Introduction

Have you ever been stuck in Vim opening multiple files within a single window? Didn’t anyone tell you, you can create multiple windows and split them within a single tab. Definitely, the window splits will be in separate buffers. In this way you can create multiple windows inside of a single Tab, what are Tabs? You can learn some basics about it from my previous article about Tabs in Vim. We can either create Vertical or Horizontal splits within the window making it flexible to work with multiple files in Vim. This article will look into the creation, navigation, closing, and rearrangement of Window Splits.

Introduction

So, you are playing with Vim and getting good at but something pulls you off. Basically can’t get used to switching between files or windows, and that’s totally fine. Some may prefer using Window splitting, file managers, and whatnot. But let me introduce you to TABS in Vim. A simple and elegant way to open multiple files in Vim.

Opening Tabs

To open a tab, you can press :tabnew or :tabedit to open a blank Tab with no file open in it. This basically works like the :e command, which opens a buffer for you with no named file.

Introduction

Have you ever found it difficult to manage and operate text in Vim, especially in Cut/Copy/Paste stuff. You cannot figure out how on earth am I supposed to retrieve my un-saved, un-committed changes in Vim. Then this my dear friend is an article for you. You will learn what are Vim registers and where your deletes and copied stuff resides. This won’t be a comprehensive guide but enough to let you through in performing the wizardry of registers in Vim.

Introduction

Editing/ Writing is a crucial part of any text editor, the swiftness with which one can make changes in a file(s) or a structure is a bit dependent on the editor we use as well. Vim can be a bit hassle for beginners in the initial stage but it becomes second nature soon. It also depends majorly on the level of usage and the area of usage. If you are an advanced programmer, you will use these commands extensively, and might not be a big deal for you, But for a beginner, it might take some time to get used to the workflow in Vim.

Vim and Terminal!?

Vim was made to work with the command line. Many beginners do not understand what are the true capabilities of Vim, myself included:) Vim can run terminal commands without leaving the text editor, open an instance of a terminal, work with shell environments, and other things depending on the use case.

Running Terminal/ shell commands from within Vim

You can run the commands from inside of Vim by just using :! before the command, this means you have to be in command mode. Just after being in command mode, the ! or bang operator will execute the command typed after it from the terminal(Linux/ macOS) or your default shell(Windows -> CMD/Powershell).


Introduction

OK! Vim and movement are like bread and butter or failed brakes. To become a proficient Vim user, you need to move in Vim very effectively. You don’t have to think about doing certain things, your fingertips should automatically move without wasting time thinking about it. I am sure, it takes time and effort but OH! it is so rewarding in the end.

Why H J K L?

First things first, unmap arrow keys and make a habit of using h,j,k, and l. Yes, this would not make any sense in the initial stage but that will make no sense for not using it later. The thing with H J K L is that they are quite flexible to work with and if you use it with numbers you would navigate much faster than arrow keys. Such as 10j will move you 10 lines down at a time in normal mode. These keys are used with many of the other key shortcuts and commands which just make it most important to begin learning to move around in Vim with H J K L.

Introduction

Keymapping or Key binding is a process in which a user or a system can assign certain keys or commands to perform a particular task or commands. This can be quite useful in Vim as well as in other text editors to avoid some repetitive tasks and save time. In Vim this can be a great power to have for programmers as it can be really very flexible to set up for any programming language and it’s environment.

Vim and BASH?

Bash Scripting is a powerful skill to have as a programmer because we find Linux almost everywhere and to get through it you must have a command over its interface which is generally the BASH shell. Vim is a great option for doing this, or probably the best out there! Because Vim is pre-installed in almost every Linux distribution. This is not an in-depth setup for BASH on Vim, it is a simple editorial on starting up BASH scripting on the Vim editor. So without wasting time on “Vim features” let’s dive in with the setup for BASH in Vim.

Introduction

Vim is quite a powerful text editor which can add performance to the already fast typed language Python. Vim can be highly customizable and efficient to use as it has the power of adding custom plugins and plugins managers, key mappings, and the most critical weapon of vim - Access to the terminal straight away. This is not a full-featured guide of using vim for python, it’s just a quick setup for using python on vim blazingly fast!!

We all are asked to use visual studio code and other rich looking editors as a beginners text editor or an IDE but that makes a habit of a rich and pleasing interface of running and debugging programs, and that is the reason we don’t feel good to use command line or the terminal. Terminal or Command line are quite important to learn and are powerful as well.

Vim is a text editor, not any text editor but a special and one of the fastest out there if you use it wisely. Vim can be used in the terminal which means it can run terminal commands inside the editor interface. That makes it quite a great option to improve your terminal command skills and also for enhancing your Linux knowledge. You can run program files from vim itself just with a few keystrokes. This text editor is preinstalled in most Linux distributions and hence you could quickly edit some files without going anywhere.