VIM demo

vim_demo.md

Introduction

• What is vim (also known as VI)? - An Editor! Like Sublime, TextMate etc.

• Show of hands for people who use vim:-

  • Every day? (Kind of expected)
  • Ocassionally? (First part boring)
  • Never? (Comfortable at the command-line?)

• Format of this talk - [TOPIC, PRACTICAL FREESTYLE, TOPIC... etc]. Why PRACTICAL FREESTYLE TIME? Because I didn't get time to create some practical instructions. LEARNING IS IN DOING - ESPECIALLY WITH VIM.

• What this talk is not

  • A vim vs. Sublime talk
  • A vim vs. TextMate talk
  • A vim vs. IDE talk

• I want to show you how I use vim

• Why do few people use vim?

  • Large barrier to entry

• Why learn vim?... if it's so much pain

  • Get more done with less keystrokes
  • You want to reach for your mouse less!
  • Lightweight
  • Highly configurable and very powerful

• I don't want this to put you off!, but learing VIM is a longterm commitment. To become an expert you need to be willing to learn a little bit more each day.

• Use a Cheatsheet! You're not going to remember everything you learn here.

• Let's get started:

  1. First off - Configure vim with my .vimrc setup.
  2. Then - Jump into learning the basics.

Configuration

• Good news: You should already have vim installed!

VIM Setup Instructions

• Talk about how vim is configured
• Talk about how to backup configuration
• Talk about how to install a new configuration from scratch
• Talk about vim plugins
• Talk about vundle
• RE-ENABLE cursor keys??

Simple Start to explain modes

• Open a new file (normal mode)
• Add some text (insert mode)
• Copy and paste some text (visual mode)
• Save it (command mode)

Modes

• Normal Mode (Explain)
• Insert Mode (Explain)
• Visual Mode (Explain)
• Command-line Mode (Explain)

Elaborate on Insert Mode

• i (move into insert mode on current character)
• a (moves into insert mode and moves to next character)
• o (moves into insert mode, creates a new line and moves cursor to it)
• ESC (move you back to Normal mode)

[[ PRACTICAL FREESTYLE TIME ]]

Motions & Operators

Motions and Operators are performed in Normal mode.

• h (left)
• j (down)
• k (up)
• l (right)

Why? Hands on the home row.

• Very hard to get use to - I wouldn't recommend it at the start because it heightens the barrier to entry.
• Turn off the cursor keys if you really want it to sink in.

Other Motions

• w (forward word)
• b (back word)
• $ (end of line)
• ^ (start of line)

Numbers with Motions

• 3w (forward three words)
• 2b (back two words)

Operators

Here are a few:

• d (delete)
• c (change)
• y (yank)

Combining Motions & Operators

• dw (delete a word)
• d3w (delete three words)
• y3w (copy/yank three words)
• cw (delete a word - deletes and puts into insert mode)
• d$ (delete to end of line)

Special operations

• dd (delete current line)

Now's a good time for a...

[[ PRACTICAL FREESTYLE TIME ]]

Text Objects

Pair Text Objects

• i"
• i(
• i{

Word Text Objects

• iw = Current Word
• aw = Current Word plus one space

THESE ARE ONLY OF USE WHEN USED WITH AN OPERATOR

SO:

• ci"
• di(
• viw

etc.

Navigating Your Project

• :e
• ctrlp Plugins
• NERDtree plugin

Split Windows

• :split
• :vsplit

Seaching a file and a project

• /
• n (next match forwards)
• N (next match backwards)

Useful Plugins

• ctrlp

  • \l
  • to open in split window

• nerdtree

  • :NERDtree

• vim-rails

  • gf

  • :Emodel

  • :Eview

  • :Econtroller

  • :Smodel

  • :Sview

  • :Scontroller

• vim-easymotion

  • \w

• gundo

  • \u

Check out vimtutor!