My First Time Using Neovim - And Why You Should Try It Too

When I opened Neovim for the first time, it felt almost intimidating. There were no buttons, no sidebar, no mouse-driven menus I was used to. Just a blinking cursor on a dark screen.

But that’s the point: I wanted to move on from VS Code into a more light-weight text-editor where I didn’t have to lift my right hand from my keyboard once. That was one of the many reasons that attracted me to Neovim in the first place, but what brought my attention was how effortlessly well-known software developers like ThePrimeagen navigated through their code-base using Vim motions.

My First Impressions

The first thing I noticed was how fast it is. Files open instantly, navigation feels snappy, and because everything runs in the terminal, there’s no lag between thought and action.

Of course, there’s a learning curve. Memorizing commands like :wq to save and quit or using hjkl to move around took a little practice. But soon, it felt natural.

And here’s the surprising part: instead of slowing me down, learning these commands made me faster. No more moving between mouse and keyboard. No more reaching for the trackpad just to switch files. My fingers stayed on the keys, and the flow state became much easier to maintain.

What Makes Neovim Special

• Speed: It’s lightweight and built for performance. You can open huge projects without slowing down.

• Extensibility: With Lua-based configuration, you can customize it to do exactly what you want. From Git integration to LSP (Language Server Protocol) support, it can feel like a full IDE.

• Keyboard-driven: It forces you to learn efficient keyboard shortcuts that save time in the long run.

• Minimalism: It doesn’t distract you. You open your editor, focus on your code, and nothing else.

• Community: The plugin ecosystem is massive. There’s a plugin for almost everything — and most are open-source, built by passionate developers.

Final Thoughts

My first time with Neovim was challenging, but in the best way. It forced me out of my comfort zone and showed me how powerful a simple, efficient tool can be.

If you’ve been on the fence about trying Neovim, this is your sign. Download it, fire it up, and see where it takes you. It might just change the way you code forever.