How to "type to search" in current folder Prior to owning Mac, I used Ubuntu with Nautilus (the default file-browser). With Nautilus, you could simply start typing something, and it would select the folder / file matching the characters you typed.

I'm a programmer who simply just needs to quickly navigate folders so you might understand why I would prefer this over the normal finder search which is slow, searches file contents, and the entire contents of your disc.

Is there a simple equivalent of this type-to-select functionality for finder?
Yes, if you start typing, it'll select files/folders with what you type. The only difference between this functionality and Ubuntu's is that OS X's equivalent of this feature doesn't show what you're typing.