Vim setup journey

I really wanted to fully learn Vim and be able to use it comfortably. I guess its time. On my way for setting it up I’ll leave here notes how and where.

Setup

So, first of all, I had to install python3 support for Autocomplete to work first:

sudo apt install vim-gtk3

Next, I configured a few plugins ChatGPT suggested. Each plugin adds some functionality to the Vim. To use install and use those plugins, here is what I did:

curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

Then I edited config file. It is a place where you specify which plugins you want to install and use. So mine config file ~/.vimrc looks something like this:

call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

" Place plugins here, e.g.:
Plug 'sheerun/vim-polyglot'
Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }
Plug 'junegunn/fzf.vim'

Plug 'preservim/nerdtree'
Plug 'vim-airline/vim-airline'
Plug 'tpope/vim-fugitive'
Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', {'branch': 'release'}

Plug 'tpope/vim-surround'
Plug 'Chiel92/vim-autoformat'
let g:formatdef_python = '"black --quiet -"'
let g:formatters_python = ['python']
" autocmd BufWritePre * :Autoformat

" Making it pretty XD
Plug 'joshdick/onedark.vim'
Plug 'ryanoasis/vim-devicons'

call plug#end()
syntax enable
colorscheme onedark

For icons to display I had to download and install font: nerd-fonts

By the way, while looking for Vim plugins, I stumbled upon this website: vimawesome.com

Usage

So now let’s talk about usage. To open file explorer, type :NERDTree.

Command	Description
h	Move left by one character
j	Move down by one line
k	Move up by one line
l	Move right by one character
w	Move to the start of the next word
e	Move to the end of the current word
b	Move to the beginning of the previous word
gg	Go to the beginning of the file
G	Go to the end of the file
Ctrl + f	Move one page forward
Ctrl + b	Move one page backward
H	Move to the top of the screen
M	Move to the middle of the screen
L	Move to the bottom of the screen
i	Insert mode (before the cursor)
I	Insert mode (at the beginning of the line)
a	Append mode (after the cursor)
A	Append mode (at the end of the line)
o	Open a new line below the current line
O	Open a new line above the current line
Esc	Exit insert mode (back to normal mode)
u	Undo the last change
Ctrl + r	Redo the undone change
dd	Delete the current line
D	Delete from the cursor position to the end of the line
x	Delete the character under the cursor
yy	Copy (yank) the current line
p	Paste the yanked or deleted text after the cursor
P	Paste the yanked or deleted text before the cursor
r	Replace a single character under the cursor
cw	Change the current word
C	Change the rest of the current line
J	Join the current line with the next one
/pattern	Search forward for pattern
?pattern	Search backward for pattern
n	Go to the next search result
N	Go to the previous search result
* or #	Search for the word under the cursor (forward/backward)
Ctrl + f	Scroll forward one page
Ctrl + b	Scroll backward one page
v	Start visual mode (character-based selection)
V	Start line-based visual mode
Ctrl + v	Start block (column) visual mode
y	Yank (copy) selected text
d	Delete selected text
>	Indent selected text
<	Un-indent selected text
:split or :sp	Split the window horizontally
:vsplit or :vsp	Split the window vertically
Ctrl + w + h/j/k/l	Move to the left, down, up, or right window
Ctrl + w + w	Switch between open windows
Ctrl + w + q	Close the current window
Ctrl + w + o	Close all windows except the current one
:tabnew	Open a new tab
gt	Switch to the next tab
gT	Switch to the previous tab
:tabclose	Close the current tab
:tabnext	Move to the next tab
:tabprev	Move to the previous tab
:NERDTreeToggle	Toggle the NERDTree panel
Ctrl + w + n	Open NERDTree in a new split (if using splits)
o	Open the file or folder under the cursor
t	Open the file under the cursor in a new tab
i	Open the file under the cursor in a vertical split
s	Open the file under the cursor in a horizontal split
m	Move a file or folder
r	Rename a file or folder
d	Delete a file or folder
u	Go up one directory level
:AirlineToggle	Toggle the display of the status line
Ctrl + x + f	Show file finder (useful when combined with fzf.vim)
Tab	Trigger autocompletion suggestions
Ctrl + n	Trigger autocompletion suggestions (alternative)
Ctrl + p	Trigger autocompletion suggestions in reverse
Enter	Accept the selected suggestion
Ctrl + Space	Manually trigger autocompletion
:CocInstall [extension]	Install an extension for Coc.nvim
:CocConfig	Open the configuration file for Coc.nvim
:CocList extensions	List installed extensions for Coc.nvim
:CocRename	Rename the symbol under the cursor
:CocDiagnostics	Show diagnostics for the current file
:Autoformat	Format the current file
:Autoformat!	Format the file forcefully, ignoring any errors
autocmd BufWritePre * :Autoformat	Automatically format on file save (optional, add to .vimrc)
:w	Save the file
:q	Quit Vim
:wq	Save and quit Vim
:x	Save and quit Vim (same as :wq)
:q!	Quit without saving
ZZ	Save and quit (same as :wq)
u	Undo the last change
Ctrl + r	Redo the undone change
.	Repeat the last command (great for repeating edits)
m[char]	Set a mark at the current position (e.g., ma sets a mark at position “a”)
'[char]	Jump to the position of mark [char] (e.g., 'a jumps to mark “a”)
:%s/old/new/g	Replace all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the entire file
:s/old/new/g	Replace all occurrences of “old” with “new” in the current line