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Comment by dhotson | Hacker News Reader

Hey all, I'm the author. Feedback is welcome! :)

The reason I wrote this is because I've been pair programming quite a bit lately and also mentoring some new vim users—so I wrote this little guide to help vim beginners level up their skills a bit.

What I noticed is that a lot of vim beginners find composing commands and text-objects to be kind of mind blowing.. and even more experienced vim users mentioned that these were the things that made them have that "aha" moment and convinced them to learn more.

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Great article! The features you showed were some of the ones I've had my first "Oh, now I get why vim is so great"-moments and that really boost your productivity.

> Tip: Generally after you’ve inserted some text, you want to return to command mode so that you’re ready to enter your next command. I’d recommend pressing esc any time you’ve finished typing.

Totally agree with this. What really helped me with getting this into my muscle memory was remapping Capslock to ESC which seems to be what many (most?) vim users do.

Some of us even prefer mapping Capslock to both ESC and Control, as explained for example here (I'm not the author): https://www.dannyguo.com/blog/remap-caps-lock-to-escape-and-...

I'm the one who map escape to capslock. Since my capslock doesnt usefull at all !.

Wow. Thank you!

Nice checklist...

I'm not quite convinced about this as general advice :

> If you’re like me and never learned to touch type properly, just use the arrow keys, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.

When I decided to go all-in on Vim keys some time ago (trying to find plugins for everything), it didn't take long to transition to hjkl. I think it's easier and more convenient to stay near the home row rather than moving my hand over for the arrows. I don't strictly touch type either.

Was going to comment the same. OP you must be a glutton for punishment if you can't touch type and are using vim

Agreed, vim is extra arcane if you avoid home row. If you don't use the home row much there are probably more suitable editors out there.

I think the concerns others have mentioned about the title/content level are valid, but even though I knew most of the commands I enjoyed reading this! I quite liked your writing style and page design.

Visual mode is a good next step after getting comfortable with b,w,e,h,j,k,l navigation.

instead of "52gg" I prefer ":52"

I prefer 52G. I guess it's not less keys since you're hitting shift, though.

expert vim

:he

> I've been pair programming quite a bit lately

Does it mean both party have to use the same editor? I wouldn't participate in a pair programmnig like that.

Pair programming is best when everyone can use one's favorite editor. When there is a pair switch there is also an editor switch if the other party prefers a different editor.

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