Level up your Vim Skills
Vim, an advanced text editor, is a powerful tool for developers, with capabilities that can increase productivity and efficiency when fully harnessed. Here are some quick tips and useful resources to level up your Vim skills:
Start with the basics: Vimtutor
To start with, use vimtutor
for an interactive Vim experience that will guide you through the basics of Vim, step by step. It's installed by default with Vim and you can launch it simply by typing vimtutor
into your terminal. This is great for getting the basics down.
Explore Vim Help Files
Vim's built-in help files are a treasure trove of information. Access them by typing :help
in command mode. They are comprehensive and provide detailed explanations of every command, option, and feature in Vim.
Implement a New Hotkey Every Day
Try to learn and use a new hotkey every day until you get comfortable. This will gradually increase your proficiency and speed in Vim.
Use Vim as a Plugin in Your Favourite Editor
To ease into using Vim, consider using Vim as a plugin in your favourite editor. This will allow you to use Vim commands without fully committing to the Vim interface. Plugins for Vim are available for popular editors such as VSCode and JetBrains.
Practice with Vim-Be-Good
Vim-Be-Good is a Neovim plugin designed to improve your Vim movements through games. It's a fun and interactive way to get better at Vim. The games focus on practicing basic movements, and the difficulty level can be adjusted. However, remember, you must use Neovim 5.x to install and play Vim-Be-Good1.
Learn Vim with VSCode Plugin
Consider using the Learn Vim plugin on VSCode. This plugin sets up VSCode as an environment for learning Vim. You can learn and practice Vim skills within VSCode itself. It is best used in conjunction with the VSCodeVim extension2.
Remember, Vim is not just an editor, it's a way of thinking about editing text. The more you use it, the more proficient you become. It might feel strange at first, but once you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself getting excited just to write and edit code again. Happy Vimming!