#My Impressions of VIM

Most people starting their journey as a software developer will start off with some of these text editors; Atom, Sublime Text, Notepad, Textmate and others. I was no different. But yet I thought I could do better, and try a text editor that has been around for a while.

####Fear of Failure I started using VIM just recently, and I didn’t start using it earlier because of fear, fear it would be too hard. Truth is I didn’t want to shift my attention or effort from learning how to code/problem solving to learn how to use a new text editor, since I was comfortable with my choice at the time. I guess I was encouraged by watching people using it; So decided to get out of my comfortable zone and start learning how to use VIM now.

Now it amazes me to see someone who really knows how to maneuver through code, files and directories effortlessly, being as productive as one can be.

####My Resources I was told about this blog post from one of my Instructors/Mentors at Launch Academy.

I started following it, but soon got caught up doing other things and ended up putting it aside for a few weeks. Still VIM was constantly in the back of my mind. Could I become more productive using it? Is the learning curve as steep as they say it is?

Yes and yes.

VIM users will condemn those that use the arrow keys, or the mouse to move around, but one thing I heard from other VIM users, that had the same feelings I did when they began this life long leaning experience was that, “it is okay for you to not disable your arrow keys, and use your mouse as much as you need”. And with that, I eventually will question whether there’s a better way of accomplishing a certain task/command. I adopted Pivotal Labs vim config. I have again and again come back to the description (README) part for reference.

####Breaking Habits I find myself having that urge to just use the mouse and calling it a day. But I know there has to be a better way of accomplishing whatever it is at the time. It is deliberating to not depend on the mouse or have to move your hands away from the home keys, so much.

I am also taking the advantage of Vimium, a plug in for Chrome that uses the same key strokes as VIM.

I don’t think I am on the high productivity level yet. But one thing I am certain, I enjoy coding even more today. I’m solidifying what I picked up already and learning new commands here and there as I code.

####Finding What Works for You My take on this is if you’re unhappy with your ol’text editor and/or is intrigged how productive one can be using other tools, I’d say give VIM a try. Do expect to get frustrated and want to go back to your trusted text editor. But if you have the patience and determination to power through the roller coaster of emotions, you’ll find that VIM isn’t that scary at all, and soon you’ll start feeling like you were missing it all along.
Use your arrow keys, use your mouse, and when you get tired of them, there will always be a better way of accomplishing what you’re doing now.

In any way happy coding…