Developer wrote 25k lines of Neovim plugin code using phone and touchscreen

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Initial reactions to phone-only development

  • Many readers react with anxiety or disbelief; coding 25k lines on a touchscreen feels like “torture” to some.
  • Others are impressed and inspired, especially given that the plugin is widely regarded as high quality.
  • Several admit they struggle even with texting or short scripts on phones due to typos, missing words, and eye strain.

Tools, workflows, and ergonomics

  • Common setups mentioned: Termux/Neovim/Vim, tmux, SSH (Termius, mosh, Eternal Terminal), and sometimes DeX or AR glasses to simulate a desktop.
  • Vim/Neovim is seen as relatively phone-friendly because it relies less on modifier keys.
  • Limited screen width and on-screen keyboard covering code are major pain points; foldables help somewhat.
  • Some use special keyboards (Hacker’s Keyboard, AnySoftKeyboard, Thumb-Key, Penti, T9-style layouts). Others stick to defaults but rely heavily on completions and LSP/LLM support.
  • A few users routinely do serious remote admin or side projects from phones/tablets and find it “slow but workable.”

Socioeconomic constraints and fundraiser

  • The developer reportedly has no PC and codes on a phone out of necessity, not preference, while studying for medical entrance exams.
  • Cultural pressure from parents toward medicine/engineering is discussed.
  • Community members organized a fundraiser for a laptop; shipping hardware into Bangladesh/India is described as risky due to customs delays and informal “fees,” so buying locally with external funds is preferred.

Phones vs PCs and historical comparisons

  • Older developers recall writing nontrivial software on calculators, 25×80 terminals, and early phones (T9, BlackBerry, Nokia Communicator, HP48).
  • Some argue a modern phone is more powerful than 90s desktops; others emphasize comfort, keyboard quality, and screen size over raw power.

Careers: software vs medicine

  • Long subthread compares software engineering and medicine: pay, job security, prestige, working conditions, burnout, and future-proofing.
  • Consensus: both careers have serious downsides; doing either solely for status or parental pressure is questionable.

Security, privacy, and mobile UX

  • On-screen keyboards are flagged as a security risk; some default keyboards reportedly transmit keystrokes for profiling.
  • Discussion touches on blocking network access for keyboards and the difficulty of truly securing consumer phones.
  • There is curiosity about programming languages/IDEs explicitly optimized for small screens; a few niche examples are mentioned, but no clear winner emerges.