Top products from r/vim

We found 35 product mentions on r/vim. We ranked the 28 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Top comments that mention products on r/vim:

u/7sins · 2 pointsr/vim

I'm doing almost no web stuff, but it always feels like a lot of people use vim for html/css/js, so I guess it can be a good fit. Since a compiled language like java/c++ usually requires ide features to use or debug(debugger, auto completion, type hierarchy, go to definition, refactor, etc.), it can be a bit of a ride to configure vim to be up to the task(usually a lot of plugins). Not the same for something like html/css, which is usually debugged/developed through the browser anyways.

Also, when I code in vim, its usually more of a mix of vim and commandline: ctrl+z out to do some grepping/git stuff, fg back to vim, close vim and open in a different directory, etc. Since you said you are working under windows, your workflow will probably differ a lot.

My suggestion would be: See how far you can get with vim. If it feels uncomfortable compared to your usual IDE, try pushing it a little further, and see if you can't find a solution. But, in the end, be honest with yourself: If the IDE feels better and lets you work faster and more comfortable, you have to accept that. Maybe vim is not the right tool for this task, doesn't mean you have to forsake it completely or anything. In case you find yourself in vim-wonderland and every other IDE/Texteditor can't stand up to vim anymore, then thats fine too. Or it might be a combination of the two. But you won't know that until you try. Just go for it and be honest with the result.

Also, as a side note, always remember your employer is the one paying you. So if you are being payed per hour(instead of per-project for example), he or she will probably expect you to work at an acceptable speed, and not for you to spend your time configuring vim, if you could be using something "proven" and mainstream just as well. But that completely depends or your employer. For the same reason, consider buying http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Vim-Thought-Pragmatic-Programmers/dp/1934356980/ if you haven't already. I used to own a copy(until I lost it), and it helped me a lot. Especially if you are already familiar with vim, it has huge potential.

Recapture: just try it out and be honest with the result; remember that your workflow might consist of other tools as well(not just editor/ide); don't waste your employer's money; consider buying practical vim(really!)

Since I don't really do web stuff, I can't say which plugins are really useful, so maybe somebody else will be able to help you out there.

Good luck! ;)

u/vaiav · 2 pointsr/vim

As others have mentioned, trying to use Vim as an IDE is thinking about the problem or Vim in an inverse manner that will lead to frustration. The Acme Text Editor's model for composing tools to form an IDE is exactly how one uses Vim most effectively.

A concrete Vim specific example is programming Go in Vim: VimGo. Note how in the context of Go instead of subsuming the functionality of external tools, the external tools are instead leveraged and exposed through an interface or accessed through existing Vim functionality.

That is exactly how to wield Vim and external tools masterfully and with the most efficacy. The Unix as an IDE articles discuss this concept in depth also and are excellent. Separation of concerns is precisely how all tools should be designed, something which Plan 9 and Inferno OS display masterfully and irrefutably; note how well done, completely encapsulated abstractions enable a completely composable environment as a result, brilliant no?

That same pursuit is realized through the Go toolchain, much of Haskell, and increasingly through the Clang toolchain, which is very powerful and very freeing to create great, completely optimized workflows.

If you really want to grok the mindset and approach to wielding external tools effectively and why tools must be designed this way for maximum workflow efficacy, I highly recommend reading and understanding the literature written by Brian Stuart's Principles of Operating Systems: Design and Applications that covers Inferno OS's design very well, and W. Richard Stevens' Advanced Programming in the UNIX Environment, the latter of which is a classic CS text and very lucid. Cat-V has a lot of great articles which discuss various tools as well.

The workflows enabled through the UNIX Philosophy is so much more effecient that even when outside a UNIX environment I utilize the tools through a VM rather than being hamstrung in an environment which eschews that design completely.

And because these tools are ubiquitous I can avoid relearning how to accomplish the same thing over and over as a result, meaning that the initial opportunity cost is worthwhile in the long run. Linux is increasingly incorporating features in the kernel which improve upon previous implementations as well as in user space, so it is an exciting time for system programmers as well as other programmers.

u/hiquest · 14 pointsr/vim

Actually, thank you sir, this is that exact type of feedback I was looking for! Thanks for really reading carefully and walking through the book.

As for to the critic, it's quite straightforward, but I don't see any rudeness.

Clearly the book is more like a pure idea now, there is a long way to go (and I'm clearly settled to walk the walk). I always keep in mind the Pixar movies that are absolute crap at the beginning (according to https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012) and have to walk through multiple sometimes painful transformations until they finally become the masterpieces they are.

I also have to say, that I need to keep my audience in mind. If I wanted to be pedantic I could just as well print out the :help manual. What I want instead is to create something pragmatic and practical, lite and simple, something people outside of the Vim community could grasp and be productive.

