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The same reason for using any editor: it helps you get things done. Other editors also help you get things done. A lot of these "You should use VIM because of x

The same reason for using any editor: it helps you get things done. Other editors also help you get things done. A lot of these "You should use VIM because of x, y, and z" posts seem to follow a standard pattern: claim that VIM is good, give examples of "how easy!" it is to delete or paste text, show some advanced features ("ooh, macros!"), and then claim that it's the best editor. It's a good editor – I use it, too – but any editor that lets you be as productive is just as good.

tuxmentat 15y ago
Exactly. That's more or less the sentiment in the conclusion to the article: "If you are using Emacs, keep using it. Hell, if you are using Java you should probably keep using Eclipse. Similarly you probably shouldn’t ditch Visual Studio and hack your C# code in vim. Emacs and IDE’s are useful – they have tools that will make your life easier. The IDE’s don’t have vim’s raw text manipulation power, but they make up for it by having great integrated debuggers, GUI building tools and etc. But if you are hacking in Perl, Python, PHP, Ruby or something like that, vim is usually a good choice. Is it the best editor in the world? I don’t know. I guess it depends what you are doing. The bottom line is that you should choose a tool that fits the particular problem you are trying to solve. Not all problems are nails. If you try to apply a hammer to a philipsh-head you are probably gonna screw things up somewhere down the line. But vim is a great editor and you should definitely give it a chance."