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Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#21

Post by ant6n »

colesantiago wrote: post #2

What happens if? 1. The LLMs are down, and you're on call and you need to fix a bug immediately (no mistakes) 2. You're working over serial (The LLMs aren't there to help you and only vi and emacs are available) 3. You're working on an old computer for some esoteric reason. 4. You're going in an interview and they (temporarily) forbid you to use an LLM to check your knowledge on using these tools (as well as programm…

Use emacs. Easier to learn.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#22

Post by apothegm »

Do you already do any work over SSH? What do you do if you need to edit any files in that context?

Learning the essentials of vim was the sort of skill that for me took about 10 min per day over a couple months and has come in handy almost every day since then. Can you get by without it? I guess, if you do absolutely everything via a GUI. Or delegate all CLI work to LLMs without ever questioning or second guessing their output.

And yes, I use vim for almost every git commit or interactive rebase. Access to the full power of CLI git is something I value very much and has saved me countless hours. Not to mention using it for editing any config file that’s not part of a repo.

Every time you’re able to keep your fingers on the keyboard instead of reaching for a mouse saves you both time and precious context switching energy.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#23

Post by mtndew4brkfst »

ant6n wrote: post #21
colesantiago wrote: post #2

What happens if? 1. The LLMs are down, and you're on call and you need to fix a bug immediately (no mistakes) 2. You're working over serial (The LLMs aren't there to help you and only vi and emacs are available) 3. You're working on an old computer for some esoteric reason. 4. You're going in an interview and they (temporarily) forbid you to use an LLM to check your knowledge on using these tools (as well as programm…

Use emacs. Easier to learn.

For some people cua-mode being opt-in and very difficult to discover organically will be a larger barrier for comfort and learning than normal/insert modes and motion commands could ever hope to be.

(10 year evil-mode user who moved to Neovim for other reasons, chiefly performance/LSP nativity/plugin ecosystem vitality)

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#25

Post by ant6n »

mtndew4brkfst wrote: post #23
ant6n wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use emacs. Easier to learn.

For some people cua-mode being opt-in and very difficult to discover organically will be a larger barrier for comfort and learning than normal/insert modes and motion commands could ever hope to be. (10 year evil-mode user who moved to Neovim for other reasons, chiefly performance/LSP nativity/plugin ecosystem vitality)

You just need learn C-x C-s (save) and C-x C-c (exit) to be able to edit files on the command line. It's kind of like nano, except has syntax highlighting.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#26

Post by lyaocean »

Yes, if you treat it as an editing layer, not a lifestyle. Motions + text objects + macros give most of the win, even inside IDE Vim mode while AI handles bigger chunks. Keep your config tiny for a while; plugin rabbit holes are the real productivity killer.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#27

Post by pearlos »

It seems like tools like Vim are less about specific productivity gains in isolation and more about developing a particular mental model of interacting with text and systems. Even as AI takes over more of the generation work, the ability to navigate, inspect, and make precise edits efficiently still seems valuable. In that sense it feels less like an either/or question and more like whether someone finds that model aligns with how they prefer to work.

Re: Ask HN: Is it worth learning Vim in 2026?

#29

Post by bgar »

Pretty much every engineer needs to use Vim/vi when logged into any server, so from that point of view, this shouldn’t even be a question. I don’t think knowing how to use a modal editor in 2026 is a flex anymore, it’s just standard. But if you’re planning to commit to modal editing as a lifestyle, you should be using Helix, not Neovim.
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