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

Understanding Editors, Compilers, and Debuggers

First, clarify the concepts: an editor writes code, a compiler translates programs, and a debugger handles program debugging. In Visual Studio, these functions are integrated into its IDE.

Vim Overview

Vim is a powerful multi‑mode editor, the most common text editor on Linux/UNIX, used to create, edit, and display text files. It has no menus, only commands.

Vim Modes

Command mode (default): all typed characters are interpreted as commands.

Insert mode.

Low‑line mode.

Switch between modes by pressing Esc to return to command mode.

Common Commands in Command Mode

Insertion Commands

a

– insert after the cursor. i – insert before the cursor. o – open a new line below the cursor. A – insert at the end of the current line. I – insert at the beginning of the current line. O – open a new line above the current line.

Navigation Commands

Enter low‑line mode with Shift+: then set nu to show line numbers, set nonu to hide. GG – go to the start of the last line; gg – go to the start of the first line. nG or :n – jump to line n. $ – move to the end of the line; 0 – move to the beginning of the line. b – move backward a word; w – move forward a word. h j k l – left, down, up, right (or use arrow keys). L – move to the last line of the current screen.

Deletion Commands

x

– delete the character under the cursor. nx – delete n characters after the cursor; nX – delete n characters before. dd – delete the current line. D – delete from the cursor to the end of the 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 specific range of lines. u – undo the last change (similar to Ctrl+Z).

Copy and Paste

yy

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

Search and Replace

:%s/old/new

– replace all occurrences of old with new in the entire file. :n1,n2s/old/new/g – replace in a specific line range; g for global, c to confirm each change. r – replace the character under the cursor. R – enter replace mode to overwrite characters until Esc. u – undo the previous operation.

Save and Quit

:w!

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

Vim Tips and Tricks

Import Command Output into a File

Use :r! command to insert the output of a shell command directly at the cursor. Example: :r!date inserts the current date.

Multi‑Line Commenting

:n1,n2s/^#/g

Comments lines n1 to n2 by inserting # at the start. :n1,n2s/^#//g Removes the leading # from the specified range.

Defining Shortcut Keys

Map a key sequence to a command with :map. Example: :map ^P I# Press Ctrl+V then P to insert # at the beginning of the line. :map ^B 0x Maps Ctrl+V B to delete the first character of the line.

Abbreviations

Define a shortcut for frequently typed text: :ab mymail [email protected] Typing mymail followed by Space expands to the full email address.

Note: These mappings are temporary; to make them permanent, add them to .vimrc.

.vimrc Configuration

For root users, place configurations in /root/.vimrc; for regular users, use ~/.vimrc.

Simple Vim Configuration Example

Basic settings are added to .vimrc. Example installation script:

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

After installation, run: source ~/.bashrc To uninstall:

bash ~/.VimForCpp/uninstall.sh

Original source: https://blog.csdn.net/m0_61933976/article/details/124653524