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I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

evanhahn.com

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Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#131

Post by opan »

estearum wrote: post #118
eddd-ddde wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've tried so many times to make it work, I've really tried. But it just ends up being faster to spam j a couple of times instead of having to think about how many times I want to move, then type it, then be wrong, then try again... For larger distances you wouldn't even see the text in the screen, so you don't even know how much to jump. In this situation I just spam ctrl+d, then tweak with j.

Relative line numbers = no thinking Look where you want to go, there's a number next to it. Type that number and then type j.

You can jump to line numbers without them being relative. Enter the line number and hit G or gg. Out of the box behavior, and you don't need to obscure the real line numbers that way.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#132

Post by estearum »

opan wrote: post #131
estearum wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relative line numbers = no thinking Look where you want to go, there's a number next to it. Type that number and then type j.

You can jump to line numbers without them being relative. Enter the line number and hit G or gg. Out of the box behavior, and you don't need to obscure the real line numbers that way.

Right, but obviously people in this comment thread are trying to use relative jumps (which I also have a strong preference for), but seem to be under the impression you must guess the distance: you do not.

Typing 5j, where the number "5ish" was already loaded into your brain by looking at the distance, is 100x better than typing 384g, where 384 is an effectively meaningless number and will change momentarily anyway.

Fwiw, relative line numbers doesn't obscure the "real line numbers" in any meaningful way. First of all, real line numbers aren't used for anything except external references into the file, which you can still navigate to perfectly fine using G or g. Also, relative line numbers show your current line's real line number at all times.

There have been exactly zero times I've regretted having relative line numbers on and it's not default behavior, that's why it's useful to point out here.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#134

Post by wpm »

Uptrenda wrote: post #35

I never understood the appeal of these command-line editors with a million commands for different edge-cases. Why not just use VSCode? It has every possible extension you already need and a simple GUI. No need to type commands just to edit text when there's a file manager... It has remote SSH and features for vm machines. To me the kinds of people using these editors are the kinds of people that love making everythin…

I would absolutely not agree it has a "simple GUI". It's "minimullizm" web slop trash that only appears simple because it hides all of its complexity behind a big dumb menu that lists everything alphabetically with a search box. It's one of the most dogshit user interfaces I've ever used.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#135

Post by simonkagedal »

pdmccormick wrote: post #45
simonkagedal wrote: post #34

I applaud this project, “setting all the options”. I think it’s a really good idea to become close friends with the software you use all the time, and getting acquainted through the lens of configuration is one way. Messing around with stuff is good. I feel it’s worth mentioning that there is a sense in which I think it might be a bad idea. It could be that you’d now be fixating some value that may be optimal right n…

"Become close friends with the software you use all the time." That is a beautifully evocative phrase for a lovely idea, thank you for sharing. If I may share an idea for which I don't have nearly as nice and succinct a summation, but I've come to view my personal computing environments through the lens of being a garden. I spend so much time within them, working, learning, playing and writing. I can see the differen…

That is a very nice metaphor indeed!

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#136

Post by daotoad »

fuzztester wrote: post #106
cstrahan wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://vimhelp.org/motion.txt.html#%7B { [count] paragraphs backward. exclusive motion. } [count] paragraphs forward. exclusive motion.

What does exclusive motion mean here?

Motions can be inclusive or exclusive. It works like the different ways of annotating ranges: [0,1] and (0,1).

Consider the command `d` (delete) combined with the motions for `"`.

First we have `da"`, it deletes the everything between the pair of `"` characters that surround my cursor. Next, `di"` deletes the contents of the `"` pair.

The movement `a"` is inclusive (think 'a quote') and `i"` is exclusive (think 'inside quote'). Combined with the command you get "delete a quote" and "delete inside quote" when the mnemonics are spelled out.

https://vimhelp.org/motion.txt.html#exclusive

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#137

Post by daotoad »

bluebarbet wrote: post #83
jcrben wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally I'm using 'e' to go forward and 'b' to go backward

Whereas I have always used `w` and did not even know that `e` existed (not that I can see an obvious advantage to it). Ahh, vim.

Do you like your cursor at the beginning or end of words?

Most of the time it doesn't really matter. But if you know you want to append to a word you can hit that target immediately by using `e` (`ea`). Or if you want to prepend, you can use `wi`.

Note that `i` and `a` have a similar pairing to `w` and `e`.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#138

Post by troad »

TonyStr wrote: post #128
troad wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think vim's greatest problem is discoverability. It's a big enough problem that after six or so months working full time in neovim I went back to a GUI editor. I just about barely remember the most common commands, but I do not remember (at all) anything I only need occasionally. I also know myself well enough to know I will never remember this sort of thing well. I have a terrible memory for procedural / administr…

I 100% agree, but I also think you can get very far with just taking a weekend to read the user manual (:h user-manual). It won't solve the remembering problem, but it will make looking up help when you need it much easier. For example, you would know that most window operations start with , so when you need to tile windows you could start with looking up `:h ctrl_w`. There is also a very popular plugin for neovim th…

This is all great advice and I appreciate it.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#139

Post by bluebarbet »

daotoad wrote: post #137
bluebarbet wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whereas I have always used `w` and did not even know that `e` existed (not that I can see an obvious advantage to it). Ahh, vim.

Do you like your cursor at the beginning or end of words? Most of the time it doesn't really matter. But if you know you want to append to a word you can hit that target immediately by using `e` (`ea`). Or if you want to prepend, you can use `wi`. Note that `i` and `a` have a similar pairing to `w` and `e`.

As it happens, I do actually use both `i` and `a` already. So, to celebrate my first decade on vim, I'm going to try to add `e` to my repertoire.

Re: I set all 376 Vim options and I'm still a fool

#140

Post by fuzztester »

daotoad wrote: post #136
fuzztester wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does exclusive motion mean here?

Motions can be inclusive or exclusive. It works like the different ways of annotating ranges: [0,1] and (0,1). Consider the command `d` (delete) combined with the motions for `"`. First we have `da"`, it deletes the everything between the pair of `"` characters that surround my cursor. Next, `di"` deletes the contents of the `"` pair. The movement `a"` is inclusive (think 'a quote') and `i"` is exclusive (think 'insi…

oh, wow, great info, thanks. i knew about the general concept from high school math (where it is called open and closed intervals) and also about Python ranges, but didn't know about it in connection with vim. Got it now.
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