Skip to content
  • Categories
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (No Skin)
  • No Skin
Collapse
Code Project
  1. Home
  2. The Lounge
  3. Why There is 12 Function key on Key board? [modified]

Why There is 12 Function key on Key board? [modified]

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
question
44 Posts 23 Posters 0 Views 1 Watching
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • N Nish Nishant

    Ali Taghvajou wrote:

    why 10 why not 9?

    10 is a nice round number and one that naturally occurs to designers/technicians because of its association with the decimal base. So they automatically chose it over arbitrary numbers like 9 or 11. Later they tried to squeeze in 2 more and got 12. 14 would have been nice but it would have crowded the keyboard layout. These days it does not matter much.

    Regards, Nish


    Are you addicted to CP? If so, check this out: The Code Project Forum Analyzer : Find out how much of a life you don't have! My technology blog: voidnish.wordpress.com

    D Offline
    D Offline
    Dan Neely
    wrote on last edited by
    #32

    10 also fit naturally with the function keys on the side layout since a standard keyboard has 5 rows of keys.

    3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

    OriginalGriffO 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • A Ali Taghvajou

      Do any one know the philosophy of existing 12 function key F1-F12 on key board? why it is not 14 or 10? I searched and found it was 24 at first and Over time it reduced and now is 12. But Not Convinced, yet! Any Story or Reason?? :confused::confused:

      modified on Friday, May 20, 2011 8:50 AM

      C Offline
      C Offline
      Chris Losinger
      wrote on last edited by
      #33

      Nobody will ever need more than 12 function keys. -- Bill Gates

      image processing toolkits | batch image processing

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • realJSOPR realJSOP

        I personally think the keys should start at F0 instead of F1.

        ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
        -----
        You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
        -----
        "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

        J Offline
        J Offline
        JimmyRopes
        wrote on last edited by
        #34

        John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

        I personally think the keys should start at F0 instead of F1.

        It does F0 is Esc. :-D

        Simply Elegant Designs JimmyRopes Designs
        Think inside the box! ProActive Secure Systems
        I'm on-line therefore I am. JimmyRopes

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • D Dan Neely

          10 also fit naturally with the function keys on the side layout since a standard keyboard has 5 rows of keys.

          3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

          OriginalGriffO Offline
          OriginalGriffO Offline
          OriginalGriff
          wrote on last edited by
          #35

          And so it was with the original IBM XT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ibm_px_xt_color.jpg[^] 83 keys, 10 of them function keys.

          Real men don't use instructions. They are only the manufacturers opinion on how to put the thing together. Manfred R. Bihy: "Looks as if OP is learning resistant."

          "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
          "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • realJSOPR realJSOP

            To give people practice writing the word "Function", which you apprently still need...

            ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
            -----
            You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
            -----
            "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

            P Offline
            P Offline
            Peter Mulholland
            wrote on last edited by
            #36

            John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

            apprently

            :snigger: function is one of those words that I frequently swap the n and the c when typing altho, I can't remember doing it recently.

            Pete

            realJSOPR 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • G Gregory Gadow

              Originally, there were no function keys, just a special button (Fn) similar to Ctrl or Alt. Fn was used with the number keys, which have always been layed out 1 to 0. So when dedicated function keys were added to keyboards, they kept the same arrangement with F1 on the left, then F2, F3 and so on. Having F0 as the right most looked funny, so it came to be labeled as F10.

              P Offline
              P Offline
              Peter Mulholland
              wrote on last edited by
              #37

              So that begs the question: Why does zero come after 9 on the keyboard instead of before 1?

