.vimrc is the config file for Vim. It can be stored in the Vim directory or in your user directory. With greater protection of the Program Files directory on Vista, I've gotten into the habit of keeping it in my user directory (c:\users\steverowe on most systems). here are most of the non-standard options...

Two things I discovered about searching: * will search forward for the word under the cursor. No longer do I have to type /WordUnderTheCursor. # does the same thing, but goes backwards. It's like ?WordUnderTheCursor. g* will search for any word containing the word under the cursor. So g*...

Once you have mastered using Vim to replace Notepad.exe , it is time to starting taking advantage of what Vim has to offer. Doing so can increase your productivity. Below are most of the commands I use most frequently. It is important to note that Vim has a veritable cornucopia of commands and thus supports...

When I first encountered Unix in the early 1990s, I needed a text editor. I tried Emacs but the meta key and double control keys struck me as wrong. I tried Vi but couldn't figure out how to type anything. I came across Pico and for years used that as my editor. Why? I wasn't doing much other than modifying...

For most programming, I use Vim as my text editor of choice. It has a steep learning curve, but is very efficient once you get accustomed to it. I'm far from an expert on Vim and I'm always learning new things. From time to time I will endeavor to post about these tips so others can benefit from my learning...

A conversation with a colleague got me interested in ViM once again. I've used ViM on and off for a few years now but never gotten really adept at using it. For those that don't know, ViM stands for Vi Improved and Vi is one of the two dominant text editors in the *nix world (the other being emacs)....

I ran across this article I thought I'd share: Seven habits of effective text editing . It's written by the author of VIM (Vi Improved) but the techniques apply to all good text editors. The techiques are: Move Around Quickly - Use the editor to jump quickly to your destination. This involves not...

A friend of mine put this together. It's a graphical representation of the learning curve for some common code editors. It seems quite accurate.