31–40 of 265 posts
This is the wrong way to go, if the UI is so bad it requires a course, then the problem is clearly the tool.
I'm not really in this camp though, I would prefer vim commands to somehow be more "discoverable".
Much easier said than done, though.
I really want to like vim and I love some things about it, like the ability to move chunks about with only the keyboard. But so many things about it kill me. Like, why can't I hit right at the end of a line, and move to the next line? Who thinks that is a good idea? Also, why do I have to have a special mode to insert things? Having to change modes just seems so complex and unintuitive. And why does the help system n…
I know this is probably something that sounds like someone too far down the rabbit-hole to see where they came from, but I'm not sure why you'd want to do that. The horizontal movement is probably adjacent to the vertical movement on your keyboard. Just use the appropriate movement to get where you want to go?
> Also, why do I have to have a special mode to insert things?
Because then you can use the regular keyboard, i.e. keys that would normally insert characters, as control inputs.
> But meanwhile I can use an ordinary visual text editor and I don't have to learn anything new.
You don't have to learn anything new because you don't want to do anything new.
This is the wrong way to go, if the UI is so bad it requires a course, then the problem is clearly the tool.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just created this account to say that I agree wholeheartedly 100%. People always ask me, "How do I get better at Vim?" or say "Vim is too hard" etc, and I always say `set mouse=a` isn't just a gimmick, it's a _very_ useful feature...
Definitely a hurdle to overcome for beginners. Although, it would help to show beginners exactly why abandoning the mouse will be better in the long run. It wouldn't do well for them to always rely on it in place of more efficient commands. Some people might always use the arrow keys instead of hjkl, for example, when hjkl will be better in the long run since they are on the home row.
I don't believe I'd write usefully larger amounts of code by using hjkl instead of arrow keys, and personally I am always going to use the mouse when I want to move more than a couple of lines.
I really want to like vim and I love some things about it, like the ability to move chunks about with only the keyboard. But so many things about it kill me. Like, why can't I hit right at the end of a line, and move to the next line? Who thinks that is a good idea? Also, why do I have to have a special mode to insert things? Having to change modes just seems so complex and unintuitive. And why does the help system n…
> Also, why do I have to have a special mode to insert things?
First and foremost Vim is a modal text editor. If you don't like that Vim is probably not for you. Your comment is kind of like saying I'm really trying to like chocolate, but I don't like the flavour.
There's a Vim way of doing things, if you really take the time to learn it then the questions you are asking will all be resolved.
One thing that I still need though, is proper syntax highlighting. I wish there is an easy way for vim to do it rather than just too many plugins here and there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Definitely a hurdle to overcome for beginners. Although, it would help to show beginners exactly why abandoning the mouse will be better in the long run. It wouldn't do well for them to always rely on it in place of more efficient commands. Some people might always use the arrow keys instead of hjkl, for example, when hjkl will be better in the long run since they are on the home row.
I buy the idea that the more advanced features of vim are worth it, being able to quickly cut+paste bits of text around, skip to end of line/bracket/etc. I don't believe I'd write usefully larger amounts of code by using hjkl instead of arrow keys, and personally I am always going to use the mouse when I want to move more than a couple of lines.
What changed my opinion was watching videos of people using vim on youtube that made me interested in learning it for real. It made me realize how much more efficient it could be.
This is the wrong way to go, if the UI is so bad it requires a course, then the problem is clearly the tool.
This is a wild take. I'm not quite sure how you would go about changing it into something "better" without funadmentally destroying its functionality. The "UI" of driving a car or a jet requires "a course" but it doesn't meant that they're bad.
This is the wrong way to go, if the UI is so bad it requires a course, then the problem is clearly the tool.