Vim: Tutorial on Editing, Navigation, and File Management (2018)

How to efficiently edit, navigate, and manage files in Vim! This talk will provide a basic overview on how you can begin to start using Vim like a pro 😎 without any plugins involved!

This is a talk I gave on using Vim effectively designed for users of all experience levels. Unlike most talks on the same topic, this talk has been made to be as interactive and visual as possible to allow for a more seamless learning process.

Every topic and demo is outlined below:

0:00 Intro
3:29 Why Vim?
7:00 Demo 1 - Impractical Vim Usage
9:10 Operators, Text Objects, Motions
12:44 Demo 2 - Practical Vim Usage with Operators, Text Objects, Motions
14:52 Advanced Navigation
15:55 Advanced Navigation - Scrolling and Other Motions
16:48 Advanced Navigation - Editing
17:36 Advanced Navigation - Searching
18:04 Advanced Navigation - Marks
18:41 Advanced Navigation - Tags
19:15 Advanced Navigation - Jumplist / Changelist
20:22 Demo 3 - Practical Vim Usage with Advanced Navigation
29:32 Project Management
30:50 Project Management - Buffers
32:28 Project Management - Windows
33:02 Project Management - Tabs
34:06 Demo 4 - Practical Vim Usage with Project Management (Vim as an IDE)
43:36 Clipboard Synchronization
48:17 Hotkeys + Misc.
50:05 Screen Multiplexing (tmux)
51:27 Answer to Important Question
52:14 Brief Touch on Abduco + Dvtm as a Tmux Alternative
52:51 Questions

Contact Me:

[inspirated]

I have been a vim user for more than a decade and a half and I was still blown away by this talk. Very organized, visual. From now on, this is my goto recommendation for all the newcomers to vim.

[Soulthym]

I'm only 18minutes in the talk and I already have enough information to improve my vim skills significantly and have learned ~20 new things!

That's just awesome, I can't wait to put it all these into action!

[ackmandesu]

One of the best Vim talks I've seen. Lots of content, lots of new things. That part with the arguments, splits, quickfix, diffs... I'll try to practice it and implement it into my workflow.

[sightf]

This is the video people need to see after vimtutor. Makes the 'why' of using vim much more clear.

[sethbrown]

I loved the "But that's it, thanks!" Cleanest end ever :)

[leeren_]

Hi all, I've started to prepare for a talk on OAuth that will ideally be as visual, hands-on, and comprehensive as this one. I want to thank everyone for the wonderful praise and feedback this video received.


But more importantly, what other software-related topics would you want to be covered? Be as general or as specific as you'd like. Let me know by replying to this comment!

[MauricePoos]

This presentation should be marked read only and mandatory, never to be removed by anyone and to be viewed by everyone even thinking about touching a computer beyond watching Youtube.
Thank you!

[adamshaw]

This is the most helpful guide I have found to be able to start using vim in a project. I have used vim on and off for basic editing but I simply can't adopt it yet because I can't navigate a project properly. I've really struggled to find a guide which tackles this specifically but this is such a comprehensive toolset to get around a project and I feel really confident that with these notes I can start using vim in my work. Thank you Leeren of 6 years ago!

[hudatolah]

Wow! Impressive. I've been using vi over 20 years and I still learned a lot from your presentation. Ping me if you come to Austin one day. I'll buy you lunch!

[jasonxoc]

Just when I thought I was getting good with vim I see this dude and realize why I love vim... no bottom of the pool. I've never thought this before but I just want to watch you code for a day.

[djavu]

ive been using vim for 7 years, hands down this video is so awesome! thanks for all the time savings!

[musthavechannel]

Great talk man. Completely to the point and no unfunny self-deprecating jokes. Well done.

[axelsalazar]

I thought I was an intermediate user but this talk have taught me that I still have to learn a lot of things, great talk!

[SusanAmberBruce]

Wow, and again I say Wow! I have seen some tutorials on Utube about using Vim and I now know that they were given by people who didn't really know how to use Vim.

[juliejones]

Good information. I've been using vi for more than 30 years and I still learned something. A side note: vi is pronounced VEE-EYE. That is how Bill Joy pronounced it when he wrote it. That also applies to all the two letter Unix commands (EE-EX, EL-ES, DEE-EF, DEE-YU, etc.)

[travisireland]

I'm trying to build a zettelkasten based around Vim and Ctags.
Going back and trying to understand Vim a little more, this is still essentially the very best tutorial after Vimtutor.
Super grateful to you for making these Vim videos.

[PreRendered]

This is one of the best... maybe THE best Vim vid I've seen. Huge thanks for this.

[EliasHansenuf]

This is a condensed, concept orientated and practical tutorial. Thank you.

[chromasoulmagic]

This is the vim workflow video. My brain has been begging for it. Great job.

[giftedoneaz]

Amazing talk. I’ve been using Vim on and off for 15 years and learned a lot. Need to watch it a second time and take notes this time.