The idea is get more people familiar with Vim, so that they can then go deeper after that, maybe join the /r/vim/ and learn from people like you ;)

Anyway, thanks again for the fantastic feedback!

u/whisky_pete · 7 pointsr/vim

Hello,

I switched to vim as my primary editor of choice 1.5 years ago. Before that, I was using text editors mostly (Sublime Text) and working in web. And prior to that, I came from using IDEs with compiled languages. Today, I work with vim (GVim, i'm not in the terminal usually but it doesn't hurt my productivity at all to use straight vim) and c++.

The primary advantages to me were that I have a completely cross-platform editor setup that I can throw onto a machine or update in minutes. I was using mac/windows/linux daily at one point, so that was really important to me.

The main reason that I stepped away from IDEs, though, is because I feel that they hide a little too much of what's going on behind the scenes from you. When I started out developing in C++ in college, I distinctly remember wondering how compilation really works besides pressing Visual Studio's build button. How does managing a build system work? Managing dependencies?

So, when I re-taught myself C++ (which I'm now working in professionally, too) I wanted to do it from the lowest level. Just editing text, invoking the compiler myself, using CMake for a build system. I initially did it to learn how all the separate parts come together, but now I find that each of my tools individually are much easier to work with than when the IDE wraps them up for you as a whole.

Aside from that, a silly reason for enjoying vim is that it actually makes the act of editing your code kind of fun. It's kind of interesting how focused in coding you become when the actual act of typing out a bunch of code is fun. I'm even looking at this keyboard to take that a bit further.

Anyway, Vim isn't for everyone because of the time it takes to start being more productive than what you used before. But, if you're looking for something cross-platform, light-weight, and with an enormous amount of high-quality community support and plugins then IMO it can't be beat.

Happy Hacking!

u/Jesseroonie · 20 pointsr/vim

[edit: Missed a line when I saved; I'm not using vim keys in my browser] I loved this article! I hope you don't mind if I share a story.

I've been in IT professionally for 14 years, and computing for 35 years. I taught myself vim for log analysis, and it's paid off in so many ways that I evangelize about it.

Vim, by itself, is honestly only a bit useful if you give it only a surface examination. You can use Visual Mode (control V, then movement keys) to select blocks of text for removal, cutting, or pasting. However, a copy of Notepad++ will do the same, so at that level, meh. It's admittedly not user friendly at all coming in from the outside.

However, if you're willing to learn some Regex (and I can't recommend Mastering Regular Expressions (Amazon) strongly enough, then that's where vim really shines. I use it for cleaning up data daily, and between a strong understanding of regular expression, visual mode selection, and macros, I've done cleanup of data coming from odd sources in minutes that would have taken hours of work manually.

I'd love to give you a flat recipe on how to do some of what I do, but the thing about vim and data cleanup work is that the data coming at you for analysis is irregular, so your approach must be flexible. You learn the tools, not a recipe or two, and it takes time. I spent weeks in vim before it really clicked.

I spent time first in vimtutor (packaged with vim), and then w/ Mastering Regular Expressions. Once I had at least a rough understanding of :substitute (vim.wikia), that opened a lot of doors, and that's when I dropped using any other editor for raw text.

Here's an example of some of the things I find myself doing. I had a client the other day who had performed a change to an inventory control system that was filled with mistakes; the system has no undo, and the only record she had left (due to continued PEBKAC) was a PDF report she'd run before making things worse. Said PDF had data split across multiple lines, otherwise filled with garbage and oddball white spaces, and also had some duplicate rows within it. I exported it to text.

I needed to trim out all but two different forms of lines, then eliminate duplicates, then join the two altered line elements together into a single delimited line, flipping the last field from a negative to a positive number (or vice versa) which I could then use to make the corrections to her system. The end result was a 20,000 line file, so it was a lot longer before that.

I was able to transform the PDF in about 20 minutes.

Now, I've learned a few languages since, and I very well could have written a tool to do the job for me, however my relationship with massaging text in vim is such that, thanks to undo/redo, and the experience I've built up, it's actually faster for me to manipulate the file in real time than to alter script, execute, examine, adjust script, and repeat. Vim excels at working with large files, so while it's theoretically possible to do the same work in other editors, I've not found one that will handle massive sets of data with the same speed.

One other thought; if you are also willing to learn a little bit of Unix and pipeline, then invoking shell commands opens up a lot more doors, since Unix has massive amounts of tools and scripts available.

I really hope this helps you!

u/sbicknel · 3 pointsr/vim

Don't overlook the included user manual. :help usr_toc will take you there. It is based on the book "Vi IMproved--Vim," which is also available free in PDF format on the Internet because it is published under the Open Publication License. The book is dated, but the manual is up-to-date and tracks with the book very closely.

Derek Wyatt's tutorial videos are good, but there is another vim video tutorial set at Vimcasts.

If you would rather read, but don't want to dig into a five-hundred page book, "A Byte of Vim" may be more manageable. Several of these resources are listed in this subreddit's sidebar.

Several books are now available that cover Vim nicely: "Learning the Vi and Vim Editors," "vi and Vim Editors Pocket Reference," "Hacking Vim 7.2," "Practical Vim: Edit Text at the Speed of Thought," and a brand new book: "Pro Vim," all available on Amazon.

u/unusedredditname · 2 pointsr/vim

If you're having issues with your fingers (basically) on the home keys, there's something else going on.

