A Quick History

About Vim

• Created in 1991
• Runs in a terminal window
• Liked for speed, customization

Why Use Vim?

• Very portable configuration
• Extremely fast editing
• Awesome plugin community

Things to Know

• Available in a terminal window
• No mouse!

Learning Curve

Title Text

Getting to Know Vim

3 Modes

• Normal Mode
• Insert Mode
• Visual Mode

Normal Mode

• Movement allowed
• Execute Vim commands
• Move quickly around the file
• Other modes return to here

Visual Mode

• Movement allowed
• Select text
• Cut/Copy (yank)
• Paste 

Insert Mode

• Movement (sort of) allowed
• Most similar to editors that you're familiar with

File Commands

Manipulating the File

Movement

// Basic motion

h : move right
l : move left
j : move down
k : move up


// Jumping

w  : beginning of next word
e  : end of next word
b  : beginning of previous word
ge : end of previous word
%  : jump to matching symbol


// Moving Faster

2h : move 2 characters right
4w : move to the front of the 4th word

• Arrow keys work, but don't use them
• By default, move one "step" at a time
• Can be combined with numbers to repeat movements

Operations

// Basic Ops

x : delete
r : replace (single character)
c : replace selection


// Undo

u     : undo one step
ctl-r : repo one step


// Moving Text Around

d : cut
y : copy (yank)
p : paste after (similar to a)
P : paste before (similar to i)


// Other

/ : search in file

• The basic commands of Vim
• Text manipulation

Transitioning Between Modes

// Insert Mode

i : insert "under" cursor
a : insert "after" cursor

I : insert at beginning of line
A : insert at end of line

o : insert on next line (below)
O : insert on previous line (above)


// Visual Mode

v     : regular selection
V     : line selection
opt-v : block selection


// Leaving a Mode

esc : back to normal

• Vim gives lots of options for transitioning between modes
• Picking the right command is important 

Vim Commands

Controlling the Editor

Basic Commands

// Quitting Vim

:q   : quit
:qa  : quit all
:qa! : force quit all


// Save a File

:w   : save
:wq  : save and quit


// Other stuff

:help __command_name__

• Vim commands usually start with a colon
• Toggle features on and off

Vim Features

What sets Vim apart?

Panes

// Movement

h : move right
l : move left
j : move down
k : move up


// Jumping

w  : beginning of next word
e  : end of next word
b  : beginning of previous word
ge : end of previous word

• Allows you to have multiple files open at once
• Can split horizontally or vertically