The Vim file editor

The Vim editor is a powerful and universally available screen-oriented editor. It is compatible with the older text-based vi editor. The Vim editor has extensive online documentation, and has its home page at the web address http://www.vim.org. The Vim editor is available for all kinds of machines and operating systems including Mac OS X, MS Windows and all variants of Linux and UNIX.

Vim has a command-line version that is invoked by typing in vim. Vim has a graphical version that is invoked by typing in gvim. This is the recommended editor, especially for programmers. Using the mouse and built-in menus the user can be productive in a few minutes. However, the real power of Vim is accessed through the commands that can be used inside it. It has extensive built-in help. There are two other resources that are helpful for learning editing in vim.

• Use the command vimtutor for a 30 minute tutorial on effective editing using vi.
• Download the 2-page quick command reference from
  http://cs.boisestate.edu/~amit/teaching/handouts/vim-two-page-ref.html.

The editor of choice of the authors is gvim.