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Lecture 3: Editors (Vim)

Operating modes:

  • Normal: for moving around a file and making edits; <ESC>
  • Insert: for inserting text; i
  • Replace: for replacing text; R
  • Visual (plain, line, or block): for selecting blocks of text; v, V for line, <C-v> for block
  • Command-line: for running a command; :

Basics​

Buffers, tabs, and windows​

  • buffers: set of open files
  • tabs: collection of one or more windows
  • windows: each window shows a single buffer

Command-line​

  • :q quit (close window), :qa to close all windows, q! to discard changes
  • :w save (“write”)
  • :wq save and quit
  • :e {name of file} open file for editing
  • :ls show open buffers
  • :help {topic} open help
    • :help :w opens help for the :w command
    • :help w opens help for the w movement
  • :sp: split window
  • :tabnew

Vim's interface is a programming language​

Movement (nouns)​

  • Basic movement: hjkl (left, down, up, right)
  • Words: w (next word), b (beginning of word), e (end of word)
  • Lines: 0 (beginning of line), ^ (first non-blank character), $ (end of line)
  • Screen: H (top of screen), M (middle of screen), L (bottom of screen)
  • Scroll: Ctrl-u (up), Ctrl-d (down)
  • File: gg (beginning of file), G (end of file)
  • Line numbers: :{number}<CR> or {number}G (line {number})
  • Misc: % (corresponding item)
  • Find: f{character}, t{character}, F{character}, T{character}
    • find/to forward/backward {character} on the current line
    • ,/ ; for navigating matches
  • Search: /{regex}, n / N for navigating matches

Selection​

  • Visual: v
  • Visual Line: V
  • Visual Block: Ctrl-v

Edits (verbs)​

  • i enter Insert mode
    • but for manipulating/deleting text, want to use something more than backspace
  • o / O insert line below / above
  • d{motion}` delete {motion}
    • e.g. dw is delete word, d$ is delete to end of line, d0 is delete to beginning of line
  • c{motion} change {motion}
    • e.g. cw is change word
    • like d{motion} followed by i
  • x delete character (equal do dl)
  • r replace character
  • s substitute character (equal to cl)
  • Visual mode + manipulation
    • select text, d to delete it or c to change it
  • u to undo, <C-r> to redo
  • y to copy / “yank” (some other commands like d also copy); yy line, yw word
  • p to paste
  • / for next match
  • n for next match
  • . repeats previous editing command
  • A append to end of line
  • Lots more to learn: e.g. ~ flips the case of a character

Counts​

  • 3w move 3 words forward
  • 5j move 5 lines down
  • 7dw delete 7 words

Modifiers​

  • ci( change the contents inside the current pair of parentheses
  • ci[ change the contents inside the current pair of square brackets
  • da' delete a single-quoted string, including the surrounding single quotes

Customizing Vim​

  • customize through ~/.vimrc

Extending Vim​

  • create the directory ~/.vim/pack/vendor/start/
  • put plugins in there (e.g. via git clone)

Exercises​

TO-DO

  • vimtutor
  • install anid configure a plugin
  • advanced vivimm