The Vim file editor

The editor vim is a simple and universally available screen-oriented editor. It is compatible with the vi editor that was available with UNIX since antiquity. 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, MS Windows and all variants of UNIX.

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. It also 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/vi-two-page-ref.html.

The editor of choice of the authors is gvim.