- Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers Windows 10
- Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers
- Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers 2018
- Vi Vim Graphical Cheat Sheet
Download Vim Command Cheat Sheet in PDF format I can understand that if you are new to Vim, remembering what you just learned could be difficult. This is why I created a list of basic vim commands and their quick explanation. A movie poster-sized (39″ x 27″) cheat-sheet for Vim, printed on 100lb matte paper by Max Cantor. 'It took over 120 total hours to research, plan, design and create this cheat-sheet. It is meant to be a collection of Vim's 'biggest bang for your buck' features: the stuff that will provide the most usefulness to the most people.
Vim was made available in 1991 and is a free, open source software. Available both as a command line interface and as a standalone program with a GUI, Vim is a text editor that is a modal version of the vi editor created for Unix in the 1970s; Vim stands for vi improved. While it was designed with Unix in mind, versions of it are available for most operating systems and Vim is also available for Android and iOS smartphones.
While you may be familiar with the concept of a text editor, the modal part may throw you. A modal editor is one that allows you to edit text in different modes, and in the case of Vim, the mode determines what the alphanumeric keys on your keyboard do and how Vim editor commands work.
For example, in insert mode, your keyboard behaves normally, so what you type in is what you see, just like with a standard text editor. However, if you switch to command mode, the letters on your keyboard will allow you use Vim commands to move within the text. If you play video games that use the left-hand keys on the keyboard to move your character around, this concept is probably familiar to you.
- Ds-cheatsheets / General / TextEditors / Vim / vimcheatsheetforprogrammersprint.pdf Go to file Go to file T; Go to line L; Copy path Copy permalink.
- VIM Cheat Sheet for Programmers. Source: VIM Cheat Sheet for Programmers. Beautiful VIM Cheat Sheet. A great cheat sheet about the concepts rather than just graphical illustration of the commands. However, if you wish to have the full version under PDF, do consider to support the author to purchase the digital copy where there are three.
- This helps to improve efficiency, particularly for software engineers, programmers and developers. Vim comes with an array of default shortcuts, but you can also edit/add new commands to customize it using the.vimrc file. Vim Commands Cheat Sheet, Copy-Pasteable Exiting Vim:w - Write (Save):wq - Write and quit:q - Quit, fails if unsaved:q!
To open a file using Vim you can use the following command (simply replace filename.css with your actual file name).
The idea behind having a modal text editor is that it allows you to write and edit text, including code, without requiring your hands leave the keyboard. Vim isn't for everyone, and it requires you to learn a variety of Vim editor commands to get the most out of it. That said, many people who have started using it and become comfortable with it won't even consider another editor. The image below shows an exampe of what a css file looks like when viewed using Vim.
This text editor is particularly well-suited for people who are programmers, coders, system administrators or individuals looking for a streamlined way to edit text. The editor allows you to edit text in multiple windows, which can be helpful to programmers and editors alike. If you're interested in giving Vim a shot, the following is a basic explanation of Vim modes and a list of frequently used Vim commands, along with a definition of what they do.
Vim modes
There are some arguments as to how many modes that Vim has, but the modes you're most likely to use are command mode and insert mode. These modes will allow you to do just about anything you need, including creating your document, saving your document and doing advanced editing, including taking advantage of search and replace functions.
Command mode
This is the default mode that you'll be in once you open Vim. If you're in a different mode and want to go back to command mode, just hit the Escape key. This mode allows you to use Vim commands and move through your document. From command mode, you can also use last-line commands, which generally start with the use of a colon. For example, :w saves your file and :q allows you to exit Vim.
Insert mode
This mode allows you to enter text into your document. You can enter insert mode by pressing the i key. Keep in mind that to save your document, you'll need to go back to command mode since only text input is allowed in this mode.
Installing Vim
There are a few ways to install Vim and the one you end up using will sometimes depend on which system you're using.
Install Vim using Git:
According to Vim themselves, install Vim via Git is the simplest and most efficient method. Simply use the following commands:
If you already have Vim installed but want to update to the latest version, you may need to use additional Git commands which can be found here.