If you're pinching your ulnar nerve by resting your forearm on the edge of a desk you might experience tingling/numbness in your pinky and ring finger, but that shouldn't affect your index and middle fingers.

Consider your other ergonomics; how out of line your wrist is with your forearm, how twisted inward your wrist is, and how lifted your wrists are (how straight the line is of the top of your forearm to the top of your hand).

Consider a split keyboard or something that allows tenting like a Kinesis Freestyle with the optional lift kit :) and wrist rest. Mechanical keyboard may alleviate some pressure since you can feel where you don't have to "bottom out" every single keypress, and/or you can get switches which are lighter to press

Also, get a good wrist rest. Like, today.

u/netzdamon · 3 pointsr/vim

I didn't realize there were so many vim books now honestly. I Started off with this one. Worked well for me.

Would like to know what people think of Hacking Vim 7.2? My book is pretty old these days, wondering if this one is a bit more advanced?

u/wuts_interweb · 1 pointr/vim

Not a video, but the book Practical Vim: Edit Text at the Speed of Thought by Drew Neil is the best resource for moving beyond vimtutor I've found. Received 4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon. (109 reviews)

Edit: Looks like Drew Neil does the Vimcasts linked to in the sidebar to this sub.

u/shoeninja · 1 pointr/vim

I used these for years but they're noisy and the keys travel a bit too far for my taste. Recently moved to the newer version and am super happy with it.

u/Carpetsmoker · 1 pointr/vim

pattern.txt is more of a reference manual not exactly a great introduction. I'm not entirely sure what would be one, though. I can recommend you Mastering regular expressions, but that's not free, and perhaps a bit more than you need ;-)

Also: be aware that Vim regular expressions are different from many others! Basic patterns (like this) will work, but some of the more advanced ones are different (like .*? being .\{-} in Vim). Still, once you grasp the idea behind it, it should be easy to port the idea to Vim ;-)

u/petdance · 7 pointsr/vim

I suggest getting a book, since they are typically far more readable.

I first learned Vim with Steve Oualline's book.

More recently, Drew Neil's Practical Vim and Modern Vim are excellent choices.

Your local public library may well have some good books on Vim as well, if not these exact titles.

u/the_gnarts · 3 pointsr/vim

> did you just make this up?

Not at all. Tenrecs figure prominently in the book that I’m currently
reading: The Song of the Dodo
by David Quammen. The little critters are kind of like the super heroes
of island biogeography.

u/mexicanseafood · 1 pointr/vim

holy shit that is awesome. hahaha.. lol. My next question may be a little bit unrelated but where/when/how did you pick up on reg-ex? This is also a skill I have been meaning to pick up but the task justs intimidates me for some reason... i purchased O'Reilly's Regular Expressions Cookbook a few months back and started reading the first bit of the book and just found it impossible to keep with it as my semester started getting heavy..(18 credit hours!). I know it's an essential skill to have and can't help but feel that I shouldn't have to read a 400 page book to master it. Are they really that complicated or do you think I would be alright just diving in next time I need to search for some text and then using the book and the internet as resourses?

u/BluddyCurry · 3 pointsr/vim

My recommendations are:

  1. Watch vimcasts
  2. Get the Practical Vim book. It really improved my vimming dramatically.
  3. Map <Esc> to something easier. I use jk (inoremap jk <Esc>) because it's a sequence that you rarely type when programming. If you don't like that, you could use <C-c> (which is a default binding) if you map Caps-lock to CTRL (I recommend doing this regardless, but it needs to be done at the OS level).
  4. Don't use the arrow keys.
u/gtranbot · 1 pointr/vim

I found both Learning the vi Editor and Practical Vim to be excellent learning resources. In addition, of course, to browsing the docs and using, using, using the editor.

u/andlrc · 4 pointsr/vim

Mastering regular expressions is a really good book for them who seeks to understand how regular expressions can be successfully applied, and also avoiding many of the pitfalls introduced by careless use.

For my day-to-day use it caries few benefits though as I usually only scan source code and a some-what poor regular expression is sufficient.

regular-expression.info have a nice write-up of each flavor.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Regular-Expressions-Jeffrey-Friedl/dp/0596528124
[2]: https://www.regular-expressions.info/

u/tactiphile · 1 pointr/vim

If you're into books, I recommend Practical Vim

u/hyperbolist · 4 pointsr/vim

And here are links to buy "Learning the vi and Vim Editors" from O'Reilly and from Amazon, in case you don't want to steal some learning material.

u/horsey_jumpy · 4 pointsr/vim

Practical vim is the book I used to learn vim.

u/ben174 · 1 pointr/vim

Same problem here. No idea on how to fix, unfortunately. I grabbed the O'Reilly book, then played vimgolf religiously for a couple weeks, then forced myself to use vim as my only IDE/text editor for a month, and now it feels more natural to me than any other editor I've used.