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I don't understand the hype behind vim. The biggest productivity boost I find is having an editor which has great code completion and error squigglys as soon as

by nojvek 10y ago

I don't understand the hype behind vim. The biggest productivity boost I find is having an editor which has great code completion and error squigglys as soon as you cause an error.

SilasX 10y ago
I'm trying to fix this part of my workflow myself. I'm a hardcore vimmer, trying to branch out into Java with IDEs. Every time I do it, the IDE brings in more headaches than it saves, by far. Plus, they almost seem to "break the abstraction" and make it less clear what's going on. I'm sure if I made a dedicated effort (ideally with a human present to answer the hard-to-phrase questions) I could work out all the kinks but it's a big hump to surpass. For example, Eclipse requires you to re-setup your workspace every time you start a new one, and doesn't even have defaults for switching code tabs from the keyboard. The "find in project" feature is cryptic. And IntelliJ doesn't seem to actually know how to run code; it always wants a "build configuration" that it gives a cryptic interface for and which the tutorial steps aren't very helpful for. I google to get around the above problems but the answers don't seem to work.
- caconym_ 10y ago
  My work environment consists of <UNIX-like OS> + Vim + Tmux + whatever language/domain specific tools I need for the task at hand. I'm really interested in hearing success stories from people who were like me but switched to working in an IDE. I would like to have better auto-complete in Vim, but to a certain extent I think I might just have been too lazy to go out and find the right plugins. I'm also working on a hobby project text editor where I hope to explore this problem a bit more... but I can't deny that an effective solution would be better than my current solution which involves a lot of Googling and many open browser tabs.
  - Kevelo 10y ago
    I use Vim myself but I recently learnt about EVIL mode in emacs which makes emacs like Vim and in emacs you can add code completion etc.
- crypto5 10y ago
  > For example, Eclipse requires you to re-setup your workspace every time you start a new one I have "misc" workspace, where I keep all my small projects. > and doesn't even have defaults for switching code tabs from the keyboard. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2332330/eclipse-hotkey-how-to-switch-between-tabs http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2332330/eclipse-hotkey-ho... ?
  - SilasX 10y ago
    Maybe I should be opening all projects in the same workspace. In any case, you have to add the keyboard shortcut: http://stackoverflow.com/a/4079639 http://stackoverflow.com/a/4079639
- rocqua 10y ago
  I'm kind of like that, only using plaintext editors, except for Java. I learned Java on eclipse, and there is no way I could do Java without it. I think it has to do with Java having a lot of boilerplate that an IDE helps a lot with auto-completion, and Java allows for a lot of static analysis, so IDEs can add a lot of value.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
pmiller2 10y ago
The biggest advantage of Vim, IMHO, is that it's available on almost all UNIX like systems.
MichaelGG 10y ago
They aren't mutually exclusive. Use whatever editor you like, but make sure it has vim emulation. I use VsVim and it's the best of both worlds. It's the little edits that add up. It's like seeing someone drive a whole UI with only the mouse, no shortcuts - hurts. Likewise it feels infuriatingly slow to see people edit without vim.
lucb1e 10y ago
Having used Visual Studio, I can totally see where you are coming from. Here's my experience: - I used Visual Studio before using any command line thing at all. - Later I learned to use Linux and Vim. - Then I had an internship where I needed to work with Visual Studio again (VS projects and TFS, not using VS was not really an option). I ended up installing a Vim extension for Visual Studio. In Vim, I don't install autocompletion extensions. For me this is good evidence that Vim's hotkeys are more important than the autocompletion a good (arguably the best) IDE brings. Now as for why, I can only guess and rationalize. I'm guessing that when you're in the flow, you know the names of the functions you want to call anyway, and if you're not using C# or Java with libraryname.classname.veryDescriptiveMethodName it's not going to save typing either.

by nojvek 10y ago

I don't understand the hype behind vim. The biggest productivity boost I find is having an editor which has great code completion and error squigglys as soon as you cause an error.

SilasX 10y ago

I'm trying to fix this part of my workflow myself. I'm a hardcore vimmer, trying to branch out into Java with IDEs. Every time I do it, the IDE brings in more headaches than it saves, by far. Plus, they almost seem to "break the abstraction" and make it less clear what's going on. I'm sure if I made a dedicated effort (ideally with a human present to answer the hard-to-phrase questions) I could work out all the kinks but it's a big hump to surpass. For example, Eclipse requires you to re-setup your workspace every time you start a new one, and doesn't even have defaults for switching code tabs from the keyboard. The "find in project" feature is cryptic. And IntelliJ doesn't seem to actually know how to run code; it always wants a "build configuration" that it gives a cryptic interface for and which the tutorial steps aren't very helpful for. I google to get around the above problems but the answers don't seem to work.

caconym_ 10y ago
My work environment consists of <UNIX-like OS> + Vim + Tmux + whatever language/domain specific tools I need for the task at hand. I'm really interested in hearing success stories from people who were like me but switched to working in an IDE. I would like to have better auto-complete in Vim, but to a certain extent I think I might just have been too lazy to go out and find the right plugins. I'm also working on a hobby project text editor where I hope to explore this problem a bit more... but I can't deny that an effective solution would be better than my current solution which involves a lot of Googling and many open browser tabs.
- Kevelo 10y ago
  I use Vim myself but I recently learnt about EVIL mode in emacs which makes emacs like Vim and in emacs you can add code completion etc.
crypto5 10y ago
> For example, Eclipse requires you to re-setup your workspace every time you start a new one I have "misc" workspace, where I keep all my small projects. > and doesn't even have defaults for switching code tabs from the keyboard. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2332330/eclipse-hotkey-how-to-switch-between-tabs http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2332330/eclipse-hotkey-ho... ?
- SilasX 10y ago
  Maybe I should be opening all projects in the same workspace. In any case, you have to add the keyboard shortcut: http://stackoverflow.com/a/4079639 http://stackoverflow.com/a/4079639
rocqua 10y ago
I'm kind of like that, only using plaintext editors, except for Java. I learned Java on eclipse, and there is no way I could do Java without it. I think it has to do with Java having a lot of boilerplate that an IDE helps a lot with auto-completion, and Java allows for a lot of static analysis, so IDEs can add a lot of value.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

pmiller2 10y ago

The biggest advantage of Vim, IMHO, is that it's available on almost all UNIX like systems.

MichaelGG 10y ago

They aren't mutually exclusive. Use whatever editor you like, but make sure it has vim emulation. I use VsVim and it's the best of both worlds. It's the little edits that add up. It's like seeing someone drive a whole UI with only the mouse, no shortcuts - hurts. Likewise it feels infuriatingly slow to see people edit without vim.

lucb1e 10y ago

Having used Visual Studio, I can totally see where you are coming from. Here's my experience: - I used Visual Studio before using any command line thing at all. - Later I learned to use Linux and Vim. - Then I had an internship where I needed to work with Visual Studio again (VS projects and TFS, not using VS was not really an option). I ended up installing a Vim extension for Visual Studio. In Vim, I don't install autocompletion extensions. For me this is good evidence that Vim's hotkeys are more important than the autocompletion a good (arguably the best) IDE brings. Now as for why, I can only guess and rationalize. I'm guessing that when you're in the flow, you know the names of the functions you want to call anyway, and if you're not using C# or Java with libraryname.classname.veryDescriptiveMethodName it's not going to save typing either.