Vim is a terminal-based text editor which was built as an improvement upon Vi, so its roots (Vi) go back as far as the 70s, and it (Vim) was initially written in 1991. It has its own plug-in scripting language (Vimscript) but can also make calls out to other languages (Python, Node.js, etc. on the assumption you have installed them).
Being terminal-based, it's entirely keyboard driven, even moving the cursor between lines, characters, and words is done with keys. Vim is very barebones to start, it has support for syntax highlighting and the base functionality of calling commands, navigating through files or to lines, and editing text of course. However, you can install plugins for things like navigating the filesystem, autocomplete, linting, and more. Some extensions even make use of the same language server protocol that VS Code uses. So in that effect, it starts off as a general programming text editor, and can be extended to do web programming, systems programming, or any domain you care to. You can check the VimAwesome website for a list of plugins that are available to get you started (NERDTree for filesystem navigation, fugitive for awesome Git integration, and more)
Being terminal-based for me means I don't use a gigabyte of memory just opening a JavaScript file though, which for some of my devices is important. My older Surface Pro device has 4GB of memory, which chokes up once you start using VS Code as well as Chrome. It's also easier on older integrated graphics. But I'd like to keep using it as it has great touchscreen and gesture support on Ubuntu 20.04 for browsing the web and it's great for working in a terminal on the couch or in bed or at the coffee shop.
Furthermore, it's entirely free and open source code, and I don't need a proprietary version to do my work remotely (I cannot use the Remote SSH plug-in with VS Code without using their proprietary version of the product). The version of VS Code on their GitHub is actually not the same source code as what is used to compile the version you download from their website. You can check out VS Codium for a truly open source version, should you care for that kind of thing (from a security perspective, you can't know if you're safe if you don't know what you're actually running).
In all, a massively different experience from VS Code, but in many good and some bad ways. If you're a fan of the mouse, it may not be your favorite thing, and there's definitely a learning curve to a new style of navigation, but there's a lot of efficiency to be had from your hands never leaving the keyboard.
Vim is a terminal-based text editor which was built as an improvement upon Vi, so its roots (Vi) go back as far as the 70s, and it (Vim) was initially written in 1991. It has its own plug-in scripting language (Vimscript) but can also make calls out to other languages (Python, Node.js, etc. on the assumption you have installed them).
Being terminal-based, it's entirely keyboard driven, even moving the cursor between lines, characters, and words is done with keys. Vim is very barebones to start, it has support for syntax highlighting and the base functionality of calling commands, navigating through files or to lines, and editing text of course. However, you can install plugins for things like navigating the filesystem, autocomplete, linting, and more. Some extensions even make use of the same language server protocol that VS Code uses. So in that effect, it starts off as a general programming text editor, and can be extended to do web programming, systems programming, or any domain you care to. You can check the VimAwesome website for a list of plugins that are available to get you started (NERDTree for filesystem navigation, fugitive for awesome Git integration, and more)
Being terminal-based for me means I don't use a gigabyte of memory just opening a JavaScript file though, which for some of my devices is important. My older Surface Pro device has 4GB of memory, which chokes up once you start using VS Code as well as Chrome. It's also easier on older integrated graphics. But I'd like to keep using it as it has great touchscreen and gesture support on Ubuntu 20.04 for browsing the web and it's great for working in a terminal on the couch or in bed or at the coffee shop.
Furthermore, it's entirely free and open source code, and I don't need a proprietary version to do my work remotely (I cannot use the Remote SSH plug-in with VS Code without using their proprietary version of the product). The version of VS Code on their GitHub is actually not the same source code as what is used to compile the version you download from their website. You can check out VS Codium for a truly open source version, should you care for that kind of thing (from a security perspective, you can't know if you're safe if you don't know what you're actually running).
In all, a massively different experience from VS Code, but in many good and some bad ways. If you're a fan of the mouse, it may not be your favorite thing, and there's definitely a learning curve to a new style of navigation, but there's a lot of efficiency to be had from your hands never leaving the keyboard.
cool. Thanks for that man