Vim Fundamentals

Vim is a modal text editor with three core modes:

• Normal Mode: The default mode when launching Vim. Used for navigation, searching, and editing.
• Insert Mode: Used for adding or modifying text content.
• Command Mode: Used for executing commands, saving files, and configuring editor settings.

Entering Insert Mode

Navigating in Normal Mode

Jumping to Line Positions

• gg - Move to the first line of the document
• G - Move to the last line of the document
• [n]G - Jump to line number [n] (e.g., 150G jumps to line 150)

Returning to Normal Mode

Pres Esc twice to exit insert mode or any other mode and return to normal mode.

Copying and Pasting

• yy - Copy the current line
• [n]yy - Copy [n] consecutive lines (e.g., 5yy copies 5 lines)
• p - Paste below the current line
• P - Paste above the current line

Deleting and Cutting

In Vim, dd serves as both a cut and delete operation:

• dd - Delete the current line (cut if followed by paste)
• [n]dd - Delete [n] lines starting from cursor position
• D - Delete from cursor position to end of line (leaves empty line)

Undo and Redo

• u - Undo the last operation
• Ctrl + r - Redo what was undone

Command Mode Operations

Enter command mode by typing : from normal mode. Search mode is entered by typing /.

Saving and Quitting

Searching

1. Press / to enter search mode
2. Type your search term and press Enter
3. Navigate through results with n (next match) or N (previous match)

Search and Replace

Replace first occurrence on current line:

:s/old_text/new_text

Replace all occurrences on current line:

:s/old_text/new_text/g

Replace first occurrence in entire file:

:%s/old_text/new_text

Replace all occurrences in entire file:

:%s/old_text/new_text/g

Display Line Numbers

:set nu

Practical Workflow

Opening a file:

vim filename

• If the file exists, it opens for editing
• If the file doesn't exist, Vim creates it in memory

Basic editing session:

1. Open the file with vim filename
2. Make your changes in insert mode
3. Press Esc twice to return to normal mode
4. Type :wq to save and exit

To discard changes and exit, press Esc twice, then type :q!

Run vimtutor in your terminal for an interactive tutorial.