Vim Survival

Core Idea

You do not need to love vim, but you must be able to save and escape it.

The most important fact: vim has modes. In normal mode, keys are commands. In insert mode, keys become text.

Practice Alone

Open a scratch file, press i, type text, press Esc, type :wq, and verify with cat.

vim ~/playground/vim-note.txt
cat ~/playground/vim-note.txt

Minimum survival keys:

• i: enter insert mode.
• Esc: return to normal mode.
• :wq: write and quit.
• :q!: quit without saving.

Watch Out

• If typing letters does not insert text, press i.
• If commands appear in the file, press Esc, then undo with u or quit with :q!.
• If you only need the course editor, use micro; vim survival is for systems that open vim unexpectedly.

Done When

Vim is no longer a trap.

Docs Pointers

• Read vim and file editing.