On 02/09/09 00:41, Hari Krishna Dara wrote: > > On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 10:08 AM, Erik Falor<[email protected]> wrote: >> On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 09:25:51AM -0700, Ben Fritz wrote: >>> 1. Vim is a very powerful tool with plenty of advantages over other >>> tools. >>> 2. Vim is complex, but there are ways to learn how to use it >>> effectively. >> >> Most of my colleagues who use Vim at work do not use it to its full >> potential. For instance, I haven't encountered a single one who was >> aware of text objects. Most folks are content to learn only 10% of >> Vim's unique functionality. I suspect that's true for most people who >> use any software. But it's especially sad in the case of Vim since >> they really are missing out on a lot. > > I have the same observation. Even those who say they are die-hard fans > don't really know much of Vim, but I guess they are really die-hard Vi > fans, not Vim, they simply switched over to Vim, but don't really want > to learn more. What is funny however is there are people who worked > for years on Vi on console and still don't know much of Vi. I guess > these are the folks who would have been satisfied working in windows > notepad like program, but just happened to begin their work in Vi. > > My recommendation for beginners it to use plain Vi in console (or at > least Vim in 'compatible' mode on console) and concentrate on the core > Vi features before trying out the newer Vim features. This was my > learning path, though mine was natural shift with quite a few years of > time to play with Vi before I came across Vim. >
I would suggest the opposite, maybe because of /my/ learning path: If you never knew legacy Vi, don't ballast yourself with 'compatible' mode. Run the Vim tutor, get an elementary vimrc, maybe just runtime vimrc_example.vim subscribe to the vim_use list (for a start: later you'll add one or more of the other lists), make sure you know how to use the help, and start editing. Now and then you will call up the help, maybe just to understand what the list regulars are talking about, or else to get to know some particular feature better than you do yet, then you'll follow hotlinks from one help topic to another... soon you'll be addicted to Vim (and its help) the way I was to my Dad's 7-volume in-folio dictionary when I was in 5th grade. Whenever you feel the need to change this or that detail of your Vim's default functionality, you'll add a few lines to your vimrc, usually below what I showed above, and after a couple of years it will have grown beyond recognition while becoming more and more adequate to your own style of Vimming. Best regards, Tony. -- When in panic, fear and doubt, Drink in barrels, eat, and shout. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist. For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