Install Vim on Ubuntu/Debian:
If you're using Ubuntu or Debian use apt-get to install Vim, like so:
Install Vim on CentOS/Fedora:
If you're using CentOS or Fedora, use yum to install Vim:
If you want a more advanced set of features on CentOS/Fedora, you'll need to install vim-enhanced, to do this, run the following command instead:
Vim commands
The following is a list of frequently used commands and what they do. Many of the commands can be made to repeat by adding a number to the command. This is not an exhaustive list because more advanced commands, such as how to use multiple buffers, are not included. However, just about all of the basic commands for opening, editing and saving documents are included as well as commands that enable you to find and replace text and work with multiple documents.
1. Basic Vim commands
The most simple commands allow you to open and close documents as well as saving them. As with most other text editors, there are protections in place to help you avoid exiting the editor without having saved what you're working on.
:help [keyword] - Performs a search of help documentation for whatever keyword you enter
:e [file] - Opens a file, where [file] is the name of the file you want opened
:w - Saves the file you are working on
:w [filename] - Allows you to save your file with the name you've defined
:wq - Save your file and close Vim
:q! - Quit without first saving the file you were working on
2. Vim commands for movement
When using movement commands, you can put a number in front of them to make Vim complete a command multiple times. For example, 5h will move your cursor five spaces to the left, and 90j will put your cursor at the beginning of the 90th line down from where your cursor currently is.
h - Moves the cursor to the left
l - Moves the cursor to the right
j - Moves the cursor down one line
k - Moves the cursor up one line
H - Puts the cursor at the top of the screen
M - Puts the cursor in the middle of the screen
- Ds-cheatsheets / General / TextEditors / Vim / vimcheatsheetforprogrammersprint.pdf Go to file Go to file T; Go to line L; Copy path Copy permalink.
- VIM Cheat Sheet for Programmers. Source: VIM Cheat Sheet for Programmers. Beautiful VIM Cheat Sheet. A great cheat sheet about the concepts rather than just graphical illustration of the commands. However, if you wish to have the full version under PDF, do consider to support the author to purchase the digital copy where there are three.
- This helps to improve efficiency, particularly for software engineers, programmers and developers. Vim comes with an array of default shortcuts, but you can also edit/add new commands to customize it using the.vimrc file. Vim Commands Cheat Sheet, Copy-Pasteable Exiting Vim:w - Write (Save):wq - Write and quit:q - Quit, fails if unsaved:q!
To open a file using Vim you can use the following command (simply replace filename.css with your actual file name).
The idea behind having a modal text editor is that it allows you to write and edit text, including code, without requiring your hands leave the keyboard. Vim isn't for everyone, and it requires you to learn a variety of Vim editor commands to get the most out of it. That said, many people who have started using it and become comfortable with it won't even consider another editor. The image below shows an exampe of what a css file looks like when viewed using Vim.
This text editor is particularly well-suited for people who are programmers, coders, system administrators or individuals looking for a streamlined way to edit text. The editor allows you to edit text in multiple windows, which can be helpful to programmers and editors alike. If you're interested in giving Vim a shot, the following is a basic explanation of Vim modes and a list of frequently used Vim commands, along with a definition of what they do.
Vim modes
There are some arguments as to how many modes that Vim has, but the modes you're most likely to use are command mode and insert mode. These modes will allow you to do just about anything you need, including creating your document, saving your document and doing advanced editing, including taking advantage of search and replace functions.
Command mode
This is the default mode that you'll be in once you open Vim. If you're in a different mode and want to go back to command mode, just hit the Escape key. This mode allows you to use Vim commands and move through your document. From command mode, you can also use last-line commands, which generally start with the use of a colon. For example, :w saves your file and :q allows you to exit Vim.
Insert mode
This mode allows you to enter text into your document. You can enter insert mode by pressing the i key. Keep in mind that to save your document, you'll need to go back to command mode since only text input is allowed in this mode.
Installing Vim
There are a few ways to install Vim and the one you end up using will sometimes depend on which system you're using.
Install Vim using Git:
According to Vim themselves, install Vim via Git is the simplest and most efficient method. Simply use the following commands:
If you already have Vim installed but want to update to the latest version, you may need to use additional Git commands which can be found here.
