
Vim Misconceptions - schwede
https://sanctum.geek.nz/arabesque/vim-misconceptions/
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dave_sullivan
I've been using vim for... 5 years? I initially forced myself to learn it
(after being aware of vim and its learning curve) so I could work with a text
editor that would be available on pretty much any linux server I might ssh
into.

After about a year of mostly forcing myself to learn it, I started using it as
my main text editor. At this point, I have a standard vimrc and plugins that I
install on every new machine, including windows. Vim is my default text editor
of choice.

Some of the benefits:

\- Introduced me to the concept of not using your mouse and how much this
increases the speed you can work. Introduced me to hjkl as movement keys
(which at first glance was not obvious to me).

\- Lots of commands to move around quickly. Lots of customization options for
the constant tweakers in us. Core focus on changing text in as few keystrokes
as possible.

\- Lots of plugins to do all that cool "Oh, it would be cool if it did
_this_." The "missing" features, like code completion or file system
navigation, are available via plugins.

\- The interface is very fast and pleasurable to use once you have familiarity
with its incantations (which actually aren't so bad once you learn the
basics).

I have no strong opinion of emacs, but it strikes me as similar in experience
(if not implementation) to vim. I used sublime text for a while and liked it,
although I kind of just ended up sticking with vim. It is funny how much
programmers get into text editors, although they're important tools for the
profession, so tradesmen obsessing over the tools they use probably isn't so
new.

~~~
gkya
What keeps me on Emacs is Elisp. With sth. like paredit editing lisp code
becomes the easiest thing in the world, and what you can do and what is
already available is awesome. And while Elisp is not the best lisp out there,
it is pleasurable to write in and edit. I can't even pretend appreciating
VimScript.

Then comes Quail and Org-mode.

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xutopia
Some of these misconceptions are about having a poor UI and poor
discoverability. I'm an avid vim user but I had to take a bet that the initial
work to familiarize myself will pay off in the end. I'm happy I took the leap
but it's daunting for anyone getting started.

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dmux
Just learned about Larry Tesler [1] and his fight for modeless software
yesterday.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Tesler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Tesler)

~~~
ajford
I'm not gonna lie, that sounds absolutely ridiculous and uninformed.

Everything in life depends on cause and effect and "modes". Your actions have
consequences and should obviously affect future interactions.

I can totally understand that in certain instances, having "modes" or states
in a software package might not be intuitive or preferred. But I also feel
that having stateful software can be even more useful.

~~~
huac
I think the popularity of Microsoft Word, in particular, shows how mode-less
software is more broadly usable.

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ksk
Another misconception I would add is people thinking it improves productivity
over what some people consider "newbie friendly" tools (GUI IDEs and the
like). If you _LIKE_ using it, please go ahead. But AFAIK, there is no data
showing any of these editors save you time over what you invested learning
them. I was an expert vim user and I don't think I am ever going to recover
the hours I spent learning it. For C++ these days, I find I'm actually more
productive in Visual Studio than I could ever be in vim.

~~~
sanderjd
I think it's more about comfort than productivity. I find myself using control
keys or reaching for the mouse _far_ more often when using anything else to
edit text, and it's just more pleasant to be able to stick to the letters on
the keyboard as much as possible.

I think your point about productivity in VS probably has more to do with its
IDE features than its text editing features doesn't it? I also enjoy using a
good IDE, but I still lean heavily on (bad to mediocre) vim keybinding
support. At least I can navigate and make small edits nicely, but for anything
more advanced, it's straight back to the control key or right click menu.

What I'd really love to see would be an IDE designed from the ground up to be
modeful, and to put the most common things you do in an IDE on easy to reach
keys. The interesting part of vim isn't the specific keybindings, it's the
_philosophy_ , and as far as I've seen, nothing else embraces it.

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contingencies
Does anyone else use vanilla vim happily without plugins?

~~~
sanderjd
I happily use both: vanilla on servers, lots of plugins on personal machine.
There are lots of nice plugins, and I don't buy the argument that using them
makes me unable to figure out how to use the vanilla install when sshing.

------
tomkat0789
You can learn the basics with this little browser video game:

[http://vim-adventures.com/](http://vim-adventures.com/)

I used to hate vim with a passion because of how unintuitive everything
seemed, but this made me want to learn more once I get used to hjkl and some
of the shortcuts.

