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Vim ported to iOS

applidium.com

51–60 of 133 posts

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#51

Yet another emacs/vim article, and I always look for an excuse to get excited but never can. It seems that the speed at which I think/code is much slower than the speed at which I type. So I can't imagine that I would benefit from skills in emacs/vim-fu. Is this preconception valid, or can anyone debunk?

Once you get used to a good editor (Vim or, for me, Emacs) you don't have to think about how to edit a file, even you're doing something relatively complicated: it becomes a natural, almost instinctive action. This not only increases the speed you enter text or navigate, but also reduces the friction when actually entering your thoughts into the computer.

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#53
post #13

I was always using "Prompt" to connect to an ssh server and then use vim there with an external keyboard. But that's a nice touch.

I rather do like this. nothings beat a full-vim experience

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#55
I'll check this out app out. I've tried using the touch screen keyboard on an ipad thru ssh and using vim. it was unbearable, to say the least.

i ended up getting an asus transformer prime that has a keyboard dock and the keys can be rebound to your like (esc, ctrl, etc) and it's the closest to the "real thing" experience i have found on a tablet

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#56
post #7

Awesome news! I was searching on Cydia the other day to see if there was a vim package available... but I'm definitely happy to see this.

There is, though. I don't understand... personally I've been using a combo of iSSH into my own iphone. ~/ is located at /private/var/mobile and there's no latency (you ARE connecting to localhost). Git and vim installed means that basically, you can be self sufficient from your iPad/iPhone, without even needing an additional workstation to SSH into. Hell, even Python and Ruby can be installed on the jailbroken iphone. It's basically a portable POSIX-compatible system, after you install all the necessary packages (network-cmds for ping, for example) you're all set.

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#57

I'm confused, how does one use the esc key without a keyboard?

As explained on the splashscreen, they've remapped that to backslash. I suspect it'd be much more useful with a BT keyboard - lack of ctrl and tab for a start. The font is pretty ugly too - I can't easily tell the difference between q and g. However, it is a neat hack, if not very usable.

It doesn't seem retina optimized. The font is horrendous on my iPhone 4.

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#59
Vim is for coding. How does this work out on the iPad?

Does one edit remote files locally, and compile/run remotely? (the benefit is the editing feels instant - no keystroke latency.)

Or has Apple let up on the "no coding for you!" iPad/iPhone terms? (I thought they would eventually, once their dev environment is firmly established - and they'll have to, if/when they adopt iOS on their {lap,/desk}tops - but maybe today is not yet that day. iOS devices sell macs as dev machines)

Re: Vim ported to iOS

#60
post #36

Yet another emacs/vim article, and I always look for an excuse to get excited but never can. It seems that the speed at which I think/code is much slower than the speed at which I type. So I can't imagine that I would benefit from skills in emacs/vim-fu. Is this preconception valid, or can anyone debunk?

This is a circular argument (or some sort of thing like that), but if you ever find yourself at a *nix command line prompt and need to edit a file, you can be certain that vim will be available. Basic familiarity with it can be helpful. Personally, I used to write a ton of perl inside Vim as a student, but these days I'm in VS all the time, and only use Vim like I would use Notepad - when I want to do quick edits in…

If you're willing to spend $99, viemu is a wonderful vim emulator for Visual Studio.

For a little more you can get it for SSMS, too. What's really fun is highlighting stuff with visual mode and just hitting F5. Need to run a subquery? Get the cursor somewhere in there and vi( F5. And macros sure help with repetitive sql constructs.

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