Plaintext
Vim for humans
Release 1.0
Vincent Jousse
Nov 18, 2022
CONTENTS
1 Preamble 1
1.1 Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Paid book but free price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.3 Free license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.4 Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2 Introduction 3
2.1 For who? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 What you will be learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.3 What you will not be learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.4 The hardest part is to get started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3 Having a usable Vim 7
3.1 Essential preamble: the insert mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.2 Modes: the powerful Vim secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
3.3 The lifesaver default configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 And now, the color! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5 Our first plugin: the file explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5.1 Plugin manager: Pathogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.5.2 The NERD Tree: a file explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.6 Here we go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4 The text editor you’ve always dreamed of 23
4.1 Learning how to move: the copy/paste use case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.1.1 Preamble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.1.2 Forget the mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
4.2 Forgetting the directional keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.2.1 Moving without using the directional keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.3 Doing without the Esc key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.4 Combining keys and moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.5 Search / Move quickly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.5.1 Scrolling pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.5.2 Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.5.3 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.6 Visual mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.7 It’s your turn! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5 Essential plugins 35
5.1 Managing and switching between files : Lusty Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.2 Searching files on disk: Ack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
i
5.3 Searching files on disk: Ctrlp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.4 Advanced plugins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6 Cheatsheet & examples 43
6.1 Questions / Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1.1 How do I quit Vim? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1.2 How do I ‘save as’? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1.3 How do I copy/cut and paste? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
6.1.4 How do I create a new file? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.1.5 How do I undo/redo? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2 Reminders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2.1 Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2.2 Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
6.2.3 Text editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
6.2.4 Search and/or replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
7 Indices and tables 47
ii
CHAPTER
ONE
PREAMBLE
1.1 Disclaimer
I’m not a native english speaker, so if you spot errors, feel free to tell me. Here is my email address: vincent@jousse.org
1.2 Paid book but free price
What does it mean? I am convinced that culture and education should be accessible for everyone. Asking people to
pay a price fixed in advance would put a barrier that limits the access to the book. That’s why I let you choose your
price.
And what if you don’t have any euro to give in exchange for this book? Well, just download it freely and make the
promise you will use it for the best. But don’t tell me you have nothing to offer in exchange. An email with a thank-you
would be just fine.
Whatever you give, it will be a motivation for me to write more books like this one.
If you give in euros, 20% of the earnings are donated to Framasoft, an association promoting free software.
You can give on the official website http://vimebook.com/en
Thanks for listening, and have fun!
1.3 Free license
I’m releasing the book under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationa lLicence. So, you can do (almost)
whatever you want with this ebook.
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1.4 Thanks
A big thank to my lovely sister Sandra for her reviews!
2 Chapter 1. Preamble
CHAPTER
TWO
INTRODUCTION
When you need to write or to code, you have to choose a text editor, and a very good one. They are many text editors
available out there, but very few of them are more than 40 years old. It’s the case of Emacs (http://www.gnu.org/
software/emacs/), Vi, and its improved successor Vim (http://www.vim.org). They were created in the 70’s and are still
used a lot nowadays. You may have already noticed that it’s not thanks to the beauty of their website or the efficiency
of their communication. Here are some reasons for their success:
Forever
You learn them once and you use them forever. In a world where languages and technologies are constantly
changing, learning vim is a real chance to invest in a skill you’ll be able to use forever.
Everywhere
They are available for each and every possible platform : Mac Os X, Windows, GNU/Linux, BSD, and so on,
and it’s always been that way.
Efficient
Thanks to their features (like the extensive use of the keyboard), you can edit and write text as fast as your
thoughts.
For everything
They allow you to edit everything and anything. When you’ll use another programming language, or another
markup language, you won’t have to change your editor. Of course, this book has been written using Vim (and
the ReST Markup).
Yet, these text editors are difficult to learn. Not that they are harder than anything else, not that you can’t handle it, but
rather because there is no smart way out there to learn them for now. So, here we are.
The aim of this book is to address this gap by guiding you through your discovery of Vim. I’ll put Emacs aside from
now and I’ll focus on Vim. If you want to know more about this Editor war, be sure to check the Wikipedia page. This
book doesn’t claim to be a reference book about Vim. There are already a lot of good references on the subject like A
byte of Vim. However, it claims to reduce the entry barrier to get used to Vim. In my opinion, the most difficult thing
about learning Vim is not getting discouraged while finding a way to use it, learning Vim step by step. We all have to
get things done with our text editor on a daily basis, that’s why losing all your productivity when switching to Vim is
not an option.
I’m sure you’ll find a lot of people who will tell you: “Just do it cold turkey”, “You’ll see, it’s hard at the beginning, but
time will help”. True, but you’ll still have the problem of trying to remain productive on a daily basis. The approach
of this book is the following:
• Have a modern Vim: syntax highlighting and nice colors.
• Use Vim as any other text editor: easily edit code and switch between files using the mouse.
• Learn keyboard shortcuts and go without the mouse step by step.
• Install the best plugins to start using Vim to its full potential.
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Starting from bullet number 2, you’ll already be able to use Vim on a daily basis without losing a lot of productivity.
It’s where the magic will happen: if you can integrate Vim in your daily habits, you have won. You’ll then have the rest
of your life to learn all the shortcuts and the tip and tricks of Vim.
You’re tired of trying a new editor each year? You’re tired of having to relearn everything from scratch every time?
You’re tired having to change your editor when you’re using your Mac, Windows or Linux? So, just stop it, and join
the community of people happy with their text editor!
2.1 For who?
Every person having to produce text (code, book, reports, slideshows, . . . ) regularly. Developers are of course con-
cerned, but it’s not only about them.
For example, if you are a:
Student
If you want to impress your future boss with your resume, it’s a must. It’s a proof of seriousness to see that a stu-
dent took the time to learn Vim on his or her own. Moreover, you’ll have a unique tool to write all what you’ll have
to write (and that you’ll be able to use for the rest of your career): your LaTeX reports, your slideshows, your code
(if you need Word or LibreOffice to write you reports, it’s time to use LaTeX, Markdown or reStructuredText).
Friendly advice: for your slideshows, don’t hesitate to use something like impress.js. It’s using HTML/JS/CSS
and I highly recommend that you use it to do awesome presentations based on non-proprietary technologies. You
can have a look at reveal.js too, and its online editor slide.es.
Teacher
It’s time to set an example for your students and to teach them a tool they will use during their entire life. Vim is
something they’ll be able to use a lot more than any programming language.
Coder
It’s essential to invest time in your daily tool. You’ll be learning keyboard shortcuts anyway, so you should do it
for something useful. If this investment is still profitable 10 years from now, it’s the perfect investment. If you
put time into learning Vim, you will be able to use it for many decades.
System and network administrator
If you use Emacs, then I can forgive you. If you use nano/pico, there is nothing I can do for you. Otherwise, it’s
time to get some work done, folks! Remote administration of a Unix system is the perfect use case for Vim (a
powerful text editor without the need of a graphical interface).
Writer
If you write using Markdown/reStructuredText/WikiMarkup or LaTeX, Vim will save you a lot of time. You’ll
not be able to go back to another editor after it, or you’ll want to Vimify it at all costs.
Trust me, I have done and still do all these 5 roles, and my best investment has always been, by far, Vim.
2.2 What you will be learning
• How to use Vim as a “usual” editor first (you know, the type of text editors having syntax highlighting, allowing
you to open files, to click using the mouse, . . . ). In short, we will be demystifying Vim to allow you to go further.
• How to move from classical text editing to the power of Vim, baby step by baby step (it’s where addiction begins).
