The latest articles on DEV Community by Chris Chou (@chhschou). https://dev.to/chhschou https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F66426%2F0170ba95-ffff-4637-b151-c78b28717cd7.png https://dev.to/chhschou en Chris Chou Thu, 13 Dec 2018 08:18:50 +0000 https://dev.to/chhschou/vim-isnt-for-everyone-here-is-how-to-make-it-yours-301b https://dev.to/chhschou/vim-isnt-for-everyone-here-is-how-to-make-it-yours-301b <p>Did I say <em>Vim isn't for everyone</em>? I certainly felt that way the first couple of time I tried it. After several failed attempts over the years, I finally made Vim my daily driver. Below I have a couple of tips from my own experiences for people starting out on Vim/Neovim.</p> <ol> <li><p>Start small, <em>really</em><br> Too much too quickly is a common theme in my past failures trying to learn Vim. Only 6 keys are needed to move the caret left (<code>h</code>)/right (<code>l</code>)/up (<code>k</code>)/down (<code>l</code>), delete (<code>x</code>) and insert text (<code>i</code>). It took me 2 weeks to get comfortable with just the aforementioned 6 keys and weaned myself from reaching for the mouse.</p></li> <li><p>Use Vim now<br> There is practically no need to setup Vim for use in terminal or GVim (Vim in a window) initially. Most editor/IDE has a Vim emulation waiting to be enabled. </p></li> <li><p>Avoid using it under pressure initially<br> Professional work is hard enough as is without adding Vim to the mix. I got much more successful when I used Vim on my personal project, which I simply enjoy the experience with what I already knew or add one or two commands in a session. I manage to slowly but steadily expand my Vim muscle memory over weeks this way. </p></li> <li><p>Touch typing is important<br> Touch typing is almost a prerequisite. I have never seen anyone use Vim well without being able to touch type fairly accurately. Weakness in my touch typing flared up when using Vim and I added 5 min of targeted typing exercises at the start of a session until I was comfortable. </p></li> <li><p>Experience default key mapping first before customisation<br> Some advocate promote customisation early on, citing inefficient key mapping creates bad muscle memory, resulting in a long term impact on productivity. However, I find the default key mapping adequate for most tasks, particularly with Neovim. I also don't like to customise until the keymap really bugs me and the keymap I find more comfortable with is not already taken by something useful. </p></li> </ol> <p>Above are some of what I felt worked for me after a number of failed attempt to learn Vim in the past. I now keep a learning-sheet I made with the commands I want to learn. When I got the command sequence stored in muscle memory I will delete it from my learning-sheet to keep it up to date. </p> <p>Happy Vim-ming!</p> vim neovim productivity