Vim: from zero to hero

Burak describes Vim as both a command-line editor and a set of motions, such as using H, J, K, and L to move around. Vim’s modal approach separates typing from editing commands, which gives different modes their own key bindings. The guests also discuss Neovim, a Vim fork that supports asynchronous extensions and uses Lua as its primary scripting language.

The guests describe different paths into Vim: one began after seeing tutorials, another first used it to code on an Android phone with Termux, and another was drawn to keyboard shortcuts and customization. One speaker started with Vim, returned to VS Code because work slowed down, then practiced with a Vim extension for 15 to 30 minutes a day. The advice is to learn basic motions first and add more as they become familiar.

The guests point to quick startup, low resource use, keyboard-driven editing, and easy access to terminal tools as benefits. They compare Vim motions to musical practice: combinations become faster once they are second nature. They also note the steep learning curve, time needed to configure features such as code navigation, and the loss of VS Code Live Share for collaborative editing.

Lucas says Vim works well for editing Markdown documentation, especially with Markdown tools, and describes using tmux to move between projects. The guests say Vim can run macros and complex regular expressions across many files for bulk changes. They also mention that debugging React Native projects is possible, though setup can be complicated, and discuss language server and debug adapter support.

The guests suggest starting with a Vim plugin in an editor such as VS Code to learn motions, then trying a preconfigured setup such as LunarVim or AstroNvim. For people who want to configure more themselves, they recommend Kickstart.nvim as a basic starting point. Suggested learning resources include Vim’s built-in tutorial and help, Luke Smith, Primeagen, and Vim Adventures.