• How to do without the mouse and why it’s the best thing that can happen to you when you’re programming/writing
text.
• How you can easily deduce keyboard shortcuts with some simple rules.
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To sum up: if you consider yourself a craftsman, act like one. Learn how to use your tool, once and for all.
2.3 What you will not be learning
• You will not be learning how to install and to configure Vim for Windows. It’s doable, but I have very limited
knowledge about Windows. It may happen, but not yet. Only Linux/Unix will be discussed (and by extension
Mac OS X).
• You will not be learning how to use Vi (notice the lack of “m”). I’ll only teach you how to be productive writing
text with Vim, I won’t be teachng you how to impress your friends with Vi (and anyway, Vim is enough for that).
For those who don’t get what I’m talking about, Vi is the “ancestor of Vim (which stands for Vi - IMproved)” and
is installed by default on all Unix-like systems (even on Mac OS X).
• You will not be learning to know Vim by heart: this book is not a reference it’s a pragmatic smart way to learn
Vim.
• You will not learn how to pimp the colors of your Vim, although I will go over how to change your theme. I’ll
use the Solarized theme, it’s the best theme for your eyes.
2.4 The hardest part is to get started
So, your are ready for the adventure? Ready to sacrifice one hour to start using Vim, one week to be familiar with it,
and the rest of your life to be happy with your choice? So here we go! Well, almost, we need to talk a little bit before.
With Vim you’ll have to struggle. No matter how big your willpower is, you will struggle. Be prepared. The goal of
this guide is to diminish this struggle as much as possible, but be aware that you will struggle anyway. No pain, no
gain. Here is the method I recommend to tame the beast:
• Try to make using Vim a habit. Be sure to follow this guide until the chapter about The NERD Tree (the file
explorer). Then you’ll be able to use Vim as you would do with Notepad++, Textmate or Sublime Text for
example. You’ll be using only 1% of the capacities of Vim, but whatever. What really matters is to use Vim on a
daily basis.
• Be sure to have a printed sheet with all the main Vim shortcuts near you. The goal here is not to learn them by
heart, but only to have somewhere to look when you’ll ask yourself: “There must be a better way to do this”.
• Keep the faith. At the beginning you’ll be sceptical regarding the usefulness of learning everything from scratch
with Vim. And then, one day, you’ll have that “a-ha!” moment. You’ll be asking yourself why all the software
you’re using can’t be controlled using Vim shortcuts.
• Keep in mind that it’s an investment for your next 20 years. As you know, investments are rarely profitable
immediately.
So, enough talking, let’s get started!
2.3. What you will not be learning 5
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6 Chapter 2. Introduction
CHAPTER
THREE
HAVING A USABLE VIM
This may be a surprising approach for you, but for me, the first thing to do is to have a Vim usable by a normal human
being. It seems that everybody agrees that Vim is a very powerful editor. And I think that you will agree too if I
say that, by default, Vim is totally unusable. Let’s be honest, without a decent minimal configuration, using Vim is
counterproductive.
In my humble opinion, it’s the first obstacle to tackle before anything else. This is what all the trendy editors like
TextMate, Sublime Text, Notepad++ or Netbeans are proposing: a default environment usable as it is, even if we don’t
use its full potential for now.
Here is what a default Vim is missing (and why most of people are giving up before they can really see the power of
Vim):
Default configuration
You can configure Vim thanks to a file named ~/.vimrc. This file is, obviously, totally empty by default. The
first thing to do will be to have a ~/.vimrc file with a minimal configuration.
Syntax highlighting
By default, Vim is white and ugly. To fix that, we will use the Solarized theme. If your goal is to be efficient, it’s
the best theme available out there (across all text editors), period. The beautiful image below will give you an
idea of what it looks like (with the dark and the light theme). Personally, I’m using the dark theme.
File explorer
If you are using Vim along with a graphical interface (I suppose it’s the case for 99% of you) you will by default
have a File menu available. This menu should allow you to open a file. It is, for sure, a good start. But having
a file explorer a la Netbeans or Textmate can be very handy. To mimic the same behavior, we will be using The
NERD Tree. Be aware that, once you will have read this guide, you will not need the mouse anymore.
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This chapter is mandatory if you have very few (or not at all) experience with Vim. By the end of the chapter, you will
have a Vim usable on a daily basis. It should be enough to then be able to learn it gradually. Because, of course, there
is no magic, you will have to practice to be able to learn Vim, and the sooner, the better.
However, if you are already familiar with Vim and don’t use the mouse anymore, you can skip this chapter. But be sure
to give Solarized a try, as you would be missing something otherwise.
3.1 Essential preamble: the insert mode
Let’s be totally crazy. We will try to create the ~/.vimrc configuration file with Vim itself. As I said earlier, the sooner
you start to use Vim, the better. I told you it would be totally crazy!
The first thing to do will certainly be to install a Vim version for your operating system. If you are using a Mac, give
MacVim a try, it’s the best Vim port for Mac without a doubt. If you are using GNU/Linux or any other “Unix-like”
system, you should have gVim available, or at least easily installable using your package management system. Be sure
to install the __full__ version (ie. with ruby and lua support). For ubuntu, the package is called vim-nox. For Mac OS
X, MacVim has already all what you need builtin. For Windows, it seems that there is a version available on the official
Vim website (http://www.vim.org/download.php), but I haven’t tested it.
When you will start Vim, you should see a welcome text asking you to help poor children in Uganda (or something
along the lines).
This text will disappear as soon as we start writing text in Vim.
We will start by adding a comment in the header of the file to specify the author of the document (this should be you).
To be able to type text, the first thing to do will be to press the i key (the cursor should have changed). The welcome
text should have disappeared and you should have a blank page looking like the image below:
8 Chapter 3. Having a usable Vim
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On a side note: if you don’t really understand what you have done and Vim is displaying red messages at the bottom
left or doesn’t seem to react as it should when you press the i key, don’t panic. Pressing multiples times on the Esc
key (two times should be enough) should bring Vim to its default mode, the Normal mode. Then it should behave as
you would expect again.
You should know be able to write down the comment below:
" VIM Configuration - Vincent Jousse
You will have noticed that comments in VimL (the name of the Vim programing language) start with a ". Then press
the Esc key to come back to the default mode (the normal mode) of Vim. That’s all, you are done. Here is a screenshot
of what your Vim should look like now:
3.1. Essential preamble: the insert mode 9
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I can already hear you: all that fuss for that? Well, yes. And you even don’t know how to save a file. But all these things
that I’m about to explain to you are logical. One of the advantages of Vim is that, usually, it is logical. Once you will
have understood the logic behind it, all will be crystal clear for you (at least I hope so).
By default, when you start Vim, you are presented with its default mode. This mode is called the Normal mode. The
purpose of this mode is not to write text (for that, you will have the Insert mode), but only to move the cursor and to
manipulate text. The power of Vim is coming from the combination of these two modes (other modes exist, but it’s not
the topic for now). You will need some time and some practice to realize the power it’s giving to you, so you will just
need to trust me in the meantime.
If you are asking yourself why those modes exist, why can’t we even write down some text by default, and why we are
making things more complicated than they should be, the next chapter is for you.
3.2 Modes: the powerful Vim secrets
I suppose you will agree if I say that, if you want to learn Vim, it’s to be more efficient when writing/manipulating text
or code. To be more efficient when writing text, there are not many solutions. There is only one actually: you need to
move your hands as less as you can (even not at all) and only move your fingers.
