as I’m going through the process of learning vim, I’m discovering newfound powers. one of them being to execute commands from vim itself.

below examples might better explain some of them:

  1. want to see what files are in current directory? enter command mode(by typing :) and follow it by a bang(!). then do ls like you’d do in a terminal and press enter. this is not limited to just ls. you can enter any command that you can enter in terminal. for example: :! uname --operating-system (which will output GNU/Linux :))

  2. so you want to quickly save just a certain part of your file into another file? just select everything you need by entering visual mode(v) and do :w filename(actual command you’ll see would be '<,'>:w filename). verify it using 1.(i.e., :! cat filename.

  3. want to quickly paste another file into current one? do :r filename. it’ll paste its contents below your cursor.

  4. or maybe you want to paste results of a command? do :r !ls *.png.

vim is my ~ sweet ~ now. make it yours too.

  • lemmesay@discuss.tchncs.deOPEnglish
    51·
    11 months ago

    I agree that remembering all these commands is a hassle, and so do nvim devs. that’s why they recommend not to learn the commands1. these will become your second habit if used enough number of times. just like Ctrl+c/v.

    1: from :Tutor in nvim:

    NOTE: As you go through this tutorial, do not try to memorize everything, your Neovim vocabulary will expand with usage. Consider returning to this tutorial periodically for a refresher.

    also, even if you don’t want to use a terminal-based editor, I’d recommended you to give this talk from Bram Moolenaar(creator of vim) a watch. not the whole talk, just a few first minutes. you can even use YouTube chapters to skim through.

    have a nice day :)