Beginning Vim From Scratch

This year, I am going to explore and learn the basics of vim. Each day, I aim to learn a few vim commands and post them as a series of blog articles.

Day 1 – Installation, Navigation & How to quit vim

Installation

check if it is already installed? `vim –version` or install it using the following command if you are using ubuntu:

sudo apt install vim

How to quit?

• q! – Quit without saving
• w – Save Changes
• wq – Save & Quit
• ZZ – Faster Save & Quit

Modes

I’ve explored four modes so far:

• Normal Mode
• Insert Mode
• Visual Mode
• Ex Mode

Step 1: Get rid of Arrow Keys and Mouse

Stop using Arrow keys & mouse. In normal mode, navigate using the following:

• h – left
• j – down (imagine j is an arrow pointing downwards)
• k – top
• l – right

Step 1.5: More about Navigation

• ^Y – Scroll Up a little bit.Ctrl + Y
• ^E – Scroll Down a little bit. Ctrl + E
• ^B – Scroll Up a screen. Ctrl + B
• ^F – Scroll Down a screen. Ctrl + F

Step 1.8: A Final Touch

• gg – Go to top of the file
• H – move the cursor high i.e. top of the screen
• M – move the cursor to the middle of the screen
• L – move the cursor to the bottom of the screen
• G – Go to the bottom of the file.

That’s it, for tonight. Let’s practice this for a day and put these commands in muscle memory!

Vim Resource

• Recommended Book: Practical Vim: Edit text with the speed of thoughts by Drew Neil
• Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ZbrtoSuzw

Continue to Day 2