To do so, of course, you will need to do without your mouse. In addition to being slow, the move keyboard -> mouse
and then mouse -> keyboard is really bad for your joints. It’s often the cause of musculoskeletal disorders. Maybe
you are still young and don’t know what I’m talking about, but believe me, you will have such problems one day or
another (often sooner than you may think). If you are in front of your computer all day long, don’t neglect those possible
troubles, you may regret it someday. According to Wikipedia, it’s actually the most common professional disease.
You will need to forget the movement of your right hand toward the directional keys (left/right/bottom/top) too. It’s a
waste of time and it’s completely unneeded with Vim.
10 Chapter 3. Having a usable Vim
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So what do you have the ability to do? Not a lot to be honest (but it’s for your own good), you can only leave your hands
on the home row as you can see on the picture below.
Fig. 1: Home row, QWERTY keyboard
Illustration by Cy21 - CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL
(http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), via Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Typing-home-keys-hand-position.svg
You will also probably find on your keyboard some marks on the letters F and J. The goal of these marks is to give a
landmark for the position of your fingers (the indexes) on the home row of the keyboard.
Trying to move as less as possible the hands from the keyboard is the reason for having a normal mode and an insert
mode in Vim. When switching from one to the other, the keys under your fingers will sometimes allow you to move the
cursor and to manipulate text: copy/paste, deletion, . . . (it’s the normal mode), sometimes they will allow you to select
some text (it’s the visual mode) and sometimes to insert some text (it’s the insert mode). And of course, all of that is
possible without the extensive use of keys combinations like Ctrl + key that are very bad for your fingers (Emacs, this
one is for you).
By default, we can switch from the insert mode to the normal mode by pressing the Esc key, but it will be one of the
first things we will change: the Esc key is to far from your fingers on current keyboards.
To switch from normal mode to insert mode, we can press the i key. We will later learn that there are other ways to
do so too. For example, to enter the insert mode and to then create a new line below the current one (no matter where
is your cursor on the line), we will use the o key while in normal mode.
I will talk again about this subject later in “Learning how to move: the copy/paste use case”, but if you are not ready,
at some point, to do without your mouse and the directional keys to edit text, I would recommend you to stop learning
Vim right now. It’s as simple as that. You can leverage the full power of Vim only by getting rid of the mouse and by
moving your hand as little as possible.
If you want to go further, you can buy an orthogonal keyboard like TypeMatrix. It’s the keyboard I’m currently using,
and my fingers are thanking me everyday.
3.2. Modes: the powerful Vim secrets 11
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The ultimate change would be to switch your keyboard layout to a more efficient one like Colemak, but that’s another
story.
3.3 The lifesaver default configuration
Let’s get serious and try to have a usable Vim. We will start by editing the default configuration file ~/.vimrc and by
entering default values that any sane person would love to find in it.
You have to place this file in your home directory. It should be /home/your_user/.vimrc if you are using Linux,
/Users/your_user/.vimrc if you are using Mac OS X. Generally speaking, it should be in your home directory under
~/.vimrc. If you are using Windows, you’ll need to create a file named _vimrc that you have to put in your %HOME%
directory. This directory is obviously not the same across the different Windows versions. Usually, it’s the directory
just before your My Documents directory. More information is available on Wikipedia if you want.
I’ve directly commented all the lines in the code itself. Nothing fancy here, you should just be asking yourself why all
of this is not available by default.
For those who have done a copy/paste, you just have to save your newly created file. We want to put it in our home
directory, so you have to save it as ~/.vimrc. When using Mac OS X and Linux, ~ is the home directory of the current
user. But be careful, when using Linux and Mac OS X the files starting with a . are hidden files. Don’t be surprised
when you don’t ~/.vimrc in your file explorer by default.
For people using the mouse, you will just have to click the File menu, and then click Save as. Save the file under the
name .vimrc in your home directory. For those who want to use the keyboard you will just have to type :sav ~/.vimrc
(be sure to be in the Normal mode by pressing the Esc key first). To save your further modifications, just use the menus
with the mouse or type :w when in Normal mode.
I have uploaded this configuration file directly on Github. You can download or copy/paste it directly from: http:
//vimebook.com/link/en/firstconfig.
Below is a screenshot of Vim (macvim) after your first configuration.
Notice the line numbers on the left and the position (coordinates) of the cursor at the bottom right.
Well, it’s a good start, but we now need more colors. Let’s go!
3.4 And now, the color!
First, we need to enable syntax highlighting in the configuration file. Add these lines at the end of your ~/.vimrc
configuration file:
" Enable syntax highlighting
syntax enable
" Enable file specific behavior like syntax highlighting and indentation
filetype on
filetype plugin on
filetype indent on
You should have a Vim looking like the picture below.
For the time being, the easiest way to test the modifications you made to your ~/.vimrc file is to restart Vim. If you
want to use Vim like a boss right now, you can type in normal mode :so ~/.vimrc or :so $MYVIMRC. It will reload the
configuration without the need to restart Vim. :so being a shortcut for vimcmd::source.
This is a good first step, but now it’s time to start using a theme.
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Fig. 2: Vim after your first configuration.
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Fig. 3: Default syntax highlighting.
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Themes will allow you to have a nicer Vim than the default one. A theme will change the background color of Vim and
the colors used for the syntax highlighting. As I said earlier, we will use the Solarized theme http://ethanschoonover.
com/solarized (with dark or light background, it will be up to you).
To install it, you will first need to create a directory called .vim in the same directory than your ~/.vimrc (that is
to say, in your home directory). Note that when using Windows, the .vim directory is called vimfiles. Each time
I’ll be speaking of the .vim directory, it will be the vimfiles directory for people using Windows. In this .vim direc-
tory, create a sub directory named colors. Then, download the Solarized theme file https://raw.github.com/altercation/
vim-colors-solarized/master/colors/solarized.vim (it’s the same file for the light and the dark version) and copy it in
your vim/colors/ directory. You .vim directory should look like the picture below.
Fig. 4: Content of the .vim directory with Solarized.
Then enable the Solarized theme in your ~/.vimrc like shown in the code below.:
" Use the dark version of Solarized
set background=dark
colorscheme solarized
To test the light theme, you just have to change dark with light (for the background property).
Here is a preview of the two versions (personally, I prefer the dark one).
A bonus (if you don’t use Vim directly in your terminal) would be to choose a font that suits your needs a little bit better.
This is of course optional, but I suppose that some of you may wish to do this.
If you are using Mac OS X, I recommend the Monaco font that is quite friendly. Add the following lines to your
~/.vimrc to use it:
set guifont=Monaco:h13
set antialias
You can of course change h13 with h12 if you want a smaller font (or with h14 if you want a bigger one).
Under Linux I am using the DejaVu Sans Mono font:
set guifont=DejaVu\ Sans\ Mono\ 10
set antialias
You can of course change the font size as you wish. To have the list of all the available fonts for your system type :set
guifont:* in normal mode.
You will find the full version of the configuration file for this chapter online http://vimebook.com/link/en/
syntaxhlconfig. I will not spend more time talking about the fonts as it’s dependant of your operating system and
not of Vim.
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Fig. 5: The dark Solarized theme.
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Fig. 6: The light Solarized theme.
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3.5 Our first plugin: the file explorer
Now we have a nice Vim that we can actually use with pretty colors. It’s a good first step, but now, it would be cool to
be able to open files without having to do File -> Open using the menu bar. This is the perfect opportunity to install
our first plugin: a file explorer. We will use a two-step approach here: first we will install a plugin manager and then
we will install the plugin using this plugin manager. By default Vim doesn’t come with a plugin manager and, believe
me, if you don’t install one your ~/.vim directory will soon be a real mess. So let’s get started.
