> your first exposure with Vim is when you accidentally opened it and couldn't get out
The correct learning from this should've been "vim has awful defaults, never use them" instead of "here is a guide on how to remember them"
bloppe · 7h ago
There's `vim` the program, and there's Vim the language. You can use Vim the language anywhere. It's pretty rare for me to interact with any text box without Vim keybindings these days, many of which are in GUI apps with toolbars. This article is about the language.
Daedren · 8h ago
That's a horrible take. This isn't a guide to remember, but a guide to learn.
You shouldn't dismiss something as "terrible defaults" just because it has a user interface different from what you're used to.
eviks · 8h ago
Sure thing, don't dismiss it because of your made up reason "because it's different", use a real one: they make the most basic operations hard/er to perform, to learn, to remember, to master; and exiting is just one illustrative example, the base motions are just as unergonomically bad.
skydhash · 7h ago
Because it’s a power tool, not a beginner tool. The beginner tool is notepad and nano, where instructions are spelled out or follow some conventions.
Expert tools are for the problems you face even after learning the in and outs of the beginner tools. Vim solve them by smashing convention in order to build a system of composable elements. Emacs solve it by building a vm and a user interface where everything in between is customizable.
Here is an article by Bram Moolenar that explore the problem space of a good text editor.
This explains nothing since it's applicable for any set of keybinds, so if you had to type "word back" in normal mode to move by word or "PRETTY PLEASE LET ME OUT" to exit, you could still say the irrelevant "but it's a power tool smashing convention!"
skydhash · 6h ago
Yep, but vim’s keybinds are composable and with less cognitive load than the conventional way. That’s the selling point. Not knowing how to use it isn’t a good argument for not using it. Riding a motorcycle isn’t natural, but the speed improvement is real.
bloppe · 7h ago
There are other grammatical keybindings out there. Some can be considered better. But none are as ubiquitous as Vim.
scuff3d · 17h ago
Awesome writeup. I've been using Vim for a while, but this really connected some of the concepts in my mind. Thanks dude!
The correct learning from this should've been "vim has awful defaults, never use them" instead of "here is a guide on how to remember them"
You shouldn't dismiss something as "terrible defaults" just because it has a user interface different from what you're used to.
Expert tools are for the problems you face even after learning the in and outs of the beginner tools. Vim solve them by smashing convention in order to build a system of composable elements. Emacs solve it by building a vm and a user interface where everything in between is customizable.
Here is an article by Bram Moolenar that explore the problem space of a good text editor.
https://www.moolenaar.net/habits.html