Install Vim on Ubuntu/Debian:
If you're using Ubuntu or Debian use apt-get to install Vim, like so:
Install Vim on CentOS/Fedora:
If you're using CentOS or Fedora, use yum to install Vim:
If you want a more advanced set of features on CentOS/Fedora, you'll need to install vim-enhanced, to do this, run the following command instead:
Vim commands
The following is a list of frequently used commands and what they do. Many of the commands can be made to repeat by adding a number to the command. This is not an exhaustive list because more advanced commands, such as how to use multiple buffers, are not included. However, just about all of the basic commands for opening, editing and saving documents are included as well as commands that enable you to find and replace text and work with multiple documents.
1. Basic Vim commands
The most simple commands allow you to open and close documents as well as saving them. As with most other text editors, there are protections in place to help you avoid exiting the editor without having saved what you're working on.
:help [keyword] - Performs a search of help documentation for whatever keyword you enter
:e [file] - Opens a file, where [file] is the name of the file you want opened
:w - Saves the file you are working on
:w [filename] - Allows you to save your file with the name you've defined
:wq - Save your file and close Vim
:q! - Quit without first saving the file you were working on
2. Vim commands for movement
When using movement commands, you can put a number in front of them to make Vim complete a command multiple times. For example, 5h will move your cursor five spaces to the left, and 90j will put your cursor at the beginning of the 90th line down from where your cursor currently is.
h - Moves the cursor to the left
l - Moves the cursor to the right
j - Moves the cursor down one line
k - Moves the cursor up one line
H - Puts the cursor at the top of the screen
M - Puts the cursor in the middle of the screen
L - Puts the cursor at the bottom of the screen
w - Puts the cursor at the start of the next word
b - Puts the cursor at the start of the previous word
e - Puts the cursor at the end of a word
0 - Places the cursor at the beginning of a line
$ - Places the cursor at the end of a line
) - Takes you to the start of the next sentence
( - Takes you to the start of the previous sentence
} - Takes you to the start of the next paragraph or block of text
{ - Takes you to the start of the previous paragraph or block of text
Ctrl + f - Takes you one page forward
Ctrl + b - Takes you one page back
gg - Places the cursor at the start of the file
G - Places the cursor at the end of the file
# - Where # is the number of a line, this command takes you to the line specified
3. Vim commands for editing
Those who use Vim tend to use the term 'yank' where most people would use the terms copy and paste. Therefore, the command for copying a word is yw, which stands for yank word, and the command for pasting whatever has been copied is p, meaning put. If you look up additional commands in the future, it can be confusing if you don't know what yank and put mean when using Vim.
You also have two options for how to select text. You can either use commands like dd, which deletes a single line, and yy, which copies a single line, or you can highlight text and then copy it to the unnamed register. The paste commands work the same whether you've highlighted text or used a command to automatically copy it.
As with movement commands, putting a number in front of the command can increase the number of times a task is completed. For instance, putting a number in front of yy will increase the number of lines copied, so 5yy will copy five lines.
yy - Copies a line
yw - Copies a word
y$ - Copies from where your cursor is to the end of a line
v - Highlight one character at a time using arrow buttons or the h, k, j, l buttons
V - Highlights one line, and movement keys can allow you to highlight additional lines
p - Paste whatever has been copied to the unnamed register
d - Deletes highlighted text
dd - Deletes a line of text
dw - Deletes a word
D - Deletes everything from where your cursor is to the end of the line
d0 - Deletes everything from where your cursor is to the beginning of the line
Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers Windows 10
dgg - Deletes everything from where your cursor is to the beginning of the file
dG - Deletes everything from where your cursor is to the end of the file
x - Deletes a single character
u - Undo the last operation; u# allows you to undo multiple actions
Ctrl + r - Redo the last undo
. - Repeats the last action
4. Vim commands for searching text
Like many other text editors, Vim allows you to search your text and find and replace text within your document. If you opt to replace multiple instances of the same keyword or phrase, you can set Vim up to require or not require you to confirm each replacement depending on how you put in the command.
/[keyword] - Searches for text in the document where keyword is whatever keyword, phrase or string of characters you're looking for
?[keyword] - Searches previous text for your keyword, phrase or character string
n - Searches your text again in whatever direction your last search was
N - Searches your text again in the opposite direction
:%s/[pattern]/[replacement]/g - This replaces all occurrences of a pattern without confirming each one
:%s/[pattern]/[replacement]/gc - Replaces all occurrences of a pattern and confirms each one
5. Vim commands for working with multiple files
You can also edit more than one text file at a time. Vim gives you the ability to either split your screen to show more than one file at a time or you can switch back and forth between documents. As with other functions, commands make going between documents or buffers, as they're referred to with Vim, as simple as a few keystrokes.
