Vim

Vim is an editor built around modes. Once the modes make sense, the commands stop feeling like a secret code and start feeling like a language. This note is the short version I would give to someone who wants to be productive this week, not in six months.

Modes

• Normal mode is where you move and issue commands. It is the mode Vim starts in.
• Insert mode is where you type text. Press i to enter it and Escape to leave.
• Visual mode is where you select text. Press v for characters or V for lines.
• Command mode is where you save, quit, and run substitutions. Press : from normal mode.

Most confusion comes from typing in the wrong mode. If the keys are inserting themselves into the document, press Escape and start again.

Move

• h j k l move left, down, up, and right.
• w moves to the next word, b to the previous word, and e to the end of the word.
• 0 goes to the start of the line and $ goes to the end.
• gg goes to the top of the file and G goes to the bottom.
• Ctrl and d moves down half a page; Ctrl and u moves up.

Edit

• i inserts before the cursor, a inserts after it, and o opens a new line below.
• x deletes one character. dd deletes a line and yy copies one.
• p pastes after the cursor. u undoes and Ctrl and r redoes.
• cw changes a word and r replaces one character.

Search and replace

Type / followed by a pattern to search forward. Press n for the next match and N for the previous one. For a file wide replacement, use the command below and add a confirmation flag if the change is risky.

:%s/old/new/g

Files and windows

• :w writes the file, :q quits, and :wq writes and quits.
• :q! quits without saving.
• :e file opens another file.
• :sp splits horizontally and :vsp splits vertically.
• Ctrl and w followed by a direction moves between windows.

A small starter configuration

set number
set relativenumber
syntax on
set expandtab
set shiftwidth=4
set tabstop=4

Line numbers and relative line numbers make vertical motion easier. Expanding tabs to spaces keeps a file portable across editors. Change the width only when the project has a convention.

Practice

Open a scratch file and move through it without arrow keys. Edit a line, undo it, search for a word, and save. The first session will feel slow. The second will feel less slow. That is the whole method.