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It's an old article, but if you use vi/m it's always good to read a refresher. I've been using the editor for almost 30 years and always learn something new:
If you spend a lot of time typing plain text, writing programs or HTML, you can save much of that time by using a good editor and using it effectively. This paper will present guidelines and hints for doing your work more quickly and with fewer mistakes.
The open source text editor Vim (Vi IMproved) will be used here to present the ideas about effective editing, but they apply to other editors just as well. Choosing the right editor is actually the first step towards effective editing. The discussion about which editor is the best for you would take too much room and is avoided. If you don't know which editor to use or are dissatisfied with what you are currently using, give Vim a try; you won't be disappointed.
[...] The point is that you need to get to know these commands. You might object that you can't possibly learn all these commands - there are hundreds of different movement commands, some simple, some very clever - and it would take weeks of training to learn them all. Well, you don't need to; instead realize what your specific way of editing is, and learn only those commands that make your editing more effective.
There are three basic steps:
1. While you are editing, keep an eye out for actions you repeat and/or spend quite a bit of time on.
2. Find out if there is an editor command that will do this action quicker. Read the documentation, ask a friend, or look at how others do this.
3. Train using the command. Do this until your fingers type it without thinking.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 24 2017, @05:43PM (3 children)
Haha yeaaaah wtf is up with that? I doubt the slower interface is better over the long term, and you have to learn so many esoteric commands to use VIM that I just don't see the point. I use it only when I'm unable to access a real editor.
Yeah you heard me, a REAL editor that doesn't require an advanced degree in Esoteria to operate.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Tuesday October 24 2017, @07:23PM (1 child)
It is a long learning curve, but it's worth the climb. In vim I can teleport anywhere with a keystroke and make changes as quick as breathing. It's as close to telepathically linking to an interface as I've ever come. I actually get a charge out of using it, even if I'm doing something as tedious as working on a CSS file or something. Having to use an IDE more than halves my productivity and feels like having fallen into a tar pit. Those flashes of inspiration that can carry you for hours when in the flow of writing code don't come. Having to fuck around with the mouse breaks the spell every time.
YMMV
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 24 2017, @08:52PM
I don't even think it is a long learning curve. Maybe to master it, but you can be up and flying along with only a handful of commands. But if you work a lot with text files, I've found that the return on the investment is HUGE if you spend the time to learn vim beyond the basic level of competency.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday October 25 2017, @02:31AM
Das racis, you Esoteriaphobe!
My rights don't end where your fear begins.