Vim

vim is a modal editor (improving on vi). It can run without graphics, is ubiquitous, powerful, and efficient but is an acquired skill.

  • MIT's “missing semester” has an excellent lecture video and notes.
  • vimtutor is a program included with vim that will guide you through usage – run it from the command line.
  • vim-wiki

Commands

Victoria's review: a minimal vim session experience:

  1. vim $filename → opens a file in vim. If that file doesn't exist or you opened it in the wrong filepath, you will see an empty blank vim that says [NEW] at the bottom
  2. i → puts you in insert mode so you can freely type and move your cursor around. Says – INSERT – in bottom left.
  3. esc → gets you out of insert mode
  4. exit
    • :q → quits vim
    • :wq → saves what you wrote and quits vim
    • :q! → does not save what you wrote and quits vim