Do you have any source for that claim?
I had a coworker who swore that X was the fastest way to do Y. Turned out it wasn't and X just made him very busy hitting keyboard quickly.
I had a coworker who swore that X was the fastest way to do Y. Turned out it wasn't and X just made him very busy hitting keyboard quickly.
To which I say, I've been using Vim (and nVim) for more than 20 years now, and the learning part is optional after a year or so of intense use.
Asking why people prefer vim is like asking why they prefer skateboard over rollers. You’re proficient at what you learned the most. The only thing you have to keep in mind is that every tool has its limits, so choose what you’re going learn from that perspective as well.
Are you saying that studying how efficient various text editors are for some groups of people is not possible?
Here's what I believe to be an example of some study on how text editors compare:
https://mjambon.github.io/vim-vs-emacs/
Not saying that this is a good study - I haven't even read it. Merely providing it as an example that at some point a study has been made in this area.
> Assuming you've given time to learn it, editing with vim takes less mental effort and is faster.
What gave away that it was a personal anecdote? I interpreted the "you" part as if he was speaking generally about other people and not only himself
In my main language, we would have written something like below if it was a personal anecdote (rough direct translation):
> I was able to edit faster using Vim after taking the time to learn it.
GP is saying Vim users generally have muscle memory of their shortcuts (I might add, to the extent that some of them may not even be conscious which keys they are pressing). GP also mentioned that Vim takes less mental effort (due to muscle memory) and is faster.
The faster part is easy to argue even from a theory perspective. Your hands basically never leave the home position. The time saved from physically moving your hands to and from various keyboard/mouse positions are reduced. At least Vim can be faster in that sense.
You're saying you have a personal anecdote about a coworker (who from your description isn't necessarily using Vim). How is that relevant?
I keep reading and hearing folk claiming that X is faster, as in this thread. It would be nice to read some actual study showing this to be true, but it seems like it mostly ends up being strongly held opinions based on anecdotes.
You say it's easy to argue. Sure, it's easy to argue but that doesn't make it correct. I could argue in the other direction and then we end up wasting our time.
Perhaps an objective, statistical significant study helps you decide, but ultimately, some people are more productive in Vim, and some people aren't. A study just gives you the average, but it doesn't necessarily imply anything for your personal experience with the tool.
Arguing what is "correct" here is a waste of time TBH. Nobody is really trying to prove anything. The person you originally replied to was trying to answer "Why so many people love vim?" . It's not because it is "objectively faster for everyone who uses it, provable in a reproducible large scale study", but rather because people perceive it making them work faster.
You don't have to accept the answer. Just leave it be.
https://danluu.com/keyboard-v-mouse/ - concludes that it varies by situation; keyboard wins at tasks where you might expect keyboard to win, mouse wins at tasks where you might expect mouse to win, tools like regex search/replace wins at tasks where you might expect it to win.