Day one: Esc is the way out
I use Vim, but not nearly as much as I use Nano. I’ve never quite managed to stick with Vim as my default editor. After some reflection, I’ve realised there are two main things holding me back: laziness — and Nano itself.
The irony is that Vim is actually faster once you know what you’re doing, but it comes with a steep learning curve. Nano, on the other hand, is easy to pick up from the very first use, yet it isn’t particularly efficient in the long run.
To address this, I’m taking a 14-day Vim learning journey – not to become a Vim wizard (will be great if I become), but simply to become comfortable enough to finally kick Nano off my systems. I’ll be writing about my daily progress both as documentation for my future self and as motivation to keep going.
Each day, I’ll focus on a small, specific area and practise it repeatedly. By breaking the process into small daily tasks, I hope to avoid boredom and information overload, therefore remembering very little.
This is meant to be my last attempt, yes my last attempt at learning Vim properly. So here we go. Today is Day one.
The Basics: Opening, Editing, Saving, and Quitting
Day one is all about the basics: creating or opening a file, switching to insert mode, adding text, returning to normal mode, saving changes and quitting Vim.
Running: vim foo.txt create a file called foo.txt if it doesn’t already exist, or open it for editing if it does. At this stage, Vim starts in normal mode.
To begin typing text, press the letter i. Vim will switch to insert mode, and you can start typing as you would in any other editor.
Once you’re done adding text, press the Esc key. This exits insert mode and returns you to normal mode. From there:
:wsaves your changes:q!quits without saving:wqsaves and quits
First observation, remembering i and Esc
One thing I have already noticed is remembering when to press i and Esc is absolutely key. It’s surprisingly easy to start typing and then realise you never pressed i. Equally frustrating is finishing your edits, trying to save and quit, and suddenly noticing you’re still in insert mode – with : being added straight into your file.
For now, this constant mode awareness feels annoying. But I suspect this is exactly the muscle memory Vim is trying to teach.