.

First K and J are swapped to place them in a logical position. Then, ;: is swapped with quotes. This restore the home row position of ;: while placing quotes at a stronger position.

As on the ADM42 the arrows key on the special layer stay at the same position as the original HJKL, you can rely on them and the transition to a new layout is much easier.