3 ms·

I have learned Vim and tried it out. Still using Vscode. Don't understand the appeal. As long as you make some additional keyboard shortcuts for movement in Vsc

by 127 4y ago

I have learned Vim and tried it out. Still using Vscode. Don't understand the appeal. As long as you make some additional keyboard shortcuts for movement in Vscode, I really doubt you can go much faster with Vim. Plus I'm using about 100 plugins in Vscode and all the niche platforms don't have Vim addons for them. Domain specific plugins really make Vscode irreplaceable.

jerpint 4y ago
VScode vim emulation is great! But when you just want to fire an editor to do a quick change, vim is your friend. It’s also reliably present on almost any server you’ll ssh into
shriek 4y ago
The appeal is it's hackable. Top to bottom. Pretty sure VScode is too but you can literally just write functions and get vim to do the things you want it to.
GaryPalmer 4y ago
It's great for a command line editor. I don't know why anyone would use it in a desktop environment though.
inDigiNeous 4y ago
Big part of the appeal is keeping your hands on the home row all the time, without having to reach for the arrow keys. HJKL for movement makes all the difference for keeping focus on the writing, not having to reach out to the arrow keys when wanting to move or communicate motion. This combined with the excellent text manipulation features right there from the keyboard, without leaving to menus, being able to just flow with the Vim -keybindings, and in all different IDEs and editors that support Vim -support, it's just great.
linsomniac 4y ago
Sounds like VSCode is working great for you, no reason to change. Especially as, if you ever decide you want to use modal editing, there's a VSCode plugin for that. But, since you mention it, there are a few things that appeal about vim. For me, personally, I am quite often working on remote systems from the command line. Being able to "vi filename" and make some changes and get back to the command line is important and VSCode doesn't seem to work for that. I know it has remote editing, but navigating over there from Code isn't worth it when I can just "vi filename". A significant part of the appeal is the modal editing, which as I mention above is available in Code.
LinXitoW 4y ago
I think one good analogy to why vim is great is to examine other tools everyone already uses. Imagine instead of pressing backspace to delete a character, you would have to delete the individual bits that make up the character. A character is just an abstraction of bits, that your text editor/IDE takes care of for you so you don't have to think about it. Vim is also an abstraction, making it similarly far more convenient than doing everything by hand. Think about it: Is "forward 2, backspace 5" or "delete this word" a more natural abstraction? So what's the advantage? Speed, but not typing speed. It's about the mental distance between the model in your head of what you want to happen (delete everything between the parens) and the model your tool understands (go forward some words, go forward 1, delete backwards 20). Since speed = distance per time, reducing the mental distance increases mental speed. And that therefore uses less mental energy on translating for your tool, and leaves more room for doing hard mental problems, like fixing a bug.
anthomtb 4y ago
Interesting. If you swap VScode and Vim in this post, you come up with my reasoning for not using VScode. (Full disclosure- I never write JavaScript).
Shorel 4y ago
My opinion is the following: All these people who claim the keyboard is so much faster than the mouse (instead of a combination of both, as I claim), are people who never played StarCraft. Select from this point to the parenthesis? I can see the parenthesis, and I can do the mouse select as fast as they can with their keys. The use of four keys to move the cursor? I can use the cursor keys the same way, they work in all programs, and I have used them so much for many years that I don't need to see the keyboard either. I move the hand and the keys are where I know they are. And they are familiar, and I can use any keyboard in any normal computer as well. So, my point is: muscle memory helps, a lot. Vim doesn't have a monopoly on muscle memory.

by 127 4y ago

jerpint 4y ago

VScode vim emulation is great! But when you just want to fire an editor to do a quick change, vim is your friend. It’s also reliably present on almost any server you’ll ssh into

shriek 4y ago

The appeal is it's hackable. Top to bottom. Pretty sure VScode is too but you can literally just write functions and get vim to do the things you want it to.

GaryPalmer 4y ago

It's great for a command line editor. I don't know why anyone would use it in a desktop environment though.

inDigiNeous 4y ago

Big part of the appeal is keeping your hands on the home row all the time, without having to reach for the arrow keys. HJKL for movement makes all the difference for keeping focus on the writing, not having to reach out to the arrow keys when wanting to move or communicate motion. This combined with the excellent text manipulation features right there from the keyboard, without leaving to menus, being able to just flow with the Vim -keybindings, and in all different IDEs and editors that support Vim -support, it's just great.

linsomniac 4y ago

Sounds like VSCode is working great for you, no reason to change. Especially as, if you ever decide you want to use modal editing, there's a VSCode plugin for that. But, since you mention it, there are a few things that appeal about vim. For me, personally, I am quite often working on remote systems from the command line. Being able to "vi filename" and make some changes and get back to the command line is important and VSCode doesn't seem to work for that. I know it has remote editing, but navigating over there from Code isn't worth it when I can just "vi filename". A significant part of the appeal is the modal editing, which as I mention above is available in Code.

LinXitoW 4y ago

I think one good analogy to why vim is great is to examine other tools everyone already uses. Imagine instead of pressing backspace to delete a character, you would have to delete the individual bits that make up the character. A character is just an abstraction of bits, that your text editor/IDE takes care of for you so you don't have to think about it. Vim is also an abstraction, making it similarly far more convenient than doing everything by hand. Think about it: Is "forward 2, backspace 5" or "delete this word" a more natural abstraction? So what's the advantage? Speed, but not typing speed. It's about the mental distance between the model in your head of what you want to happen (delete everything between the parens) and the model your tool understands (go forward some words, go forward 1, delete backwards 20). Since speed = distance per time, reducing the mental distance increases mental speed. And that therefore uses less mental energy on translating for your tool, and leaves more room for doing hard mental problems, like fixing a bug.

anthomtb 4y ago

Interesting. If you swap VScode and Vim in this post, you come up with my reasoning for not using VScode. (Full disclosure- I never write JavaScript).

Shorel 4y ago

My opinion is the following: All these people who claim the keyboard is so much faster than the mouse (instead of a combination of both, as I claim), are people who never played StarCraft. Select from this point to the parenthesis? I can see the parenthesis, and I can do the mouse select as fast as they can with their keys. The use of four keys to move the cursor? I can use the cursor keys the same way, they work in all programs, and I have used them so much for many years that I don't need to see the keyboard either. I move the hand and the keys are where I know they are. And they are familiar, and I can use any keyboard in any normal computer as well. So, my point is: muscle memory helps, a lot. Vim doesn't have a monopoly on muscle memory.