3.5.1 Plugin manager: Pathogen
Pathogen (https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen/) is typically the kind of plugin that you discover after having already
configured your Vim. Then you ask yourself, “Why didn’t I start this way?”. Fortunately, I have a good news for you:
we will be starting the right way.
First of all, let’s start with a little explanation about how to install plugins using Vim. Plugins are installed by copying
files (most of the time with the *.vim extension) in subdirectories of your ~/.vim directory. By the way, we’ve already
created a subdirectory called colors that contains our first coloration plugin using the Solarize theme.
The main problem with this approach is that the plugins are not isolated. So you will have to copy files from different
plugins in the same directory and you will soon not be able to know from what plugin a file is coming from. As a result,
when you will want to remove or update a plugin, it will be a nightmare to know where the files are located.
That’s why Pathogen is especially useful, it will allow each plugin to be located in a separate directory. Here is an
example of a ~/.vim directory before and after the usage of Pathogen:
Fig. 7: ~/.vim before and after Pathogen
You are totally right if you find that the version with Pathogen is using more directories. But believe me, those direc-
tories will save your life later. You will be able to easily remove and update plugins and you will be able to use git (or
any other SCM software) to manage your plugins / submodules / dependencies.
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Let’s start by installing Pathogen. Create a directory called autoload in your ~/.vim directory. Download pathogen.vim
( https://raw.github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen/master/autoload/pathogen.vim ) and copy it to your autoload directory.
For the Unix/Mac OS X/Linux user, here is how to install it (if you don’t have curl, you can use wget -O - instead:
# Create the autoload directory
mkdir -p ~/.vim/autoload
# Download and install Pathogen
curl -LSso ~/.vim/autoload/pathogen.vim https://tpo.pe/pathogen.vim
From now on, we will install our plugins directly in the .vim/bundle directory that you will create right now:
# Create the bundle directory used by Pathogen
mkdir -p ~/.vim/bundle
All you have to do is to activate Pathogen in your ~/.vimrc file and voila. We will put the following lines at the very
beginning of the ~/.vimrc file, right after the set nocompatible line. It is mandatory to put the code at the beginning
of your ~/.vimrc file, otherwise it will not work.:
" Activate pathogen
call pathogen#infect()
Since charity begins at home, we will tidy up our install by using Pathogen with our Solarized plugin. We just have to
create a directory called solarized in your newly created .vim/bundle directory. You could name it as you want as any
subdirectory of the bundle directory will be considered a plugin directory. Then, we will move our previously created
colors directory in the solarized directory as follows:
# Create the plugin directory for solarized
mkdir ~/.vim/bundle/solarized
# Move solarized to the bundle dir
mv ~/.vim/colors ~/.vim/bundle/solarized
Currently, Pathogen is still the most used plugin manager for Vim. But recently, a new challenger has arrived, it’s called
Vundle https://github.com/gmarik/vundle. I have chosen to use Pathogen here because it’s the one you will hear about
the most often. But you have to know that Vundle is an interesting alternative: it’s compatible with Pathogen and you
can manage your plugins directly from internet (from github, the vim website, . . . ). For those familiar with Ruby, it’s
Bundler (http://gembundler.com) for Vim.
Our Vim is almost ready to be used on a daily basis. We are just missing an handy way to explore the files of a project.
We will use The NERD Tree for that.
3.5.2 The NERD Tree: a file explorer
The NERD Tree is a plugin that will allow you to display your directory and file tree directly in Vim, just like in
TextMate, Sublime Text or Eclipse/NetBeans. This is not a mandatory plugin if you want to control everything using
the keyboard (I don’t use it anymore myself), but it’s very handy when you are starting with Vim.
The other solution that we will see in the Essential plugins chapter will be to use the Ctrl-p or Command-t plugins
to find files and to use the LustyExplorer and LustyJuggler plugins to navigate between the files. Indeed, having to
visualize the whole file tree to find a file is a lot slower than to find a file by its name. In the meantime, The NERD Tree
will allow us to use Vim with a normal file explorer where you can click with the mouse.
First, we will prepare Pathogen in order to install all the files needed by The NERD Tree.
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# Create the directory for The NERD Tree
mkdir ~/.vim/bundle/nerdtree
Then, download the latest .zip available on the plugin page http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1658. At
the time of writing, the latest version is 4.2.0. You can directly download it using this url: http://www.vim.org/scripts/
download_script.php?src_id=17123.
Unzip the file and copy the content in the newly created ~/.vim/bundle/nerdtree directory. The directory structure
of your nerdtree directory should look like the one below:
nerdtree
|-- doc
| `-- NERD_tree.txt
|-- nerdtree_plugin
| |-- exec_menuitem.vim
| `-- fs_menu.vim
|-- plugin
| `-- NERD_tree.vim
`-- syntax
`-- nerdtree.vim
Then, you will need to activate the plugin. You can do it manually by typing :NERDTree in normal mode. If you prefer
to activate The NERD Tree every time you open your Vim, add these lines to your ~/.vimrc:
" Activate the NERDTree when launching vim
autocmd vimenter * NERDTree
I have to admit that this command is a little bit obscure. Actually it means: every time you open vim (vimenter), no
matter what is the type of the file (*), launch The NERD Tree (NERDTree).
Nothing special then, The NERD Tree will display the tree of the directory where you’ve launched Vim as you can see
on the picture below. You can use your mouse and/or your keyboard to move inside The NERD Tree.
You can also run commands (create, copy a file) by typing the m key when you are inside The NERD Tree. To switch
between the NERD Tree window and your file window with your keyboard, use Ctrl + w and then w. That is to say,
hold the Control (Ctrl) key and at the same time press the w key. You can then release everything and press w again.
This shortcut is valid to switch between any Vim window (it’s not a shortcut specific to The NERD Tree).
3.6 Here we go
Now, you’ve done the hardest part. Well, almost. We’ve just covered what is sorely lacking in Vim: a sensible default
configuration. I’m not saying that you now have the best editor out there, but at least, you should be able to use Vim
as any other normal text editor that you do not yet know all the possibilities. I recommend, at this stage, to start using
Vim in your everyday life. Feel free to use the mouse and the menus for now. The primary goal here is to reduce the
negative impact that Vim could have on your daily productivity, if not configured properly. You will gradually learn the
keyboard shortcuts when the time will come.
We will now discuss what makes the uniqueness of Vim: the way modes are handled and the shortcuts to manipulate
text. The ball is in your court now: either you are willing to change your habits and move to another level of efficiency
with Vim, or using Vim as an improved notebook is the best option for you (in this case, you can stop here). It’s up to
you !
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Fig. 8: Vim with The NERD Tree.
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CHAPTER
FOUR
THE TEXT EDITOR YOU’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF
I confess, I have some weird dreams. But hey, maybe my dreams are not as weird as they seem: dreaming of a tool that
can improve all the professional areas of my life as a programmer, writer, teacher, and more doesn’t seem that weird
after all.
The success of Vim is due to its ability to ease the text manipulations. Certainly, it will provide you with functionalities
dedicated to specific tasks (often via plugins) as syntax highlighting, spell checking, and so on, but in the end, it’s always
writing/fixing/handling/moving text that takes most of your time.
This is where the difference lies between Vim and IDEs like Eclipse/Netbeans/PhpStorm and others. Such an IDE will
put the focus on the particularities of your programming language while providing basic text manipulation function-
alities. Vim takes the opposite approach: you will by default be very effective at manipulating/writing text, no matter
what kind of text. But then, when you feel the need, you will be able to enrich Vim with plugins specific to your needs
and programming languages.
