3 ms·
The same reason we use all the other Vim keyboard shortcuts - to keep the hands on the home row! I can ctrl-f way the f faster than someone who has to move the
by blunte 8y ago
The same reason we use all the other Vim keyboard shortcuts - to keep the hands on the home row!
I can ctrl-f way the f faster than someone who has to move their right hand down or over to the pgdn key.
I once read a great explanation about programming language wars. The author described a ladder of awareness, such that some languages were lower on the ladder than others. The idea was that programmers who knew languages at or below their level on the ladder could easily see the people below them and recognize that their languages were inferior, but they were unable to see the superiority of the languages above them. Of course the superiority of a language is somewhat subjective and largely dependent upon situation, but the concept is quite valid.
Do you use the mouse to click menus, or do you occasionally "cheat" and use a ctrl-c, ctrl-v, ctrl-s, whatever? If you use those keyboard shortcuts, why not other useful ones?
- shmerl 8y agoI use many keyboard shortcuts, but I prefer natural usage, such as arrow keys for one symbol / line navigation and PgUp / PgDn for page navigation. The home row issue doesn't really bother me. Heavy focus on home row that forces such kind of shortcuts seems a bit extreme for me personally.
- blunte 8y agoI wasn't aware people were being forced to be mechanically efficient. It's an option. You're free to drive your mouse all day if you like; in fact, you could mouse select, right click copy, mouse click the cursor to a new spot, right click paste, and be totally free of the burden of the home row.
- shmerl 8y ago"The right vim way" proponents can be very opinionated about it, and view those who don't follow same approach with a bit of conceit. I'm not saying that always happens, but I've encountered such views. Not sure why this affects specifically vim and not other editors.
- cuddlecake 8y agoI take issue with the wording "natural usage", as there is nothing that is "natural" about keyboards. At least not in the sense that someone would "naturally" rather grab things with their hands rather than their feet. This is why to me neither ctrl-f nor PgDn are natural, and anyone can choose one or the other. Ultimately they were both created by someone who saw the need to have a shortcut to move one entire page down.