This repo contains the vim setup that I personally use. If you follow it step by step, you should be able to configure your built-in vim form scratch without any headache. These setups only works if you are using Ubuntu Linux. It is not needed to install vim from source.
You should use vim-gnome instead of the default vim that came with Ubuntu because by using vim-gnome you can copy from and to clipboard across multiple vim instances. There are other good things about vim-gnome. Just install it:
sudo apt install vim-gnome
You can launch vim by either typing vi or vim in the terminal. They should be pointing to the exact same version of vim. The following steps introduce how to properly setup your vim.
This repository contains two vim config files:
.vimrc, which is the vim config file that you use when you are running vim in a terminal.
Ctags enable you to navigate in your code. This is necessary for vim-gutentags to work
sudo apt-get install ctags
Install Clang format for C++
sudo apt install clang-format
Install autopep8 for Python formatter
sudo apt install python-autopep8
The following instruction assumes that you have cloned the repository in ~/utils.
ln -s ~/utils/vimmy/.vimrc ~/.vimrc
In case the symbolic link exists already, force update it by passing in argument -f:
ln -sf ~/utils/vimmy/.vimrc ~/.vimrc
Use vim-plug as your vim package manager. Simply do:
curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim
Now, open your .vimrc file by typing vim ~/.vimrc.
Inside vim editor, do :source ~/.vimrc, which enables the system to load the brand new vim config file.
Now, run :PlugInstall (also inside the vim editor). This will install all the packages managed by vim-plug.
There are some setup you need to perform on your computer to have all the packages working correctly.
That's should be it. Enjoy vim!
This list probably doesn't include the very basics (like using h, j, k, l to navigates)
Ctrl-f - Move forward a page, Ctrl-b - Move backward a page.
w - Forward to the beginning of next word, W - Forward to the beginning of the next WORD.
b - Backward to the next beginning of a word, B - Backward to the next beginning of a WORD.
e - Forward to the next end of word, E - Forward to the next end of WORD.
0 - Move to the beginning of the line (including blank space).
^ - First non blank character of the line.
$ - Go to end of the line.
gg - Go to top of the file, G - Go to end of the file.
15G,15gg, or :15 - Go to line 15.
A WORD is always delimited by whitespace.
A word is delimited by non-keyword characters, which are configurable. Whitespace characters aren't keywords, and usually other characters (like ()[],-) aren't, neither. Therefore, a word usually is smaller than a WORD; a "word-navigation" is more fine-grained than a "WORD-NAVIGATOR".
Ctrl-o to jump back to where you were
Ctrl-i to jump back and forth
zz centers the view
x - Delete under current cursor, X - Delete before current cursor.
d/whatever - Delete until word whatever.
dd or D - Delete (cut) one single line
3dd - Delete 3 lines.
3dw - Delete 3 words, 3dW - Delete 3 WORDs.
3cw - Delete 3 words and enter insert mode, 3cW - Delete 3 WORDs and enter insert mode.
p to paste after cursor, P to paste before cursor
xp - Super fast way to swap two letters (x cuts the letter, and p pastes after current letter, effectively swap two letters).
yiw to yank a word, then viwp to repalce another word with yanked word. Same priciple applies to other commands. For example, yi( to yank all arguments in a function, then vi(p to replace another function argument with the yanked argument.
y to yank, yy to yank current line, 7yy to yank 7 lines.
y/whatever to yank until word whatever.
yiw: yank a word, excluding surrounding whitespace, [n]yiw to yand multiple words, yi( to yank everything inside the parenthesis.
p to paste after cursor, P paste before cursor
:reg to check all registers. :reg 3z to check register 3 and z. Note there are both 0-9 numbered registers and a-z named registers.
"0p to paste most recent yanked text. "1p to paste most recent deleted text
"_dd to delete a line and put it in black hold register. This is useful when you've yanked some thing and want to replace some text but don't want y operation to overwrite whatever you've yanked.
Register "" holds text from d c s x and y opearations. "0" holds the most recent yanked text. "1" holds the most recent deleted text. Numbered registers shift with each d or c.
"ayi( - Yank everything insides parenthesis into 'a' register
"Ayy - Append current line to register a. Using uppercase of register appends to current register. Using lowercase of register name replaces the information stored in the register.
"ap - Paste whatever in 'a' register
"kp to paste stuff in register elsewhere
"+p to paste from system clipboard on Linux
[n]f<o> - Forward until (nth) (o) (Inclusive, until and include). Example, df<letter> delete until <letter> and include <letter> i.e. <letter> being deleted as well. Example, cf<letter> delete until <letter> and include <letter> i.e. <letter> being deleted as well, and switch to INSERT MODE.
[n]F<o> - Backward until (nth) (o) (Inclusive, until and include)
[n]t<o> - Forward until (nth) (o) (Exclusive, until but not include)
[n]T<o> - Backward until (nth) (o) (Exclusive, until but not include)
/ to search, press enter, then n to search next, N to search previous
:%s/foo/bar/g change all foo to bar, change g to gc to ask for comfirmation before change. Note that "%" means entire file range/
.,+2s/foo/bar/g if you would like to change each foo to bar for current line (.) and the two next lines (+2)
ci{ change inside {}
ci[ change inside []
ci( change inside ()
ci< change inside <>
Similar concept applies to yi(, di(... You can also use the close bracket such as di] or da] if you want.
If you replace i with a (think of a as "around" and i as inside), then the change is inclusive. For example, da[ deletes everything inside bracket, INCLUDING the brackets themselves. For example, apple [whatever] pear becomes apple pear.
If you are working with xml sytle document, you can make changes to stuff inside a tag. For example, use dit to delete everything inside <p>whatever</p> so it becomes <p></p>
qa to record macro to register a. Hit q when you've finished recording.
@a to replay macro in register a. @@ to replay the most recent recorded macro.
5@a to replay macro in register a 5 times.
qA to append to register a. When you've finished appending, type q.
Ctrl-[ to escapt. Same as ESC. Note: To get the special ^ in ~/.vimrc, use Ctrl-v (you can't use literal caret sign). For example, if you want to specify escape in your ~/.vimrc, you need to use Ctrl-v to get the ^. For specific example on how to set up a customized macro, see the .vimrc file.
If you git checkout or git pull, use :e to update the buffer of the view to get the newest info
u to undo, Ctrl-r to redo
v to visual select, V to visual select lines, ctrl-v for more specific selection.
* to search the current word (bounded, exact match), g* to search the current word (unbounded, partial match)
Ctrl-w then v to split vertically line
Ctrl-w then s to split horizonally line
Ctrl-w then arrow key to jump bt windows
~ - Toggle case of character under cursor
Ctrl-] to jump to function definition when cursor is on function
. repeat last command
]m jump to next method (i.e. jump to next curly braces)
[m jump to previous method
s - Delete character under cursor and enter insert mode
S or cc - Delete line and begin insert at beginning of same line.
I - Enter insert mode at first non-blank character.
R - Replace mode.
i - Enter insert mode before cursor. a - Enter insert mode after cursor
A - Enter insert mode at the end of the line
o - Enter insert mode on the next line
O - enter insert mode on the above line
C or c$ - Delete from cursor to end of line and begin insert. Note that D or d$ deletes current line all the way to end position.
J - join two lines together. 8J to join 8 lines together. gJ to join two lines but keep the original spacing (rarely used).