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Do you think it's possible some people just aren't wired like this? Or am I just not trying hard enough? I've tried to pick up Vim several times and never made

Do you think it's possible some people just aren't wired like this? Or am I just not trying hard enough? I've tried to pick up Vim several times and never made it very far. But at least I know "i" and ":wq" now :)

magicarp 13y ago
I was in your position for about a year until bit the bullet and uninstalled Sublime Text from my machine forced myself to use vim exclusively. It was an arduous and painful 2 weeks, but it got better and paid off in the long run.
- tumblen 13y ago
  Why do you need to uninstall? I use Sumblime text in Vintage (VIM) mode and it's amazing!
  - DigitalJack 13y ago
    I agree. Vintage mode is among the best emulations/mappings of vim that I have used.
  - steinnes 13y ago
    Same here. I'm using Sublime now for larger tasks, as I like the plugins and code completion, but for smaller, more isolated things and remote work vim is still, and will be, my choice.
Legion 13y ago
> Do you think it's possible some people just aren't wired like this? Absolutely. Well, maybe I wouldn't call it "wired", but no one tool is right for everyone, and no one should feel bad or wrong for using something different. I am a Vim lover. You can pry Vim from my cold, dead fingers. But of course it's not for everyone, for the same reason that we don't all use just one programming language or one web framework.
sixothree 13y ago
Don't worry. I find vim completely dated, arcane, and esoteric. Sure, it can do almost 25% of the stuff sublime can do but every feature has it's own learning curve. If I want to select four lines of text in any text editor that isn't vim, I just hold down the shift key and use any of the cursor navigation available to me. Not so in vim. Upon leaving vim none of the key bindings are never used in any other program. That's antithetical to the manner in which I operate. Normally if a program doesn't support the odd keybinding or two I just use autohotkey or equivalent. But vim makes that impossible.
- DigitalJack 13y ago
  I can't comment on the 25% claim, but I've used both extensively and found them comparable. I personally find the navigation of vim so convenient that I use vimperator for Firefox, as well as the built in vim mode of sublime text. I totally get that vim is a completely unnatural fit for some people. I certainly don't hold that against them, and I hope they don't hold it against me or vim itself.
- discreteevent 13y ago
  The other approach is to use autohotkey to make everything work like vim.
- lynndylanhurley 13y ago
  The 25% claim sounds a little weird - what are some features that sublime has that vim doesn't have?
  - hartator 13y ago
    I like the multicursor feature. Vim can't do that.
    - nilkn 13y ago
      I haven't tried it, but it looks like there's a decent plugin for this for vim: https://github.com/terryma/vim-multiple-cursors https://github.com/terryma/vim-multiple-cursors
ripter 13y ago
It's just a steep learning curve. Spend a few years using nothing but vim and it becomes natural.
- DigitalJack 13y ago
  That just seems like a waste of time and energy to me. Text editing should not be getting in the way of your projects. I say this as someone who uses vim very nearly exclusively.
DigitalJack 13y ago
As an avid vim user, I certainly think it might just be a difference in inclinations. Use what works for you. A text editor is not the objective here, building you project is. If you are burning all your cycles trying to map the natural way your brain wants to operate to the way your text editor operates, what do you have left for the real work? If you want to learn vim, by all means go ahead. But feel no shame if it just doesn't fit you.
ntide 13y ago
Try this: http://yannesposito.com/Scratch/en/blog/Learn-Vim-Progressively/ http://yannesposito.com/Scratch/en/blog/Learn-Vim-Progressiv... This is how I learned Vim, so as far as I know it's the best resource out there.

magicarp 13y ago

I was in your position for about a year until bit the bullet and uninstalled Sublime Text from my machine forced myself to use vim exclusively. It was an arduous and painful 2 weeks, but it got better and paid off in the long run.

tumblen 13y ago
Why do you need to uninstall? I use Sumblime text in Vintage (VIM) mode and it's amazing!
- DigitalJack 13y ago
  I agree. Vintage mode is among the best emulations/mappings of vim that I have used.
- steinnes 13y ago
  Same here. I'm using Sublime now for larger tasks, as I like the plugins and code completion, but for smaller, more isolated things and remote work vim is still, and will be, my choice.

Legion 13y ago

> Do you think it's possible some people just aren't wired like this? Absolutely. Well, maybe I wouldn't call it "wired", but no one tool is right for everyone, and no one should feel bad or wrong for using something different. I am a Vim lover. You can pry Vim from my cold, dead fingers. But of course it's not for everyone, for the same reason that we don't all use just one programming language or one web framework.

sixothree 13y ago

Don't worry. I find vim completely dated, arcane, and esoteric. Sure, it can do almost 25% of the stuff sublime can do but every feature has it's own learning curve. If I want to select four lines of text in any text editor that isn't vim, I just hold down the shift key and use any of the cursor navigation available to me. Not so in vim. Upon leaving vim none of the key bindings are never used in any other program. That's antithetical to the manner in which I operate. Normally if a program doesn't support the odd keybinding or two I just use autohotkey or equivalent. But vim makes that impossible.

DigitalJack 13y ago
I can't comment on the 25% claim, but I've used both extensively and found them comparable. I personally find the navigation of vim so convenient that I use vimperator for Firefox, as well as the built in vim mode of sublime text. I totally get that vim is a completely unnatural fit for some people. I certainly don't hold that against them, and I hope they don't hold it against me or vim itself.
discreteevent 13y ago
The other approach is to use autohotkey to make everything work like vim.
lynndylanhurley 13y ago
The 25% claim sounds a little weird - what are some features that sublime has that vim doesn't have?
- hartator 13y ago
  I like the multicursor feature. Vim can't do that.
  - nilkn 13y ago
    I haven't tried it, but it looks like there's a decent plugin for this for vim: https://github.com/terryma/vim-multiple-cursors https://github.com/terryma/vim-multiple-cursors

ripter 13y ago

It's just a steep learning curve. Spend a few years using nothing but vim and it becomes natural.

DigitalJack 13y ago
That just seems like a waste of time and energy to me. Text editing should not be getting in the way of your projects. I say this as someone who uses vim very nearly exclusively.

DigitalJack 13y ago

As an avid vim user, I certainly think it might just be a difference in inclinations. Use what works for you. A text editor is not the objective here, building you project is. If you are burning all your cycles trying to map the natural way your brain wants to operate to the way your text editor operates, what do you have left for the real work? If you want to learn vim, by all means go ahead. But feel no shame if it just doesn't fit you.

ntide 13y ago

Try this: http://yannesposito.com/Scratch/en/blog/Learn-Vim-Progressively/ http://yannesposito.com/Scratch/en/blog/Learn-Vim-Progressiv... This is how I learned Vim, so as far as I know it's the best resource out there.