              Pete

              G 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • A Ali Taghvajou

                Do any one know the philosophy of existing 12 function key F1-F12 on key board? why it is not 14 or 10? I searched and found it was 24 at first and Over time it reduced and now is 12. But Not Convinced, yet! Any Story or Reason?? :confused::confused:

                modified on Friday, May 20, 2011 8:50 AM

                C Offline
                C Offline
                Chris Meech
                wrote on last edited by
                #38

                Before there were PCs with keyboards, there were video terminals with keyboards. A lot of them that I remember had function keys on them. Most of the early VT, Wyse and even IBM terminals that I used to work with invariably had at least 10 function keys on them. :)

                Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra] posting about Crystal Reports here is like discussing gay marriage on a catholic church’s website.[Nishant Sivakumar]

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • A Ali Taghvajou

                  Do any one know the philosophy of existing 12 function key F1-F12 on key board? why it is not 14 or 10? I searched and found it was 24 at first and Over time it reduced and now is 12. But Not Convinced, yet! Any Story or Reason?? :confused::confused:

                  modified on Friday, May 20, 2011 8:50 AM

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #39

                  The XT keyboard had 10 since that was all there was roomm for but most terminals had 12 because they had room so the AT keyboard ended up with 12 as well.

                  Join the cool kids - Come fold with us[^] "Program as if the technical support department is full of serial killers and they know your home address" - Ray Cassick Jr., RIP

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • P Peter Mulholland

                    John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote:

                    apprently

                    :snigger: function is one of those words that I frequently swap the n and the c when typing altho, I can't remember doing it recently.

                    Pete

                    realJSOPR Offline
                    realJSOPR Offline
                    realJSOP
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #40

                    I hate the keyboard I use at work. :/

                    ".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
                    -----
                    You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
                    -----
                    "Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • P Peter Mulholland

                      So that begs the question: Why does zero come after 9 on the keyboard instead of before 1?

                      Pete

                      G Offline
                      G Offline
                      Gregory Gadow
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #41

                      Peter Mulholland wrote:

                      Why does zero come after 9 on the keyboard instead of before 1?

                      That is actually pretty easy. The earliest typewriters lacked the 1 and 0 keys: typists would use a capital I or a lower case l for 1, and a capital O for 0. This was done to minimize material and production costs, and because the glyphs could easily be made using existing keys and so were considered redundant. There was no exclamation point, either: that was made with a three key combination of single quote, backspace, period. A key for zero started to become common in the 60s. Rather than force millions of typists to relearn their trade, the zero was placed above the O, which is how it came to be at the end of the list. The one key did not become common until the mid 70s; there was much variation with what Shift-1 would be, with the backtick, twiddle and exclamation point being used on different models. Eventually, the exclamation point became standard.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • L leppie

                        Ali Taghvajou wrote:

                        Any Story or Reason?

                        CPU architecture proved that RISC is superior to CISC.

                        ((λ (x) `(,x ',x)) '(λ (x) `(,x ',x)))

                        D Offline
                        D Offline
                        Dan Neely
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #42

                        All modern architectures are both. MMX, SSE, on die GPU (especially with openCL) are CISC type features. Die sizes got big enough to have the best of both worlds.

                        3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • W Wayne Gaylard

                          What do you use the Compose key for now then ?

                          ...and I have extensive experience writing computer code, including OIC, BTW, BRB, IMHO, LMAO, ROFL, TTYL.....

                          P Offline
                          P Offline
                          PIEBALDconsult
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #43

                          I don't. I don't know what it's for.

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • A Ali Taghvajou

                            Do any one know the philosophy of existing 12 function key F1-F12 on key board? why it is not 14 or 10? I searched and found it was 24 at first and Over time it reduced and now is 12. But Not Convinced, yet! Any Story or Reason?? :confused::confused:

                            modified on Friday, May 20, 2011 8:50 AM

                            P Offline
                            P Offline
                            PIEBALDconsult
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #44

                            Oh, yeah, I recall that there was a function key arrangement of two columns of five keys to the left of the main keypad... where's a picture? Ah, here[^] we go.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            Reply
                            • Reply as topic
                            Log in to reply
                            • Oldest to Newest
                            • Newest to Oldest
                            • Most Votes


                            • Login

                            • Don't have an account? Register

                            • Login or register to search.
                            • First post
                              Last post
                            0
                            • Categories
                            • Recent
                            • Tags
                            • Popular
                            • World
                            • Users
                            • Groups