Vim Creep • Hacker News Board

Re: Vim Creep

#71

Post by barrkel » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:00 PM UTC

greyfade wrote: post #67

jdludlow wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$ man apropos apropos searches a set of database files containing short descriptions of system commands for keywords and displays the result on the standard output. It answers the question "I wonder how to do [this English word]." For example: "I wonder how I copy a file." $ apropos copy Dumps out all of the matching entries from the man pages for the word "copy". If you just wanted general commands, as opposed to li…

Instead of using `grep "(1)"`, use the `-s` switch: $ apropos -s1 copy bsdcpio (1) - copy files to and from archives cp (1) - copy files and directories dd (1) - convert and copy a file ....

I think it's better to use grep. Knowing the options to apropos has very low value. Knowing grep has lots and lots of value.

Re: Vim Creep

#72

Post by zship » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:03 PM UTC

VMG wrote: post #35

Nope. Don't get me wrong, I love vim, but I don't need to have it everywhere . It makes no sense in the browser. It's lacking some features Eclipse has (although if Eclipse had a proper Vim mode, I'd use it in a heartbeat).

Have you heard of Eclim? It's a sort-of "bridge" between Eclipse and Vim and I couldn't be happier with it. http://eclim.org/

Re: Vim Creep

#73

Post by kevinalexbrown » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:05 PM UTC

This is an extremely awesome, fantastic, exhilarating use of hyperbole.

What I gained from the article wasn't any explanation of why Vim is great; indeed, there was little included in this respect, aside from moving "entire blocks of code with the flick of a finger." Even the cool feeling of proficiency you get from knowing a tool well, and the fun of getting to show off a skill to a "how did he do that!?" audience was secondary.

My favorite part was the implicit reminder to relax about my tools. The most effective use of hyperbole is not the emphasis of a particular point, but a caution not to take ourselves too seriously, and place our self-satisfaction in proper perspective. The most powerful instances border on satire, and in that respect, this piece was perfect.

Addendum: I use vim and pentadactyl. They are extremely awesome, fantastic, and exhilarating.

Re: Vim Creep

#74

Post by mun2mun » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:09 PM UTC

kennethologist wrote: post #6

This article has changed(or at least I hope) my life. I'm installing Vim today on my Windows Laptop. Does anyone know of a good guide for beginners?

Start with Darek Watt's novice tutorial series[1]. He presented basic features of vim in a simple and a bit funny way.

http://www.derekwyatt.org/vim/vim-tutorial-videos/vim-novice...

Re: Vim Creep

#75

Post by solutionyogi » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:12 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #70

ta12121 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does your example include the action of deleting bar with baz? Also, not having to move away from the home row makes me feel much faster. Having to use Alt/Control/Arrows makes me cry. (I know you can't avoid Control in Vim, but in this example it is not required.) ci"baz is 7 keystrokes, only one of which is a jump. bar baz is 8 strokes and two jumps. It also requires typing the entire string in quotes. If the examp…

No, good point. You'd then have to type "baz". However, if I was actually faced with this problem, I'd use End, Ctrl + Left, Ctrl + D, baz, which is a total of 7 keystrokes. (if you don't release Ctrl) The vim example was 8 keystrokes. (" is shift + ') I have no doubt that you could manufacture an example that shows a benefit for vim, but I think that the advantages are overestimated by heavy vim users. Edit: Your lo…

I don't know why other Vim users focus on number of keystrokes.

In his example, what is more important is that you are 'describing' what you want to do with text with commands.

So when you have

var foo1 = "bar";

var foo2 = "hello hi";

var foo3 = "when and why";

You can use the same command [cib"] to change the value assigned to foo1/foo2/foo3. You are describing your change semantically i.e. I want to change word inside the double quotes.

In Sublime and other editors, it matters what the assignment is and you have to use different approach in each scenario.

Frankly, as I type at 70wpm, I don't care about saving a few keystroke here and there.

Re: Vim Creep

#76

Post by kstenerud » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:12 PM UTC

I started using vi in high school. Used it extensively throughout college. Then I had my first taste of a proper GUI IDE.

Since then, I've only used vim for editing config files on a remote unix system.

Re: Vim Creep

#77

Post by gcb » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:14 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #13

This feels like an article about a religion or cult, not a software program. I just don't get it. Ever since newer editors got block editing or multiple insertion cursors, and RegEx find & replace across multiple files, and searching filenames to open... I feel like I've already got everything I need! What am I missing out on? I don't feel like my text editor holds back my productivity. Using something like Sublime,…

It talks about nostalgia. there's nothing else besides that.

either you share this or not. If you saw anything else, you are probably misreading or reading too much there.

Re: Vim Creep

#78

Post by gcb » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:17 PM UTC

recursive wrote: post #53

xutopia wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really have to sit down and see a vim user work to start to understand. In vim you don't just move around with arrows, then delete and then replace the text you want. What happens is you can use noun-verb associations to do things. For example on a line like this: var foo = "bar"; I could be at the beginning of the line and type the following keys to change the inside of the quotation marks: ci"baz In sublime I w…

If you're into that sort of thing, you can do Ctrl + F, bar in Sublime too. Most of the comparisons in this discussion between vim and non vim demonstrate high proficiency in vim, but not as much elsewhere. Of course you are more proficient in the tool you know best.

ctrl+f,bar,esc,ctrl+shift+right,foo

i think it's easier to grab the mouse, dlb click bar, foo

with vim, it's still easier than grabbing the mouse. that's the litmus test of text editor interface effectiveness. the mouse is awesome, hard to beat. so if your editor beats it, game on!

Re: Vim Creep

#79

Post by mun2mun » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:17 PM UTC

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #73

This is an extremely awesome, fantastic, exhilarating use of hyperbole. What I gained from the article wasn't any explanation of why Vim is great; indeed, there was little included in this respect, aside from moving "entire blocks of code with the flick of a finger." Even the cool feeling of proficiency you get from knowing a tool well, and the fun of getting to show off a skill to a "how did he do that!?" audience w…

Just watch the video of the page http://blog.extracheese.org/2010/11/screencast-custom-vim-re... to get the gist of "entire blocks of code with the flick of a finger".

Re: Vim Creep

#80

Post by olalonde » Thu, Jul 12, 2012, 8:20 PM UTC

crazygringo wrote: post #13

This feels like an article about a religion or cult, not a software program. I just don't get it. Ever since newer editors got block editing or multiple insertion cursors, and RegEx find & replace across multiple files, and searching filenames to open... I feel like I've already got everything I need! What am I missing out on? I don't feel like my text editor holds back my productivity. Using something like Sublime,…