Introduction to vim

• vim stands for Vi IMproved
• It’s a highly configurable, powerful, command-line-based text editor
• Often pre-installed on most Unix/Linux systems
• Backward compatible with the original vi editor

Starting Vim

vim filename        # Open or create a file with vim

Vim Modes

Mode Switching

• Esc – Return to Normal mode from Insert/Visual
• i – Insert before cursor
• a – Append after cursor
• o – Open new line below and enter Insert mode
• v – Enter Visual mode
• : – Enter Command mode (starts with colon)

Basic Editing

Insert Text

• i – insert at cursor
• I – insert at start of line
• a – append after cursor
• A – append at end of line
• o – open new line below
• O – open new line above

Delete Text

• x – delete character under cursor
• dd – delete current line
• dw – delete word
• d$ – delete from cursor to end of line
• u – undo
• Ctrl + r – redo

Copy/Paste (Yank/Put)

• yy – yank (copy) current line
• yw – yank word
• p – paste after cursor
• P – paste before cursor

Saving and Exiting

Navigation

Searching

/pattern     # Search forward
?pattern     # Search backward
n            # Repeat search forward
N            # Repeat search backward

Summary

Vim is modal, fast, and lightweight. To get comfortable:

• Practice switching modes
• Learn movement commands
• Use :wq to save and quit

To exit without saving: Esc → :q!