27
Kodnot
7y

Learning VIM has no practical value. Change my mind.

Comments
  • 14
    You're right. Just use nano
  • 13
    Using vim increases text editing speed, has a **ton** of customizability options and is easy on your hands (because you are almost always on home-row and rarely have the need to press ctrl or alt keys)
  • 4
    I don't use vim but still I don't agree with OP
  • 7
    @Lahsen2016 @PaulTheSaltyDev @FrodoSwaggins First, let me clarify my statement. I see little to no practical value in using VIM as a software development tool. Sure, writing with it might be faster. But how much development time is actually spent writing code? Wouldn't you agree that most of the dev time is allocated to thinking about the design of the program and ways to approach a problem, and therefore the increase in text editing speed is unimportant?
  • 2
    @FrodoSwaggins well, even if that's true, I'd bet that you are in the extreme minority
  • 5
    @Kodnot 10k lines per week is not that much actually. You might have done the same without realising it. Imo, using vim plugin in your IDE is worth it, but using vim as main editor isn't. Vim lovers will tell you how it's extremely customizable and that you can get better features than your IDE has, but in reality, for example vim's autocomplete plugin is nothing compared to good IDE's autocomplete.
  • 3
    @Kodnot i have heard the "most time consuming part of development is thinking about the problem not writing it"-argument before, and I find it flawed because of the following reasons:

    1. That statement is completely false. Most of the time while thinking about the problem I write code to test out my hypothesis, mostly it's not even code that I would keep.

    2. You probably do that as well.

    3. Even if it were true then it wouldn't void vim from practical value, because eventually you will write, alot, and that is when vim will make you type faster and save your wrists.
  • 1
    ok guys, The solution. Spacemacs.😅
  • 0
    Exactly! It's 2018 god damnit! Vim, Emacs are effectively members of the bygone era. Let's agree to always be modern
  • 1
    @aki237 I would say yes because opinions are relativel.
  • 0
    I just use the micro editor because it's sane and you don't have to learn 100 key combinations to use it.
  • 0
    @aki237 I've got plenty of both; why not use them?
  • 5
    @aki237 No, but having a PC that cannot handle a proper IDE at this day and age means you're coding on a microwave oven.
  • 0
    @aki237 and you claim that the IDE would eat so much of the 32/at least 16 gigs of ram that there wouldn't be enough left?
  • 0
    @ebourgess care to elaborate? What does a sysadmin use VIM for? I really do not know, so I'm curious ☺
  • 2
  • 0
    @aki237 same for the CPU, if you have a decent one the IDE won't use enough to really matter.
  • 2
    @ebourgess via ssh? Lol
  • 0
    Just use the text editor better suits your needs. Some times can be VIM ,so it has practical value... for some people like me.
  • 6
    I'd gladly sacrifice 500mb out of my 32gigs of ram to run a modern IDE.

    I really cannot understand people talking about IDEs performance, or IDEs being slow. It may sound cliche, but It's fking 2018 already, are you writing code on a calculator?

    //edit: Don't get me wrong, I am a very very VERY basic vim user. I know just enough vim to get by, that is small file changes on remote servers. On my local machine I prefer a real IDE that I don't have to configure for 5 months before I can actually be productive.
  • 0
    @Kodnot I'm curious, how many hours do you spend on typing on an average work day?
  • 1
    Not this again.
  • 0
    @PaulTheSaltyDev hard to tell, though probably no mkre than 1-2
  • 0
    @ebourgess all my life. Been doing I'm not lazy.
  • 0
    @Kodnot that doesn't sound that right. Are you sure that you aren't underestimating?

    I mean, it's hard to believe that a dev codes for 1h/day and then spends 7 hours not touching the keyboard.
  • 2
    @PaulTheSaltyDev I meant 2h of actual typing. Think about it, you write a few lines of code, then run it, test it, think of a better way to approach the problem etc. A 1:4 ratio of typing to thinking seems about right. Though like I said, hard to say, I might indeed be underestimating.
  • 2
    If you're typing more than you're thinking, maybe you should start thinking more to avoid typing
  • 0
    @Kodnot 2 hours is 25% of the workday. That's a significant amount of time during which vim bindings can help you edit faster and reduce wrist strain.

    I'd say that's a lot of practical value
  • 0
    @PaulTheSaltyDev Well, maybe one day I'll learn it just for the street rep and change my mind. Though quality autocomplete and refactoring tools of a proper IDE already save me from most of the heavy work
  • 1
    Install visual studio code.
    Then open with code .
  • 0
    Ridiculous topic. I'm quitting.
    ^C^C:quit

    ^Z^C^D^D
    Esc:exit

    ..sorry I had to 😂
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