Master Vim: Essential Commands, Tips, and Configuration for Efficient Coding

Vim Basics and Modes

Vim is a powerful multi‑mode text editor widely used on Linux/UNIX for creating and editing files, operating without menus and relying on commands.

Command mode (default): all input is interpreted as commands.

Insert mode.

Low line mode.

Switch between modes using Esc to return to command mode.

Common Insert Commands

a

– insert after the cursor. i – insert before the cursor. o – open a new line below.

Uppercase A, I, O operate at line end, line start, and the line above respectively.

Navigation Commands

Enable line numbers: set nu; disable: set nonu. GG – go to the beginning of the last line; gg – go to the first line. nG or :n – jump to line n. $ – move to line end; 0 – move to line start. b – previous word, w – next word; h j k l – left, down, up, right. L – move to the bottom of the screen.

Deletion Commands

x

– delete the character under the cursor. nx / nX – delete n characters forward/backward. dd – delete the current line. D – delete from cursor to end of line. ndd – delete n lines starting from the current line. dG – delete from the cursor to the end of the file. :n1,n2d – delete a range of lines. u – undo the last change.

Copy and Paste

yy

– yank (copy) the current line; nyy – yank n lines. p – paste after the cursor; P – paste before. dd – cut the current line; ndd – cut n lines.

Search and Replace

:%s/old/new

– replace all occurrences in the file. :n1,n2s/old/new/g – replace in a specific line range. r – replace a single character. R – enter replace mode for the rest of the line. u – cancel the previous operation.

Save and Quit

:w!

– write (save) changes. :q! – quit without saving. :wq! or x! – save and quit. :w filename – write the buffer to a new file.

Advanced Tips

Insert the output of a shell command directly with :r !command, e.g., :r!date inserts the current date.

Comment a range of lines: :n1,n2s/^/#/g Uncomment the same range: :n1,n2s/^#//g Define custom shortcuts with :map: :map ^P I# Define an abbreviation for frequent text: :ab mymail [email protected] Persist shortcuts by adding them to .vimrc (root: /root/.vimrc, regular user: ~/.vimrc).

Simple Vim Configuration

Basic settings are stored in .vimrc. You can install a ready‑made configuration with:

curl -sLf https://gitee.com/HGtz2222/VimForCpp/raw/master/install.sh -o ./install.sh && bash ./install.sh

After installation, reload the shell with source ~/.bashrc. To uninstall, run bash ~/.VimForCpp/uninstall.sh.