Do you still remember why you choose one editor, because it get the job done? Or its extenability? Or its plugins ecosystem? My first editor is VSCode, introduced by CS50, back to those day, I regard VSCode is the only tools exist on earth that can write code. But I am scared by its UI, there is too much button, too many options. In the future, I find VSCode is defintily one of the easiest get into and out of the box editor. “What does plugin means? What is auto pairs? What is completion?” I don’t understand those terms, I am too young to know manual exist and google for help.
The chance I know Vim is from university Unix talk, it is the first time I know one can navigation using hjkl instead of arrow key. I can’t describe how excited I was, since I can’t blindtype arrow key, everytime I press arrow I have to look at the keyboard and find them. Although I still use Vim now, I don’t feel their is significant productivity increment, since Vim modal editing is avalible many where, I keep using vim simply because changing behaviour of the editor just feel more natural on Vim/Neovim.
The myth of productivity about using Vim
Many of user claims that full keyboard navigation is more efficient than mouse + keyboard hyper setup. I used to agree so, but the longer time I work with my computer, the more limitation I can feel of being full keyboard navigation. Actually it must be vary from people, one may live in terminal, another one may live in their browser. There is no same definition for productivity, we should not keep using full keyboard navigation as the biggest selling point of Vim. In my understanding, the reason Vim is over other editor only occur if you fully embrance its ecosystem, some Vim command, or some vimsciprt and lua plugin, that is petty but just make your experience different. When you familiar with your editor, you can easily make some change to fullfill you new requirement, this type of productivity is difficult to clone to other tools once you get into one deeply.
Since I use Vim mostly for writing, or note taking. I have install many plugins that can help writing code, yes they do increase my productivity, but only when I use Vim to configure Vim.( It is my personal fault ) Like one of the plugin fzf.vim is only helpful when I navigate in lua config modual.( Of course it is my case ). However some do significantly increase my productivity. They are auto completion, I can’t leave them when writing anymore. By the way, it can done with any modern editor, not Vim stand out here.
The truth of using Vim
Vim plugin is extremely useful when configure Vim, if I don’t config, restructure config, plugin become less useful, but if I don’t config Vim, Vim become less useful, If Vim is not useful, Why I still need to use Vim? Vim is actually time-sink, because you can explore so much function with vim. No matter plugins or built-in function, you have so much to tweak. So, why don’t take any attribute to use Vim, Vim as toy, make fun with it, don’t care about productivity!
Vim modal editing is about muscale memory, you have to put time to practice and try to work with this style of typing. I don’t think reading many tutorial will help you learn Vim. Walking though those long long Vim tutorial will only scare you. Instead, try to read the manual or google for help only when you need them.
As mentioned above, you don’t have to build a prefect vim config to work, vanilla vim already quite good only lacking personalized config. Vim distro may obsolute you to use vim for the first time, because you have too many concept need to understand, without the context and background of using Vim, you may find difficult when try to udnerstand terms, or ignore some powerful features, Those Vim distro is more than just editing, they emphasize config and plugins packed together.