This chapter will cover how to use Vim the right way (you will begin to forget your mouse) and the logic behind all
these obscure commands. By the end of this chapter, you should be able to completely avoid using your mouse to
edit/handle text. In any case, you should force yourself not to use the mouse when learning Vim. It’s not that hard to
only use the keyboard, and it will make a huge diffrence in your day to day life.
4.1 Learning how to move: the copy/paste use case
We have already seen in the “Essential preamble: the insert mode” section how to switch between the insert mode (to
write text) and the normal mode (for the moment, you don’t need to totally understand the purpose of this mode). When
you press the i key your cursor will switch to the insert mode (when you are already in the normal mode) and when
you press the Esc key it will switch back to the normal mode. Well, that’s cool. So now, what else?
4.1.1 Preamble
Now is the time to learn our first text manipulation: the famous copy/paste. I can already hear some of you saying that
it is useless: you already know how to do that. You switch to the insert mode, you use your mouse (or you move using
the directional keys while holding the Shift key) to select some text. Then you go to the edit menu and you select
copy. Then, edit menu and paste. That works, so why not do that?
If you have understood the “Modes: the powerful Vim secrets” section about the ideal position of your hands on the
keyboard, you should know that you did things you are not supposed to do:
• You used your mouse
• You moved your right hand a lot from its rest position, to press the directional keys that are far away from your
fingers
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Of course, it doesn’t really matter, but it’s totally ineffective (using your mouse or moving your right hand toward the
directional keys is very slow) and harmful for your hands. This is your last chance: if you are not ready to force yourself
to not do it, |vim| is not for you. Vim does a perfect job at keeping your hands on the keyboard and at keeping you
away from your mouse. If you don’t do it, you will not be using Vim to its fullest. And, one day or another, you will
quit for another editor that was made to be used with a mouse. So, should we continue?
4.1.2 Forget the mouse
If you are reading thoses lines it means that you have answered “yes” to the question above, so let’s go! Our first step
will be to get rid of the mouse. Then we will do the same with directional keys, but first things first.
To copy/paste using Vim, you will have to switch to the “normal” mode (the default one when you open Vim). To know
what the current mode is, just have a look at the bottom left of your Vim. You can see Vim in “insert” mode in the figure
below.
When there is nothing displayed at the bottom left, it’s because you are currently in “normal” mode. In order to quit a
mode to return to the normal one, you just have to press the Esc key. You may already have noticed that pressing the
Esc key is a pain for your fingers. Don’t worry, this is just temporary. I will explain why in the “Doing without the Esc
key” section.
Let’s say that you are currently in the “normal” mode and that you already have some text in you Vim. For example,
it could be this beautiful quote from Mark Twain: “They did not know it was impossible, so they did it.”. Your Vim
should like the one in the figure below. Notice that there is nothing displayed at the bottom left.
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The most intuitive way (but not the most efficient, we will see why a little bit later) to copy/paste the “impossible” word
is to move the cursor at the first letter of the word using the directional keys, to press the v key (to switch to the “visual”
mode), to move to the last letter of the word (you should have the word “impossible” highlighted) and then to press the
y key (the y key stands for yank). You’ve just copied your first word using Vim. Hooray!
Then, move to the end of the sentence (in “normal” mode) and press the p key (the p key standing for paste). The word
should now be pasted at the end, and you should have something like the figure below.
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We can see that Vim uses the mode switching trick (including the “normal” mode for moving) in order to not have to
use the mouse. When you will be used to switch quickly from one mode to another (and in order to do so, going without
the Esc key will be mandatory), using the mouse will appear like a pure waste of time. But obviously, you will first
need to train yourself.
4.2 Forgetting the directional keys
Here we are. Even if forgetting the mouse is a first good step, the real goal when using Vim is to forget the directional
keys too. You will be faster and better when using Vim on the sole condition that you don’t use the directional keys
anymore. It will indeed force you to keep your hands on the home row and you will have to switch to the normal mode
to move around. This is a prerequisite to use Vim at its fullest.
In this section, I will explain how to move without using the directional keys. Then, when you will know how to do it,
I will give you the code that you need to put in your ~/.vimrc to totally disable the directional keys. It was the only
way I found to force me to not use the directional keys anymore.
4.2.1 Moving without using the directional keys
When in normal mode, 4 keys will allow you to move your cursor:
• the h key to move to the left
• the j key to move to the bottom
• the k key to move to the top
• the l key to move to the right
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As you can notice, those keys are located on the home row so that you don’t have to move your hands. Your index finger
has two moves (left and bottom) while your little finger doesn’t have any. You will see that this not a problem, it’s even
a feature: your index finger is stronger than your little finger. By checking the keyboard that was used to develop Vi in
the “Doing without the Esc key” section, you will understand why.
On a side note, once you will be used to Vim, you will not use the left and right moves a lot. You will primarily move
the cursor word by word, paragraph by paragraph or by using the search function. Here are some “fast moves” that I
often use:
Key Move
e to the end of the current word
b to the beginning of the current word
w to the beginning of the next word
^ to the first non white character of the line
$ to the end of the line
0 to the start of the line
This is the mininum to move your hands in normal mode. They are also commands allowing you to first move and then
to enter the insert mode directly. They are very handy because they will allow you to save a few keystrokes. Here are
some that I often use:
Key Action
i enter insert mode just before the cursor
a enter insert mode just after the cursor
I enter insert mode at the beginning of the line
A enter insert mode at the end of the line
o insert a new line below the current line
O insert a new line above the current line
r replace the character under the cursor by a new one
Let’s discuss that a little bit. The secrets of Vim rely on the contents of this chapter. There is one thing that you have to
do when learning Vim: use the hjkl keys to move. If you can manage to do that, you will learn everything else on the
go.
You’ll find a lot of websites with all the possible commands, combinations and so on. You will learn and forgot them
(depending on how useful they are to you). If you have a single effort to do: it is to use the directional keys and thus to
force you to use the normal mode. Everything else will then be perfectly obvious.
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Here is the ultimate configuration that you will need to put in your ~/.vimrc to achieve your goal: disabling the
directional keys:
" Disabling the directional keys
map <up> <nop>
map <down> <nop>
map <left> <nop>
map <right> <nop>
imap <up> <nop>
imap <down> <nop>
imap <left> <nop>
imap <right> <nop>
Here we are. Believe me, this will be a little bit hard at the beginning. It was the case for me during the first two days.
But then, you just forget about it and get used to it. Besides, if you are not ready to struggle for two days in order to
learn Vim properly, then what are you doing here?!
I will not go into details on all the possible keys to move inside Vim, other resources do a better job at it. “A byte of
Vim” is a good resource that you can freely download here: http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/vim/. Of course, you
will also learn in Combining keys and moves how to use the keys wisely.
Here is an handy graphical cheat sheet that you can download on http://www.viemu.com/a_vi_vim_graphical_cheat_
sheet_tutorial.html. I recommend that you to print it and put it on your desktop: it helps a lot at the beginning.
Keep in mind that the main goal here is to increase your speed while keeping your hands on the “home row” and using
the “normal mode”. Get down to work!
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4.3 Doing without the Esc key
Let’s be honest: having to use the Esc key to exit the “insert mode” seems to be totally counterproductive. The key is
very far from the home row, you have to move your full left hand to reach it and you have to torture your little finger to
press it.
To understand why the Esc key is used by default to exit the “insert mode”, we have to go back in time a little bit. We
need to find the keyboard used to program Vi. You can see on the picture below that the Esc key was very easy to reach.
You can notice that the directional keys were on the home row, on the famous h, j, k, l keys. But unfortunately, it’s not
the case anymore, so we will have to do some changes to the default configuration.
