[nathanpc]

I'm the type of developer that only uses GUI fully-featured programmer editor, when I'm at Windows I use Notepad++, at my Mac I use TextMate and at Linux I use GEdit, but now I'm starting to develop inside my Linux server, which doesn't have any window manager installed and I saw this as a beautiful time to learn how to use Vim, which I always had problems to understand, I can't even open a file to edit at Vim, so I want to know: Which are the best tips for a very beginner on this editor to learn how to use it?

I really loved Vim after I saw all the awesome things that you can do with it and this is the perfect moment to learn how to use it.

[EarthShaker]

It depends on what you want to do with Vim.
If you want to use Vim like a pro, I'd suggest you to get your hands on O'REILLY Learning the Vi and Vim.

[mbr2xgd]

Please...

Full documentation:
http://vimdoc.source...oc/usr_toc.html

Vim tutorials:
http://blog.interlin...m_tutorial.html
http://www.yolinux.c...dvanced_vi.html

Youtube:
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=71YTkxUNwmg
http://www.youtube.c...h?v=c6WCm6z5msk

[mbr2xgd]

When you open the Vim Editor, you can read the tutorial from Vim.

Try type: ":h toc"

[nooblet]

Run vimtutor

[Raynes]

You don't have to abandon GUI entirely when switching to Emacs and Vim. The vast majority of Emacs users, for example, don't use Emacs in the terminal. On the rare occasion that I feel vimmy, I tend to fire up MacVim. There is also gVim for Linux and I know there is something for Windows. These sorts of things can really do wonders at making you feel at home and get up to speed. People are going to tell you that you should just jump ship and abandon all things familiar, but there is no reason to actually do it. If you're forced into a completely unfamiliar environment, you're going to have trouble getting work done and then you're going to give up on Vim entirely and hate it for a year or so before you try it again.

This post has been edited by Raynes: 07 January 2012 - 09:43 AM

[Shane Hudson]

I use notepad++ on windows and a combination of gedit and vim on linux, I am not expert enough at vim to use it properly... but its nice and easy for basic use.

[Gorian]

I use vi (not vim), though at first, only because I had no choice. I constantly work with different versions of Solaris (Solaris 8,9,10,11) AIX (5.3, 6.1, 7), HP-UX, Redhat, and SLES. Of those, vi is the only constant (we constantly work with fresh OS installs), and thus the editor of choice, meaning I had to learn to be efficient. It is worth it. I like vi, and constantly learn something new.

[Raynes]

https://github.com/carlhuda/janus is an excellent starter setup for Vim. Using it myself.

[jon.kiparsky]

The best way to learn it is to use it, so you want to start by learning the bare minimum to be able to write code in it and not hate it. That's a surprisingly small subset of the program, as it turns out.

Just to get started, focus on getting used to the modal aspect - insert and command modes, and knowing which you're in. Learn the simple navigation techniques first, then learn the way edits (copy and delete) combine with navigation - that part's actually pretty intuitive.

Just that, plus search () and substitution (:s//) and a few other things will give you enough that you can start writing code, and then you can look up what you need and learn it on the go. There's a lot of reference material out on the web, so if you get started using it, you can look up any particular things you find you need.