When I'm programming I often use copy and paste, which requires me to grab the mouse, highlight the text, and press CTRL + C (I'm using Windows BTW). Is there any hotkey or solution out there for a keyboard short cut that I could press and have it start copying each character I type? It would be such a godsend to get rid of that whole highlighting mess!
You can probably develop a quick application that does that in VB (via global hotkey listener). But for me, I am a keyboard shortcut nerd, and I use CTRL + Shift + ← /→ to navigate the caret through "words" (sometimes that means every non-alphanumeric token, but it varies on the IDE you're using) that I want to copy--It's much faster than Shift + ← /→. I also use this combination frequently: End, Shift + Home, CTRL + C, which is a quick way to select and copy the whole line.
I can see where you're coming from with the "toggling copy", but I think using the full extent of the keyboard, while primitive, is the best and most practical.