So we agree that we need another key to exit the insert mode. There are many solutions, here are some possibilities
that you can try in your ~/.vimrc:
" Press the j 2 times in row
:imap jj <Esc>
" Press the j key followed by the k one
:imap jk <Esc>
" Press the i 2 times in row
:imap ii <Esc>
:imap ` <Esc>
" Shift-Space
:imap <S-Space> <Esc>
" Alt-Space.
:imap <M-Space> <Esc>
You can have a look at the discussion here if you want more information: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Avoid_the_
escape_key.
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4.4 Combining keys and moves
Now that we are able to move properly by using the normal mode, it’s time to see how to perform other useful operations.
We have already seen how to copy/paste in the Learning how to move: the copy/paste use case chapter, we will now
have a look at how to delete/edit more easily.
In Forgetting the directional keys we have seen that if we want to move to the start of the next word we just have to use
the w key. We will combine that with some new keys of the “normal mode”:
• the d key is used to “delete”
• the c key is used to “delete and switch to insert mode”
Something good to know: by default, everything that is deleted is placed in the clipboard. Delete behaves in the same
way cut does in other applications.
The particularity of these keys is that they are waiting for a “move order” to know what should be deleted. As a result,
you will need to provide one of the keys that we have discussed in the Forgetting the directional keys chapter.
Here are some examples:
Action Result
the d key then the w key deletes all the characters until the next word
the c key then the w key deletes all the characters until the next word and switch to the “insert mode”
the d key then the $ key delete everything until the end of the line
the d key then the ^ key delete everything until the start of the line
To copy, you can use:
Action Result
the y key then the w key copy the characters until the next word
the y key then the $ key copy everything until the end of the line
the y key then the ^ key copy everything until the first non blank character of the line
All you have to do next is to press the p key to paste the text you have copied above. By default, the p key will paste
the text after the current position of the cursor. If you want to paste before the position of the cursor, use the P key.
From time to time, you may also want to be able to delete some text. Here are some useful commands to do so:
Action Result
dd delete the current line and put it in the clipboard
x delete the character under the cursor
X delete the character before the cursor
Most of the moves can be prefixed by a multiplier number. Here are some examples:
Action Result
2dd delete 2 lines
3x delete 3 characters forward
3X delete 3 characters backward
2yy copy 2 lines in the clipboard
5j move 5 lines downward
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4.5 Search / Move quickly
Now that we know the basic commands for editing text with Vim, let’s see how we can move faster in our document.
We have already mentioned the w, b, ^ and $ keys that allow us to move to the end of a word, to the beginning of a
word, to the beginning of a line, and to the end of a line, respectively. First, let’s see how to “scroll” without using the
mouse. Note that all these commands are for the “normal mode”.
4.5.1 Scrolling pages
To scroll page by page, you must use:
• Control + f to move to the next page (f = forward)
• Control + b to move to the previous page (b = backward)
These shortcuts will allow you to move quickly in your document.
You can also:
• Move to the top of the file by typing gg
• Move to the end of the file by typing G
• Move to the line number 23 by typing :23
4.5.2 Marks
When I’m moving inside a file, I often need to go back to some previous points. For example, when I go to the beginning
of the file while I am working in the middle of it, I like to come back directly to where I was working before moving
to the beginning. Fortunately, Vim has everything for it through the use of markers. Markers are simply “bookmarks”
that allow you to move quickly through the file.
You can put a marker by pressing ma. To move your cursor to the position of the marker, just press 'a. You can place
as many markers as you want by changing a with any letter of the alphabet (this is called a register in Vim’s language).
To place another marker you can, for example, use the letter d. Thanks to md you will put the marker and with 'd you
will move to the position of the marker.
4.5.3 Search
In “normal mode”, you can start a search by using the / key followed by the text you want to search and the Enter key.
Thanks to our Vim configuration you should see your search occurrences highlighted at the same time as you type. By
default, the search is not case sensitive (no difference between upper and lower case). However, as soon as you will
type a capital, the search will become case sensitive. You can move forward to the next search result with the n key. To
move backward, use the N key.
As a reminder, here are the corresponding lines of your configuration:
" -- Search
set ignorecase " Ignore case when searching
set smartcase " If there is an uppercase in your search term
" search case sensitive again
set incsearch " Highlight search results when typing
set hlsearch " Highlight search results
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Be careful, by default, the search is using POSIX regular expressions. If you want to search for characters commonly
used in regular expressions (like [ ] ^{ } $ /) do not forget to prefix them with \.
You can also search for the word that is directly under your cursor through the * key. the * key will search forward, the
# key will search backward.
4.6 Visual mode
I have already mentioned the “visual mode” when explaining how to Copy/Paste, but I will do a little reminder here,
just in case.
When you are in “normal mode”, press the v key to switch to the “visual mode”. You will then be able to select
individual characters or entier lines thanks to the various ways of moving that you just learned above. You can then
copy the selected text with the y key and paste it with the p key. To cut it just use the d key instead of the y key.
In “normal mode” you will be able to use the v key to select line per line. And of course, use the Esc key or ;; to switch
back to “normal mode”.
4.7 It’s your turn!
You should now be able to only use the keyboard to manipulate and edit text in Vim. I have only skimmed over the
power of Vim here, but it should be enough to survive. I have given you the bare minimum here, but this minimum
should allow you to enjoy Vim and to not use the mouse anymore.
It’s now your turn to read all the many resources available on the Internet describing all the possible moves and com-
binations.
Here is a list of resources that could be useful to you:
• A byte of Vim http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/vim/en
• A beautiful Wiki : http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Vim_Tips_Wiki
• Videos from Peepcode : https://peepcode.com/products/smash-into-vim-i and https://peepcode.com/products/
smash-into-vim-ii
• Derek Wyatt’s blog http://www.derekwyatt.org/vim/vim-tutorial-videos/
To awaken the child in you, I urge you to go have fun with http://vim-adventures.com/. This is a role playing online
game that aims to teach you to master Vim! Here is an overview:
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Now we will go to the next level: the use of plugins, or how to make Vim indispensable.
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34 Chapter 4. The text editor you’ve always dreamed of
CHAPTER
FIVE
ESSENTIAL PLUGINS
Let’s be clear, using Vim without plugins is almost useless. It’s the usage of plugins that will allow you to boost your
productivity. You don’t need a lot of them, but you do need the good ones.
Of course, Vim can be used without any plugins and it can be useful to know how to use it without needing to install
anything. Indeed, on most servers, you will have zero plugins installed. That’s why knowing how to open and save a
file and knowing how to switch between files just by using default commands is very useful. However, for your writing
or coding needs, plugins are mandatory.
5.1 Managing and switching between files : Lusty Explorer
We’ve already talked about NerdTree in The NERD Tree: a file explorer and we have seen that thanks to it, we can
have a project explorer in a sidebar. One of the problems of this plugin is that it was not designed to be used with the
keyboard. You can still use the keyboard, but it will not be as efficient as a plugin developed with keyboard usage in
mind.
The first plugin that I install when I have to use Vim is Lusty Explorer (http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_
id=1890). This plugin will allow you to navigate between the files on you hard drive in order to open files without using
the mouse. Moreover, it will allow you to easily switch between you opened files, called buffers in Vim terms.
To install it, first download the latest version of the script here: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1890.
