Jobs in Linux

I've recently switched to VIM as my full-time editor. I now have, more or less, two tools I use: the terminal, and the web browser.

One trick I've found essential to using VIM full-time is being able to pause it, run a bash command, then jump back into VIM.

Here's a concrete example:

1. I create a new file in VIM
2. I realize I named the file file.css when I meant to name is file.scss
3. I jump out of VIM, into a shell, and run mv file.css file.scss

This leads into the topic of this article: how can we run multiple processes in one shell?

Jobs in Linux

This ends up being quite simple:

• To pause the current program (for example, vim): Ctrl+Z
• To list all paused programs: jobs
• To jump back into a paused program: fg <job_number> (or just fg if you have only one job)
• To run a paused program in the background: bg <job_number>

Hope you found this tip useful!

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If you're interested in Linux, VIM, Django, Python, React/RN and just tech in general, follow me on dev.to or on Twitter @connorbode!

You can also find me on the web at matix.io.

Comments

[miniscruff]

I use need tree to move and rename files. Running commands you can do :! and then a command to run straight from vim. Like ":! echo cool".

Also :term will open a terminal as a buffer if you have a vim 8 or neovim.

[Connor Bode]

People love NerdTree! I'm trying to avoid it as I want to be proficient without having to install any plugins for VIM.

:! <cmd> and :term are excellent ideas, thank you!

[Christian Sánchez]

Another approach could be to use Tmux or Screen.

[Connor Bode]

Yes, absolutely, there are many methods for running multiple processes in a single shell!