Minimum Viable Vim

These are notes from a presentation on Vim I gave at work.

Why Vim?

Vim is everywhere - it’s installed on virtually every Unix system. Even if you primarily use another editor, knowing basic Vim is invaluable for when your preferred tools aren’t available.

The Absolute Basics

Modes

Vim has two main modes you need to know:

• Normal mode (default): For navigating and commands
• Insert mode: For typing text
• Press i to enter insert mode
• Press ESC to return to normal mode

Essential Commands

Getting in and out

• :q quit (fails if unsaved changes)
• :q! quit without saving
• :w save
• :wq save and quit

Movement (in normal mode)

• h left
• j down
• k up
• l right

A Typical Workflow

1. Open a file: vim test.txt
2. Press i to start typing
3. Hit ESC when done typing
4. Type :wq to save and quit

Slightly More Advanced

Moving faster

• w jump to next word
• b jump back one word
• 0 jump to start of line
• $ jump to end of line

Editing

• dd delete current line
• u undo
• yy copy current line
• p paste

Common Gotchas

• Stuck in a mode? Hit ESC a few times
• Typed : by accident? Hit ESC to cancel
• Made unwanted changes? u for undo
• Really stuck? :q! is your escape hatch

Next Steps

Start with these basics and gradually add new commands as you get comfortable. A few suggestions for when you’re ready:

• Add the Vim plugin for VSCode if you’re a VSCode user
• Try Vimium for vim in the browser
• Visual mode (press v)
• Search (press /)
• Find and replace (:s/old/new/g)

Published on: 2024-11-05