Vim: The Beginning

Today, I began my journey into the world of vim. I experienced a rocky start, but some tutorial searches and a puzzle game later, I was surefooted and ready to really dig into text editing.

I was a little hesitant to engage with vim at first. From what I gathered in the classroom, I had the notion that it was a complex, intricate text editor that would require practice and discipline. I have since discovered that vim is more or less just that. However, I also garnered the notion that vim was an elegant and efficient method of text editing. This I will also attest to.
Given my incredible naivety with the world of programming, terminal digging, and file-writing, it is a rather bold claim to say that vim is beyond any other text editor in scope. But I like vim. It is a good editor, once you get to know it. I barely spent two hours with vim, yet I am expecting to spend plenty more learning its tips, tricks, ticks, and pure basic functions. Certainly a programmer is only as good as the tools he can wield, and I have established learning vim as a priority.

The two methods I was recommended to for learning vim are fairly distinct. One method is by utilizing a tutorial that is downloaded with the text editor. By typing "vimtutorial" in the terminal, one will be treated to a rather thorough, helpful, step-by-step breakdown of vim's essentials. I am just about halfway through the tutorial (I am a slow, slow man), but already I feel more confident in my vim-related endeavors.
The second path which programmers may take (or really, a supplement) is VIM Adventures. All at once an adorable, funny, retro, puzzle-game tutorial, VIM Adventures will encourage learning the text editor's functions and methods by progression. Theoretically, an individual will want to beat the game and save the world from the Bugs. But how might one go about becoming a hero? By learning vim! Of course, I got stuck on level three and decided to move on to different practice. I am pathetic, but the game is not, and it is worth checking out if only to admire the creative design elements of the gameplay.

Yes, this is a rather succinct post. I do not have much to discuss. Still, I must state once more how much I approve of vim, even if I do not fully comprehend its whole nature yet. Definitely consider learning it as a text editor, and definitely consider vimtutorial and VIM Adventures. I find it to be a step that one, as a programmer, should take. It is definitely in the right direction.

Link for game-tutorial: http://vim-adventures.com/

Also, for ubuntu users: if you want to acquire vim, open the terminal and type "sudo apt-get install vim". Boom.