7 Habits For Effective Text Editing 2.0

Google2 HN recommenders · 2012–2023
330K views · talk · evergreen · Uploaded 2007-07-24

Vim author Bram Moolenaar's 2007 Google Tech Talk on habits for efficient text editing: find inefficiencies in your own editing, then learn the Vim commands that fix them.

Recommended as practical advice straight from Vim's author, and shared in memory of Bram after his death.

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5 comments from Hacker News

@e12e2012 · in “Ask HN: Python / Django Workflow, and choosing an OS”

I'm not sure this is an answer for you, as you ask for "tools like LXC for virtualizing a production environment", but have you looked at Vagrant? I don't use OS X myself, but AFAIK it should work fine on OS X, see eg: "Django project deployment with vagrant and fabric" [LINK] and maybe: [LINK] As for "vim-elite" -- that really isn't what vim is about at all -- I recommend having a look at: "7 Habits For Effective Text Editing 2.0" [VIDEO] As for window management on OS X -- again, I don't really use OS X -- but maybe something like: [LINK] can help? edit: Added titles for video links, additional vagrant link.

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@anaphor2019 · in “History and Effective Use of Vim”

This video of a talk that Bram Moolenaar (the author of vim) gave at Google in 2007 has some pretty good advice. [VIDEO] Mainly the idea is to not try and learn everything about vim, but instead pay attention to how you use it, and find things that are inefficient or could be easier, and then go figure out how to make vim do that thing more efficiently.

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@layer82022 · in “Ask HN: Is switching from VSCode to Vim worth it?”

I’d encourage you to apply the three-step process presented in [0] (there’s also a video [1]), which is actually not specific to Vim: 1. While you are working with software tools, keep an eye out for actions you repeat and/or spend quite a bit of time on. 2. Find out if there is a command (or macro facility etc.) that will do this action quicker. Read the documentation, ask a friend, or look at how others do this. 3. Train using the command. Do this until your fingers type it without thinking. This means that you can learn new commands only as the need comes up by observing what you do. Which commands you will want to learn thus depend on the operations you are frequently doing and/or that cost you a lot of time. As I said, that strategy is applicable in general. Tools however differ in how well they support it, e.g. in terms of available commands and facilities. You could start applying that strategy in VSCode (which I’m not familiar with, by the way). If it works well enough, great. If you find it limiting, switch to Vim, Emacs, or some other IDE that serves your needs better. [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

@mahidhar2023 · in “Rest in peace Bram Moolenaar, author of Vim”

I remember watching his Google talk[0] several years ago while learning vim. RIP and thank you for your contributions. [0] [VIDEO]

@RetroTechie2023 · in “Vim Boss”

Thought a linked article: [LINK] By Jan van den Berg, was a better read. One quote: "Vim is a masterpiece, the gleaming precise machining tool from which so much of modernity was crafted". And then this link: [VIDEO] "7 Habits for Effective Text Editing 2.0" 1h20m - If anyone has a transcript or summary: plz. But this was funny - first comment: "I let auto play go on while I was sleeping for 7 hours and went from Billie Eilish to this" Life is weird but I love it :-) Disclaimer: I'm not even user of either (Neo)vim or Emacs. As soon as I read "programmable", I'm off. I just prefer fixed-function editor that suits my taste , a few minutes of configuration & go. But that's just me, what do I know? That said: good tools serve a purpose. Our world is a better place with good tools in it - and the ppl who made those tools. And sometimes their legacy, their philosophy, their way of doing things, lives on in the code (or the community!) they left behind. So kudoz to Bram!