:bn - Switch to next buffer
:bp - Switch to previous buffer
:bd - Close a buffer
:sp [filename] - Opens a new file and splits your screen horizontally to show more than one buffer
:vsp [filename] - Opens a new file and splits your screen vertically to show more than one buffer
:ls - Lists all open buffers
Ctrl + ws - Split windows horizontally
Ctrl + wv - Split windows vertically
Ctrl + ww - Switch between windows
Ctrl + wq - Quit a window
Ctrl + wh - Moves your cursor to the window to the left
Ctrl + wl - Moves your cursor to the window to the right
Ctrl + wj - Moves your cursor to the window below the one you're in
Ctrl + wk - Moves your cursor to the window above the one you're in
6. Marking text (visual mode)
Visual mode allows you to select a block of text in Vim. Once a block of text is selected you can use visual commands to perform actions on the selected text such as deleting it, copying it, etc.
v - starts visual mode, you can then select a range of text, and run a command
V - starts linewise visual mode (selects entire lines)
Ctrl + v - starts visual block mode (selects columns)
ab - a block with ()
aB - a block with {}
ib - inner block with ()
iB - inner block with {}
aw - mark a word
Esc - exit visual mode
Once you've selected a particular range of text, you can then run a command on that text such as the following:
d - delete marked text
y - yank (copy) marked text
> - shift text right
< - shift text left
~ - swap case (upper or lower)
7. Tab pages
Just like any browser, you can also use tabs within Vim. This makes it incredibly easy to switch between multiple files while you're making some code changes instead of working in one single file, closing it, and opening a new one. Below are some useful Vim commands for using tab pages:
Stylised fashion croquis female pictures. :tabedit file - opens a new tab and will take you to edit 'file'
gt - move to the next tab
gT - move to the previous tab
#gt - move to a specific tab number (e.g. 2gt takes you to the second tab)
:tabs - list all open tabs
:tabclose - close a single tab
Simple Vim workflow example
If you haven't had a chance to play around with Vim much yet, you might be wondering what a simple workflow looks like when using it. It's relatively simple:
- Open a new or existing file with
vim filename. - Type
ito switch into insert mode so that you can start editing the file. - Enter or modify the text with your file.
- Once you're done, press the escape key
Escto get out of insert mode and back to command mode. - Type
:wqto save and exit your file.
Of course, there is so much more you can do with Vim, however as a beginner, the above steps are what a simple Vim workflow looks like.
Summary
Vim is quite easy to use, it just involves memorizing Vim editor commands and remembering what mode you're in. If you're used to using keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl + C and Ctrl + S, you shouldn't have too much difficulty getting used to the way that Vim works. While there is a bit of a breaking in period with the editor, you don't have to worry too much about accidentally deleting large swathes of text without being able to recover them since you can use the undo command multiple times.
While not for everyone, functionality like being able to work on more than one document at a time in windowed screens and the ability to do major editing without a mouse is what makes Vim so popular. You can download the editor for free, and there are a variety of plugins and extensions that can improve its functionality and add additional Vim commands.
Vim is a pretty great text editor, but learning to use it effectively can be a challenge. Even if you keep a quick-reference card or cheatsheet around, it can be difficult to figure out which commands are the most useful. But the truth is, Vim can still be super helpful if all you know is a few commands. So I've compiled a few of the Vim commands that I use every day.
Movement
h j k l
Basic movement keys. A step up from the cursor keys simply because they are already under your fingers. Most useful when prefixed with a number (e.g. if you need to move down by about 10 lines, hit '10j' instead of just holding j until you get there).
b w B W
Move back by token/forward by token/back by word/forward by word. (A token is a sequence of letters, digits, and underscores. For the capital letter variations, a word consists of anything that's not whitespace.) Faster than holding down a simple directional key.
0 ^ $
Jump to first column/first non-whitespace character/end of line, like Home and End. Faster than moving by words if you're trying to get to the opposite end of the line.
ctrl+u ctrl+d
Basically Page Up and Page Down, but moves by half a screenful and doesn't lose your cursor position.
