Mastering Vim: Efficient and effortless editing with Vim and Vimscript

by Ruslan Osipov

Efficiently build applications with advanced movement, text operations, and IDE capabilities in Vim 9.0 and Neovim

Key FeaturesGet comfortable using Vim and Vimscript for text editingUnderstand how to integrate Vim into your daily development workflow and customize Vim for your needsLearn with examples in Python code, explore scenarios with version control, and focus on the build/test flowPurchase of the print or Kindle book includes a free PDF eBookBook DescriptionVim is a ubiquitous text editor that can be used for many text editing tasks, including working with programming languages. It has an extensive plugin system and integrates with many tools, and offers an extensible and customizable development environment for programmers, making it one of the most popular text editors in the world.

This comprehensive guide to Vim will enable you to become a more efficient developer. You’ll start by learning the fundamentals, advanced movement, and text operations. As you progress, you’ll learn how Vim can be used as an IDE. This book also guides you through refactoring, debugging, building, testing, version control, plugins, and Vimscript. The second edition comes packed with fully revamped examples that are not only engaging, but also easy to understand. It features drawings and diagrams to assist with visualizing the concepts covered in the book and incorporates errata. The second edition also covers Vim 9, including updated installation and troubleshooting instructions, and a new chapter covering Vim9 script.

By the end of this Vim book, you’ll be well-versed with Vim and have the skills you need to build a complete application using this popular text editor.

What you will learnBecome more efficient at navigating and editing textUnderstand how to install and update Vim on Linux, Mac and Windows machinesDiscover which plugins you need and how to keep them organizedExplore and tailor Vim configurations to fit your needsWrite scripts to complement your workflow using VimscriptUnderstand the role of ctags for navigating complex code basesWho this book is forThis book is for software developers who are interested in using Vim in their workflow. Anyone new to Vim and looking to gain in-depth knowledge will also find this guide helpful. Basic familiarity with Python programming will be beneficial but isn’t required.

Table of ContentsGetting StartedAdvanced Editing and NavigationFollow the Leader - Plugin ManagementUnderstanding the TextBuild, Test, and ExecuteRefactoring Code with Regex and MacrosMaking Vim Your OwnTranscending the Mundane with VimscriptNeovimWhere to Go from Here

451 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2024

About the author

Ruslan Osipov is a software engineer at Google, an avid traveler, and a part-time blogger. He is a self-taught engineer; he started publishing personal Vim notes in 2012, and became more and more interested in the intricacies of the editor and its applications in optimizing development workflows.