š Why You Should Learn Vim -- And How to Get Started

Table of contents

Ah, Vim. The mythical, magical, sometimes intimidating text editor that you mightāve accidentally opened once and couldnāt escape from.
If youāve ever typed vim
in your terminal, stared blankly at your screen, mashed some keys, and closed your terminal out of frustation ā youāre not alone. But hereās the thing; once you actually get past the learning curve, Vim becomes one of the most powerful tools in your developer toolbox.
Letās talk about why developers still swear by Vim in 2025, and how you can start using it like a pro (or at least not panic when it opens).
š¤ What is Vim, Really?
Vim is a terminal-based text editor. Itās the upgraded version of the even older vi
editor, and it stands for Vi IMproved. But itās way more than just a text editor ā itās a lifestyle (kinda).
Lightweigth: Vim loads almost instantly, even on ancient hardware.
Keyboard-driven: You never need a mouse.
Highly customizable: Plugins. themes, macros ā itās your playground.
Ubiquitous: Itās installed everywhere. You SSH into a remote server? Vim is probably there.
Fast: Once you get used to ti, youāll fly through code like a wizard.
šØāš» Why Should a Developer Use Vim?
Here are some solid, real-world reasons why you might want to add Vim to your arsenal:
Speed (once you know it)
Forget about clicking around your code with a mouse. Vimās modal editing and keyboard shortcuts let you do things like delete a whole function, jump to matching brackets, or swap lines with just a few keystrokes.
Availability
Vim comes pre-installed on almost every Unix-based system. If youāre SSH-ing into a server to fix something at 3am, Vim will be there waiting for you. VS Code? Probably not.
Resource Efficiency
Vim runs in your terminal, consumes minimal memory, and works great even on systems with limited resources (e.g. Raspberry Pi, low-powered VMs).
Customization & Plugins
You can turn Vim into a full-blown IDE with plugins like:
coc.nvim
(IntelliSense-like autocomplete)nerdtree
(file explorer)fugitive.vim
(Git integration)vim-airline
(status bar bling)
Muscle Memory
Once youāve used Vim enough, youāll develop blazing-fast muscle memory that lets you navigate and edit code without even thinking.
š§ Getting into Vim: The Basics
š« How to Launch Vim
vim filename.txt
If the file doesnāt exist, Vim will create it.
⨠Modes in Vim
This is what confuses most people. Vim isnāt just one big typing space. It has modes:
Normal mode: Default modeāused for navigation and commands.
Insert mode: Used to actually type text (like any other editor).
Visual mode: Used to select text.
Command mode: Used to saving, quitting, searching, etc.
You start in Normal mode. Hereās how to move around:
Key | What it does |
i | Insert mode (start typing before the cursor) |
a | Append mode (start typing after the cursor) |
Esc | Go back to Normal mode |
:w | Write (save) the file |
:q | Quit Vim |
:wq | Save and Quit |
:q! | Quit without saving (force quit) |
š¹ļø Movement in Normal Mode
Key | What it does |
h | Move left |
l | Move right |
j | Move down |
k | Move up |
gg | Go to top of file |
G | Go to bottom of file |
0 | Move to start of line |
$ | Move to end of line |
w | Jump to next word |
b | Jump to previous word |
āļø Editing Text
Key | Action |
x | Delete character under cursor |
dd | Delete whole line |
yy | Copy(yank) line |
p | Paste below |
u | Undo |
Ctrl + r | Redo |
r<char> | Replace a single character |
Make Vim Feel Like Home (Configuration)
Your Vim settings live in a file called .vimrc
. You can create it like this:
vim ~/.vimrc
Hereās started config:
syntax on
set number
set relativenumber
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set expandtab
set cursorline
Want plugins? Look into using a plugin manager like vim-plug
. You can install autocompletion, linters, Git integration, themes, and more.
Turning Vim into a Full IDE
With a little tweaking, Vim can rival VS Code or JetBrains IDEs:
Auto-completion:
coc.nvim
LSP support: Language Server Protocol intergration for linting and navigation
Git support:
vim-fugitive
Debugging: With
vimspector
pluginProject Tree:
NERDTree
Status Line:
vim-airline
But Is It Worth It?
YesāIf youāre willing to invest a bit of time learning. Hereās the deal:
At first, itāll feel like using Vim is slower than normal editors.
But once youāve got the basics down and built some muscle memory, youāll be navigating and editing code at lighting speed.
And best of all, Vim is fun. Thereās something deeply satisfying about mastering it.
Final Thoughts
Vim isnāt just for neckbeard sysadmins from the ā90s. Itās for anyone who wants:
Speed
Efficiency
A lightweight, customizable tool
A deep understanding of text manipulation and navigation
Is it hard at first? Absolutely.
Is it worth sticking with? 1000% yes.
So the next time you open Vim, donāt quit out in panic. Just hit i
, start typing, press Esc
, then type :wq
and press Enter
.
Welcome to the Vim club.
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Written by

Anand Kumar
Anand Kumar
"Passionate about the art of storytelling and the logic of coding, I find joy in exploring new worlds through books and building innovative solutions through programming. Always eager to learn and grow, I blend creativity and technology to craft a unique narrative in everything I do. When I'm not lost in a novel, you'll find me debugging code or exploring the latest in tech."