VIM

Modes

normal/command mode
insert mode
visual mode

Insert mode

To enter from command mode:

i : insert before current position
a : insert after current position (append)
I : insert at first non-blank char in line
A : insert at last char of the line

Normal mode

Hit <Esc> to enter this mode.

Grammar

{operator}{count}{object}
object = {motion, text object}

Operators

. : repeat the last command
y : yank/copy
c : change; cut and enter insert mode
C : change the rest of the current line
d : delete; cut but remain in normal mode
D : delete the rest of the current line
p : paste after the cursor
P : paste before the cursor
o : insert new line after
O : insert new line before

Single char operators (can’t modify with count)

x : delete character under the cursor
X : delete characters before the cursor
r : replace char under cursor with another char
s : substitute char under cursor and move to insert mode

Misc

U : undo
Ctrl-R : redo
g~ : toggle case
gU : uppercase
gu : lowercase

Motions

Grammar

{count=N}{motion}

      ↑
← h j k l →
    ↓

Word motions

w / b : jump word to word
e / ge: jump to end of word
W / B : jump WORD to WORD
E / gE: jump to end of WORD

A word is alphanumeric. A WORD is a word and punctuation .({}),.

Horizontal motions

0 : the first char of a line
^ : the first non-blank char of a line
$ : the last char of a line
g_ : the last non-blank char of a line

Vertical motions

gg : go to line N (default: first line)
G : go to line N (default: last line)
- : go up to the first non-blank char
+ : go down to the first non-blank char
) : sentences forward
( : sentences backward
} : paragraphs forward
{ : paragraphs backward
CTRL-D : move down half a page
CTRL-U : move up half a page
H : top line on screen
M : middle line on screen
L : bottom line on screen
zz: center cursor on screen

Find character motions

f{char} : jump to next occurrence of char in a line
F{char} : … prev …
t{char} : jump to before the next occurrence of char
T{char} : … to after the prev …
; (next) and , (prev): repeat the last char search

Find pattern motions

/{pattern} : to search forward inside a file
?{pattern} : to search backwards
n : jump to next match
N : jump to prev match
/<Enter> or ?<Enter>: run the last search
* : to search for the next word under the cursor
# : to search for the prev word under the cursor
% : jump to matching ({[]})
gd : jump to definition of whatever is under your cursor
gf : jump to a file in an import

Text object

Adjectives

i : inside
a : around, inside and surrounding ({[ ]})

Nouns

l : letter
w : word
W : WORD
s : sentence
p : paragraph
b : ()
( : ()
B : {}
{ : {}
t : <>
< : <>
" : “”
' : ’’

Some operators (ydc) can be doubled (e.g. yy) to make them operate on a whole line.

Visual mode

v : switch to visual mode (character oriented)
V : switch to visual mode (line oriented)
Ctrl-V : switch to block-visual mode (select rectangles of text)

Once the selection has been made, you can:

J : join all the lines together.
< : indent to the left
> : indent to the right
= : auto indent
~ : switch case
u : lower case
U : upper case

Advanced

Marks

A mark (i.e. bookmark)

mx: sets a mark to the cursor location (x is any of a-z)
'x: move to the start of the line containing the mark (single quote)
`x: move to the precise location of any mark (backtick)
special marks
- double backtick: move to position before the last jump

:marks display marks set

Registers

"{register}{operator}{count}{object}

unnamed register: " (last changed content)
numbered registers: 0-9
- 0 contains the last copied item
- 1-9 is the stack containing prev items
named registers: a-z
- append to named registers: A-Z
read-only registers
- . last inserted text
- % name of current file
- : most recently executed command
selection registers
- + system clipboard
- * selection clipboard (Unix)
_: black hole register (not cut)
/: last search pattern register

:registers (alias :reg) prints contents of all registers :reg a prints contents of register a

To write to system register automatically, add this to your vimrc: clipboard+=unnamedplus

ctrl + R {register} in Insert/Command mode will put contents at cursor.

Program commands

:pwd : print working directory
:cd <path> : change current directory
:f[ile] : current file path
:e[dit] <path/to/file>
:w[rite] : save
:q[uit]
:q[uit]! : quit, discarding any changes
:saveas <path/to/file> : save to <path/to/file>
:x, ZZ or :wq : save and quit (:x only save if necessary)

Plugins

Surround
EasyMotion

TODO

: Enter command mode R Enter replace mode v Enter visual mode (highlighting) V Enter visual line mode (highlighting lines) esc Return to normal mode from insert or replace mode esc+esc Return to normal mode from command or visual mode

:[range]s/foo/bar/[flags] Replace foo with bar in range according to flags. (if range is empty, then current line)

Ranges

% The entire file
’<,’> The current selection; the default range while in visual mode
25 Line 25
25,50 Lines 25-50
$ Last line; can be combined with other lines as in ‘50,$’
. Current line; can be combined with other lines as in ‘.,50’
,+2 The current lines and the two lines therebelow
-2, The current line and the two lines thereabove

Flags

g Replace all occurrences on the specified line(s)
i Ignore case
c Confirm each substitution

map <F5> :x <CR> :! nim -c -r %
:nmap for normal mode mappings
:vmap for visual mode mappings
:imap for insert mode mappings
" Example
nnoremap Y y$


`:set bg=dark/light` to change theme
`:echo $MYVIMRC`

# line wrap
:set textwidth=n (or :set tw=n)

:iabbrev forr for(int i=n; i>=0; --i){}
:iab

:sort
:sor! # reverse

# view buffer
:buffers
# to close a buffer
:bd

# run external programs
# prefix with !, % is path
!python %

References

https://thevaluable.dev/vim-advanced/