G
Jump directly to a specific line number. Most helpful if you also have line numbering enabled (:set number).
H M L
Move to the top/middle/bottom of the screen (i.e. High/Middle/Low). A good first step in getting approximately to where you want to go.
# *
Find the previous/next occurrence of the token under the cursor.
n N
Repeat the last find command forward/backward.
'
(That's two back-ticks). Jump back to where you just were. This will jump back and forth between the same two locations if you keep pressing it.
ctrl+o ctrl+i
Move backward/forward through the jump history. Useful if you have followed a chain of method calls and need to get back to where you were.
Editing
In Vim, you spend most of your time in 'normal' mode, switching to 'insert' mode only when you need to add or change some text. This way, all edits become their own self-contained operations that can be repeated or chained with other operations. Most editing commands may optionally be preceded by a number in order to apply it more than once (e.g. to delete three lines, press 3dd).
i a I A
Enter insert mode (insert at cursor/append after cursor/insert at beginning of line/append to end of line). Press Esc to exit insert mode and return to normal mode. It's rarely useful to precede one of these commands with a number, but it can come in handy. Need a comma-separated list of eight 1s? Just hit '8i1, ' then delete the trailing comma.
o O
Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers
Open new line (below the current line/above the current line). A quick 'o' will add a blank line below the current line, no matter where your cursor is.
cw cW
Correct the token(s)/word(s) following the cursor. Basically combines delete and insert into one step.
cc
Correct line(s) by clearing and then entering insert mode. Starts inserting at the current indent level.
dd
Delete line(s). Quickly rearrange lines by deleting them, moving to the new location, and pasting with 'p'.
ct cf ci ca
dt df di da
Correct/delete up to or including specific characters. Since there are many variations, I break it down in the section below about correcting text.
s
Delete character(s) at the cursor and then enter insert mode. cw is usually faster if you want to correct an entire word, but this is useful for correcting a fixed number of characters (e.g. '5s' will correct the next five characters).
yy
Copy line(s). The 'y' is for 'yank.'
yw yW
Copy token(s)/word(s).
p P
Paste the last thing that was deleted or copied before/after cursor (for more advanced usage, you can precede it with a register specification, but that's a topic for another day).
u ctrl+r
Undo and redo.
.
(That's a period). Repeat the previous edit command. I use this all the time. Did you just add a line (e.g. using 'o' or 'O') that you need to duplicate five more times with only slight modifications? Hit '5.' to repeat that operation, then make your modifications; no copy/paste needed.
Correcting Text
In a boring text editor, you are limited to very basic operations: highlight some text, delete it, type more text. Vim has the ability to highlight (it's called 'visual' mode), but I rarely use it. It is often much faster to achieve the same thing using a few editing commands.
I frequently need to correct some text that doesn't fall neatly onto a token or word boundary. Fortunately, operations like 'c' (correct) and 'd' (delete) have a number of operators that may be applied to them:
- t – exclusive match: continue up to (but not including) the next on this line
- f – inclusive match: continue up to (and including) the next on this line
- i – exclusive inner match: apply to text bounded by , where is from a limited set of characters that come in pairs, like quotes, parentheses, brackets, etc.
- a – inclusive inner match: same as above, except it includes on both ends
Say that I have the code below, and I want to completely replace the code inside the map() with something else:
signal.map(count -> String.format('%d cookies, ah ah ah', count));
The first thing I need to do is get my cursor anywhere inside the parentheses belonging to map(). The exact command I use depends on where I end up:
- If the cursor is just inside the open paren for
map(), I could use 'cf)'. This corrects all text up to and including the next ')' on this line. - Say the cursor is on the word 'format'. I would do 'ci('. Vim will search backward to find the first open paren, then search forward to find its match, and correct the text between (but not including) those characters.
- Maybe my cursor was already closest to the word 'cookies.' To break out of the inner parentheses, I would need to add a count and do '2ci('. This is almost identical to the last example, except that the 2 is needed due to the nested parentheses.
I'm now in insert mode so I can carry on by entering the new text.
Vim Cheat Sheet For Programmers 2018
There's More…
Vi Vim Graphical Cheat Sheet
Vim may seem to have a steep learning curve, but by mastering a few commands you can quickly achieve greater productivity than you could with a regular text editor. What are some other Vim commands that you use every day?
