A brief history of IDEs
Now that you’ve seen some of these older technologies, it’s your turn to have a go at using Vim.
Vim is a popular command line text editor – this means that rather than opening and running it from an icon, you access it through the command line. This can be a little complicated to set up on different devices, so instead it is recommended that you use the web version which is available to everyone.
This will open the openVim tutorial, which will walk you through the different commands and how to use them.
If you prefer to go at your own pace, you can use the ‘practice’ link at the top of the website to enter the sandbox. This is an editor where you can see all the commands and have a go at using them on your own.
Explore
Spend approximately 20 minutes exploring the Vim web version.Try writing a few lines of text, copying and pasting a line, and learning how to navigate around your file.
Useful commands
| Command/key | What it does |
|---|---|
| [esc] – escape key | Takes you back to ‘normal’ mode – press this before you use any of the commands below. |
| [i] – i key | Takes you to ‘insert’ mode – this will allow you to type into the editor. |
| :wq | This will save and quit – remember to press [esc] first. |
Vim was invented before computer mice and arrow keys, so you need to use the h (left) /j (down)/k (up)/l (right) keys to move around your file.
These are just the basic commands to allow you to write and exit your program – use the tutorial linked above to learn some more exciting and powerful commands to do things like copying lines and moving around your file more quickly!
Optional: Using your own device
If you want to have a go at using Vim on your own device, I will briefly explain setup on different devices – you should still have a go at the openVim tutorial to learn some basic commands, but I will add a couple of useful ones at the bottom too.
Mac devices
You should be able to access vim from the terminal without any set-up required. You can open vim by opening a terminal and inputting the following command:
vim new.txt
This will create a file called ‘new.txt’ and open it in Vim.
Windows devices
You will need to install Vim in order to run it on your device – make sure you have permission if you are using a device which does not belong to you!
Download the most up-to-date version of Vim.
Linux/Unix devices
You may find that vi, which is a very similar editor with the same commands available, is already installed on your device.
Open a terminal and type the following command:
vi new.txt
This will create ‘new.txt’ and open it in vi.
Working with Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
Working with Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)
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