Tenkeyless (TKL) keyboards are popular because you can keep your mouse hand closer to your keyboard. The tenkey is a easy thing to lose if you don't do much data entry.
As for writing code and playing games, I use vim keybinds everywhere and play games with WASD controls. So nav keys aren't particularly critical either.
As for writing code and playing games, I use vim keybinds everywhere and play games with WASD controls. So nav keys aren't particularly critical either.