At the time of writing, it’s on version 4.3: http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=17529). Once
installed, put it in your .vim/ folder. It should look like this:
.vim
|-- autoload
| `-- pathogen.vim
`-- bundle
|-- lusty-explorer
| `-- plugin
| `-- lusty-explorer.vim
If you have done everything right since the beginning, your .vim/ directory should now look like this:
.vim
|-- autoload
| `-- pathogen.vim
`-- bundle
|-- lusty-explorer
| `-- plugin
| `-- lusty-explorer.vim
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(continued from previous page)
|-- nerdtree
| |-- doc
| | `-- NERD_tree.txt
| |-- nerdtree_plugin
| | |-- exec_menuitem.vim
| | `-- fs_menu.vim
| |-- plugin
| | `-- NERD_tree.vim
| `-- syntax
| `-- nerdtree.vim
`-- solarized
`-- colors
`-- solarized.vim
Let’s see how to use it. If we take a look at the documentation, here is what we find:
<Leader>lf - Opens filesystem explorer.
<Leader>lr - Opens filesystem explorer at the directory of the current file.
<Leader>lb - Opens buffer explorer.
<Leader>lg - Opens buffer grep.
We can see that the documentation is referring to a key named <Leader> that you need to combine with keys like lf,
lr, lb et lg. The <Leader> key is a special key that we need to define in our ~/.vimrc. Almost each plugin will need
this special key to be defined, so we will use it a lot. This is a good way to avoid collisions with the default shortcuts
of Vim.
So, we need to choose a key to be our <Leader> key. By default, Vim uses \ as a <Leader> key. I don’t know about
you, but for me this is not handy at all. I don’t love to use my little finger too much. So I always replace the default
<Leader> key with the , key. You can of course choose another key, but lot of people are using ,: it’s up to you. To
tell it to Vim, you will need to add a line in your ~/.vimrc as follows:
let mapleader = ","
Ensure that the modification has been made and taken into account by Vim. This can be done by restarting Vim, or by
typing :so ~/.vimrc or :so $MYVIMRC in normal mode. Once this is done, you should be able to do ,lr (if you choose
, as your <Leader> key) and you should see something like the picture below in your Vim.
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The next thing to do is to deactivate The Nerd Tree by commenting the corresponding line like I have done on the
screenshot above. It will not be useful anymore as Lusty Explorer is a better replacement when using the keyboard.
You can see on the lusty screenshot that Lusty Explorer is made of two parts. The bottom part is about the current
directory you’re exploring and the top part is the content of this directory. The current item is highligthed. For example,
on the lusty screenshot above, the current item is the .vim/ directory, highligthed in yellow (the color could be different,
it depends on your theme).
Lusty Explorer uses something called Fuzzy matching that will allow you to type only a small part of the file you want
to select. This part can be everything: the begining of the filename, the middle, the end or just letters composing the
file to select. In the example above, if I enter .vimi in the Lusty window, .viminfo will be selected without needing
to specify the full name. Then I just need to press the Enter key to open the corresponding file in Vim. You can see
this particular example in the screenshot above.
Here are some handy handy shortcuts of Lusty Explorer:
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• Control + n select the next file/directory
• Control + p select the previous file/directory
• Control + w go the the parent directory
• Control + e create a new empty file (unsaved) with the current name entered in Lusty Explorer. If you want to
save the file, you just have to use :w.
So Lusty Explorer can be used for two things: navigate your filesystem with ,lr and ,lf, and switch between your
opened files (buffers) with ,lb. Personally, I don’t use the ,lg keys a lot to search in the buffers, but it’s up to you.
In order to get familiar with Lusty Explorer you should try to open multiple files with ,lr or ,lf. Then, try to switch
between the opened files with the help of ,lb. This is the combination I’m using the most on a day to day basis.
This plugin is totally mandatory and adds a lot of value to Vim as it allows you to avoid using the mouse to open files.
Be sure to take the time to learn how to use it, it’s a great time investment.
5.2 Searching files on disk: Ack
At some point, you will need to search for a particular pattern inside your codebase. Vim can help help you to do so
with a plugin that uses Ack under the hood.
Ack (http://betterthangrep.com/) is a program written in perl that replaces the good old grep to search inside files. It’s
grep, but better. However, it has one little disadvantage: OS’s rarely have it installed by default. So, as you may have
guessed, the first thing to do will be to install it. As it depends on the OS you are running, you will have to refer
to the installation instructions to know how to intall it for your particular case: http://github.com/mileszs/ack.vim#
installation.
For Debian/Ubuntu, run: sudo apt-get install ack-grep. For Mac OS X, first you will need Homebrew (http:
//mxcl.github.com/homebrew/). Then, you will need to open a terminal and type brew install ack. For people
using MacPorts the command will be: sudo port install p5-app-ack. For Windows, install Strawberry Perl
(http://strawberryperl.com/) and in a command shell execute C:\>cpan App::Ack. You should now be able to use
the ack command in your terminal instead of grep.
Now, we’re ready for the big thing. Go to the ack plugin page (http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2572)
and download the last version (at the moment, it’s the 0.3.1 version). Uncompress it in your ~/.vim/bundle/ directory
so that you have a structure like the one below:
bundle
|-- ack
| |-- doc
| | `-- ack.txt
| `-- plugin
| `-- ack.vim
...
As always, be sure that your modifications are taken into account by restarting Vim or by entering :source ~/.vimrc
while in normal mode.
Then we will need to add some lines to our ~/.vimrc file to ease the use of the plugin ::
" Default params for ack
let g:ackprg="ack -H --nocolor --nogroup --column"
" Add a mark and search
nmap <leader>j mA:Ack<space>
" Add a mark and search for the word under the cursor
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(continued from previous page)
nmap <leader>ja mA:Ack "<C-r>=expand("<cword>")<cr>"
nmap <leader>jA mA:Ack "<C-r>=expand("<cWORD>")<cr>"
Ack will start the search from the directory of the file currently opened. Here are some examples (assuming that your
<Leader> key is the , key):
• ,j toto : will search for toto starting from the directory of the current file,
• ,ja with your cursor on a word will search for this word.
The results will be displayed in a window called the Quickfix Window, as you can see below.
Here are some commands available inside this window:
• o : open (same as <Enter>)
• go : preview display (open the file but keep the focus on the ack.vim results)
• t : open in a new tab
• T : open in a new background tab
• h : open and split the window horizontally
• v : open and split the window vertically
• q : close the quickfix window
By default, Ack doesn’t search in files that are not relevant. For example, it will not search in temp files or in files used
by your favorite revision control system. If you want Ack to search into any file, independantly of its type, you need to
specify the -u option in your ~/.vimrc ::
" Default params for Ack
let g:ackprg="ack -H -u --nocolor --nogroup --column"
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5.3 Searching files on disk: Ctrlp
Here we will not search inside files like we did with Ack. Instead, we will search for files to open with Vim. This can
be very handy when you’re working on a project where files are everywhere in the directory tree.
As always, we will start by installing the plugin. For once, this plugin has a dedicated page that you will find here: http:
//kien.github.com/ctrlp.vim/. Scroll to the bottom to download the latest version in the “Direct Downloads” section.
For the laziest, here is the direct link: http://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim/zipball/master. Uncompress the archive in your
~/.vim/bundle/ directory, so that you get something like this:
bundle
|
...
|-- ctrlp
| |-- autoload
| | |-- ctrlp
| | | |-- bookmarkdir.vim
| | | |-- buffertag.vim
| | | |-- changes.vim
| | | |-- dir.vim
| | | |-- line.vim
| | | |-- mixed.vim
| | | |-- mrufiles.vim
| | | |-- quickfix.vim
| | | |-- rtscript.vim
| | | |-- tag.vim
| | | |-- undo.vim
| | | `-- utils.vim
| | `-- ctrlp.vim
| |-- doc
| | `-- ctrlp.txt
| |-- plugin
| | `-- ctrlp.vim
| `-- readme.md
...
As always, be sure that your modifications are taken into account by restarting Vim or by entering :source ~/.vimrc
while in normal mode.
