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Imagine if there was a way to edit text entirely through just mentally thinking what you wanted changed? No physical overhead whatsoever, but just having the t

by walkon 14y ago

Imagine if there was a way to edit text entirely through just mentally thinking what you wanted changed? No physical overhead whatsoever, but just having the text change as soon as you mentally think, "change this parameter name to ___" and it happens. Being proficient in a good editor, like vim, makes that slightly closer to reality than using traditional, non-modal editors. Even so, this slight difference can have the major effect of helping the editor "get out of the way" and just let you make the changes a bit more proficiently - essentially freeing your mind up a bit to think about what you are changing instead of how. Physical traveling to the cursor/arrow keys to move one character or row at a time is wasting your time and a bit of mental energy, since you can't quickly and efficiently get to where you want to edit immediately (e.g. your brain has to do more and wait longer in between thinking, "x should instead be y" and it actually being changed).

robomartin 14y ago
> this slight difference can have the major effect of helping the editor "get out of the way" and just let you make the changes a bit more proficiently I have never, in THIRTY years of designing hardware and writing software, been slowed down by a text editor of nearly any kind (other than the first time I used VI). And, yes, I can use vi and vim. And yes, I think it is total horse-shit. The things that have slowed me and others down, caused projects to fail, caused robots to crash and damage something or caused the success or failure of a business have been orders of magnitude removed from any advantage that could be had via a text editor, even if it was wired into my brain. It is OK to make oneself believe that this is really useful stuff. Some people believe in all kinds of invisible things. And, in that context, anyone going against those beliefs is a lunatic. I am, on more than one front. I prefer to focus on what is real and what is significant.
- walkon 14y ago
  You are mostly missing my point, which has nothing to do with vim use magically making what you code perfect. Not sure why you are trying to say that is what we are positing. All I said was that it takes some of the mechanics of modifying text out of the way making editing a bit more efficient in that regard (once you become proficient). You can still efficiently code crap, of course. Who is saying otherwise?
  - robomartin 14y ago
    There's a religious element in the "cult of vim" that proposes that one is not a professional programmer unless one joins the cult and becomes proficient at vim. This is followed by implications of code quality and capabilities. None of it, of course, is true. I am not and don't think I attributed any of this to you. If I did, I apologize.

by walkon 14y ago

robomartin 14y ago

> this slight difference can have the major effect of helping the editor "get out of the way" and just let you make the changes a bit more proficiently I have never, in THIRTY years of designing hardware and writing software, been slowed down by a text editor of nearly any kind (other than the first time I used VI). And, yes, I can use vi and vim. And yes, I think it is total horse-shit. The things that have slowed me and others down, caused projects to fail, caused robots to crash and damage something or caused the success or failure of a business have been orders of magnitude removed from any advantage that could be had via a text editor, even if it was wired into my brain. It is OK to make oneself believe that this is really useful stuff. Some people believe in all kinds of invisible things. And, in that context, anyone going against those beliefs is a lunatic. I am, on more than one front. I prefer to focus on what is real and what is significant.

walkon 14y ago
You are mostly missing my point, which has nothing to do with vim use magically making what you code perfect. Not sure why you are trying to say that is what we are positing. All I said was that it takes some of the mechanics of modifying text out of the way making editing a bit more efficient in that regard (once you become proficient). You can still efficiently code crap, of course. Who is saying otherwise?
- robomartin 14y ago
  There's a religious element in the "cult of vim" that proposes that one is not a professional programmer unless one joins the cult and becomes proficient at vim. This is followed by implications of code quality and capabilities. None of it, of course, is true. I am not and don't think I attributed any of this to you. If I did, I apologize.