Now we need to add the shortcut to our ~/.vimrc to invoke CtrlP like in the listing below. Personnaly, I’ve chosen ,c,
but you can choose whatever you want.:
let g:ctrlp_map = '<leader>c'
Here is CtrlP in action.
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Launch it with ,c and then type the name of the file you want to search. When the searched file will be selected first,
you will just have to press the Enter key to open it.
CtrlP can be used for navigating through the opened files (like Lusty), but I find Lusty handier for that. You can also
use to navigate directly through your code by “following” your functions thanks to something called the tags (like you
can do when using Eclipse). It’s a too big topic for the scope of this book, but if you’re interested you can read this
blog article on the topic: http://andrew-stewart.ca/2012/10/31/vim-ctags.
5.4 Advanced plugins
Writing an entire book about the Vim plugin is definitely something doable, but I have to admit that I don’t have enough
courage. So, I will stop here with the plugins thing. However, below is a list of some plugins that may interest you.
This list comes from a poll I did on Twitter asking my followers what were the most useful Vim plugins to them. Here
it is:
• neocomplcache. An automatic completion plugin. It can autocomplete file names, language attributes, snippets
and a lot more. The Github repo: https://github.com/Shougo/neocomplcache
• surround. With this plugin, you can manage (change, add, delete) everything that “surrounds”: parenthesis,
brackets, quotes, etc. For example, you will be able to change “Hello world!” with ‘Hello world!’ or <q>Hello
world!</q> with a simple key combination. The Github repo: https://github.com/tpope/vim-surround
• fugitive. If you work with source code, you have to use a version control system. If it’s not the case, you can
go flog yourself. Otherwise, if you’re using Git, fugitive was made for you. It allows you to manage your git
command directly inside Vim. The Github repo can be found here: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
• syntastic. Syntastic will check the syntax of your source code. It will directly display your syntax errors in your
Vim, much like, for example, Eclipse. It can be a time saver if you edit a lot of code. The Github repo can be
found here: https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic
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• ctags + ctrlp. Ctags is a small external program that will parse your source code and allow you to “follow”
your functions calls through your source code. Very useful to navigate into your source code. Used with ctrlp
described above, it will soon become a must. Everything is explained here: http://andrew-stewart.ca/2012/10/
31/vim-ctags.
42 Chapter 5. Essential plugins
CHAPTER
SIX
CHEATSHEET & EXAMPLES
So here we go, we now have everything needed to make a good start with Vim. It should be enough to use it on a daily
basis. It’s the most important thing to do if you want to successfully use Vim: developing the habit of using it everyday.
Once you’ll have this habit, everything should seem natural to you.
The aim of this chapter is to provide you with a reference for the most common things you’ll have to do with Vim so
that, when you are lost, you know where to search for help. This chapter contains two parts. The first one is a set of
Q/A covering the most common problems that beginners face. The goal is to answer the question of “f**k, how can I
do this, it was so simple with my old editor”. The second is a non-exhaustive list of the most useful Vim commands.
6.1 Questions / Answers
6.1.1 How do I quit Vim?
First you need to be in normal mode. If you don’t know if you are in normal mode, just press the Esc key or the ;
key (depending on your configuration) multiple times. This should bring you to normal mode. Then, type :q to exit
Vim. The problem is that most of the time, Vim will not let you quit immediately. For example, if you have unsaved
changes, Vim will not let you quit. You can cancel your modifications by using ! like this: :q!. You can also save your
modifications and save like this: :wq.
6.1.2 How do I ‘save as’?
In normal mode, if you type :w, Vim will by default save your modifications into the current file. If you want to use
another filename to “save as”, you just need to specify it after w like this: :w myfile.txt. Vim will save your file under
the name myfile.txt. However, be aware that Vim will not open myfile.txt, it will stay on the previous file.
If you want Vim to save under the filename myfile.txt and then open the file in the current buffer, you will have to use
:sav myfile.txt.
6.1.3 How do I copy/cut and paste?
This one is easy, and there is already a full chapter on it: Learning how to move: the copy/paste use case.
In short:
• Switch to visual mode with the v key,
• Select the text you want to copy by moving the cursor,
• Copy using the y key or cut using the x key or the d key,
• Paste after the cursor using the p key or before using the P key.
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6.1.4 How do I create a new file?
The traditional way to create a file is to type, in normal mode, :e myfile.txt to open an empty buffer. Then, save your
buffer using :w. Il will be saved as myfile.txt in the current directory.
You can also use Lusty Explorer (cf. Managing and switching between files : Lusty Explorer). To do so, launch it
using ,lr or ,lf (supposing that your leader key is ,), type the name of the file you want to create and then press the
Control key and the e key at the same time. You can then save as above.
6.1.5 How do I undo/redo?
To undo, just press the u key while in normal mode. To undo your undo (and so, to redo) press the Control key and
the r key at the same time.
6.2 Reminders
6.2.1 Files
Expected result Action Comments
Save :w
Save as :w filename.txt Save as filename.txt but don’t open filename.txt
Save as / open :sav filename.txt Save as and open filename.txt
Quit without saving (force quit) :q!
Save and quit :wq
Save as root :w !sudo tee %
6.2.2 Movement
Expected result Action
Move one character left h
Move one line down j
Move one line up k
Move one character right l
Move to the end of the word e
Move to the beginning of the word b
Move to the beginning of the next word w
Move to line 42 :42
Move to the beginning of the file gg or :0
Move to the end of the file GG or :$
Move to the end of the line $
Move to the first non empty character of the line ^
Move to the beginning of the line 0
Move one page down Ctrl+f
Move one page up Ctrl+b
Move to the first line of the screen H
Move to the middle of the screen M
Move to the last line of the screen L
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6.2.3 Text editing
Expected result Action Comments
Insert before the cursor i Normal mode
Insert before the first non empty character of the line I Normal mode
Insert after the cursor a Normal mode
Insert at the end of the line A Normal mode
Insert a new line below o Normal mode
Insert a new line above O Normal mode
Replace everything after the cursor C Normal mode
Replace one character (and stay in normal mode) r Normal mode
Delete the character after the cursor (like the del. key) x Normal mode
Delete the character before the cursor (like the backspace key) X Normal mode
Delete the current line dd Normal mode
Copy the current line yy Normal mode
Paste after the cursor. If it’s line, paste the line below. p Normal mode
Paste before the cursor. If it’s line, paste the line above P Normal mode
Switch the case (upper/lower) ~ Visual mode
Move the text to the right (indent) > Visual mode
Move the text to the left < Visual mode
In visual mode, delete the selected text d Visual mode
In visual mode, replace the selected text c Visual mode
In visual mode, copy the selected text y Visual mode
Undo u Normal mode
Redo Ctrl+r Normal mode
6.2.4 Search and/or replace
Expected result Action Comments
Search /*toto Search the toto string starting at the current cursor posi-
tion
Next n Go to the next search result
Previous N Go to the previous search result
Replace on the current line (once) :s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on the current line (once)
titi
Replace on the current line (multiple) :s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on the current line (for all occurences
titi/g of toto)
Replace on all the lines (once) :%s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on all the lines of the file (once per
titi line)
Replace on all the lines (multiple) :%s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on all the lines of the file (for all oc-
titi/g curences of toto)
Replace on the current line, case in- :s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on the current line, case insensitive
sensitive (once) titi/i (once)
Replace on the current line, case in- :s/toto/ Replace toto by titi on the current line, case insensitive
sensitive (multiple) titi/gi (for all occurences of toto)
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CHAPTER
SEVEN
INDICES AND TABLES
• genindex
• modindex
• search
47