200 points by codingninja 1 year ago flag hide 50 comments
johnniebgood 1 year ago next
Fantastic post! I've been using Sublime Text for years, too, but my friends in the dev community have been loving Vim. I'm eager to give it a shot now!
geekinandgaming 1 year ago next
I recently made the switch to Vim and my productivity has been through the roof! Just gotta get used to the different shortcuts.
devhardatwork 1 year ago next
Have you considered using Vim keybindings for Sublime to make the transition smoother?
developerdan 1 year ago next
Thanks for the suggestion! I'd rather dive into Vim fully, though.
seancoder 1 year ago next
@DeveloperDan That'd be a great intermediate step — I'll look into that.
coolcoder 1 year ago next
@SeanCoder Yeah, going the middle route is the way to go!
icodeplenty 1 year ago next
@CoolCoder I'd like to try! Any recommended plugins to get started with Vim?
awesomeasimov 1 year ago next
@iCodePlenty Check out Vim Awesome for a plugin curation list! tweet: https://git.io/vim-awesome-list
zendev 1 year ago next
@AwesomeAsimov I'll take a look at Vim Awesome because I plan on extending my Vim capabilities soon.
csswizardry 1 year ago next
@ZenDev Me too! If you find any gems, can you share them with me?
effiicientellen 1 year ago next
@CSSWizardry Definitely! I joined the [Vim community](https://www.reddit.com/r/vim/) as well.
mattymac 1 year ago prev next
This is so timely! I've been considering moving away from Sublime because of the memory leaks and slowness. Thanks for the push I needed to try Vim.
agileseal 1 year ago next
I feel your pain on the Sublime slowness. I've noticed that Vim is more responsive, especially when handling large files.
codelover 1 year ago next
I didn't realize how heavy Sublime Text was until I switched to Vim. So much lighter!
annepower 1 year ago next
But do you miss the autocompletion functionality of Sublime?
bnl_dev 1 year ago next
@AnnePower Not really! Vim's fuzzy file finding and autocompletion features met my expectations.
stevethescripter 1 year ago next
@MelanieMaker I've heard that sentiment from a lot of people who transitioned to Vim. Happy to see you've reaped rewards.
devdennis 1 year ago next
@SteveTheScripter Do you use any particular plugins for autocompletion and navigation?
joecoder 1 year ago next
@DevDennis I'm a fan of NERDTree for file navigation, FZF for file/buffer finding, and YouCompleteMe for autocompletion.
modernmarkov 1 year ago next
@JoeCoder Sounds like a fantastic combination for a .NET developer. I might take notes! tweet: <https://bit.ly/3w7Pb2z>
frontendfreddy 1 year ago next
@ModernMarkov If it helps, I plan to use these plugins to mostly replace Atom, but for the terminal.
qaqubit 1 year ago next
@FrontendFreddy I'm also interested in lightweight editors that support customization and efficiency improvements.
drpheelgood 1 year ago prev next
Great sharing! I've been using Vim for the past few months after my friend suggested it as a lightweight and customizable editor. I can definitely relate to your points here.
sarithacoder 1 year ago next
I totally agree regarding customizability! Vim's plugin system made it so easy to optimize the editor for my needs.
janeb 1 year ago next
Check out this video on getting started with Vim and plugins: [vim-plugins-video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ)
techlover 1 year ago next
@JaneB The vim-plugins-video has been great to pick up new tips and tricks in Vim!
kateprogrammer 1 year ago next
@TechLover Not at all. After a while, it became a habit. There are a bunch of fuzzy file finding tools out there, too.
julietjavadev 1 year ago next
@KateProgrammer I appreciate the insight. I've been on the fence, but now I'm more inclined to try it out.
abovetheclouds 1 year ago next
@JulietJavadev I found these plugins super helpful when starting out: - NERDTree - CtrlP - Vim-surround - YouCompleteMe
brogrammerbarry 1 year ago next
@AboveTheClouds Great list! I've been curious about UltiSnips. Do you have any examples of when you've found it useful?
techtutortrent 1 year ago next
@BrogrammerBarry Yes, UltiSnips has been great for repetitive coding patterns and code snippets.
maintainablemike 1 year ago next
@TechTutorTrent Ah, gotcha! I've used UltiSnips with Vim for templated code patterns. Reusability made easier!
gdbrian 1 year ago next
@MaintainableMike I've been using Vim with Neovim's graphical frontend, and it bridges the UI gap nicely.
techie_techie 1 year ago prev next
While Vim is a powerful text editor, I feel it's not as user-friendly as Sublime Text. Would love to hear any tips and tricks you've found helpful during your transition.
happyhacker 1 year ago next
I struggled a bit at the beginning too, but found these resources very helpful: [vim-resources](https://google.com)
stevenking 1 year ago next
@HappyHacker the vim-resources link has helped me before. Thanks!
joshie 1 year ago next
@StevenKing Vim handles autocompletion thanks to various plugins like YouCompleteMe. It learns from your codebase as you use it!
stealthyscript 1 year ago next
@Joshie Wow, I wasn't aware Vim could do that. Impressive!
techpilot 1 year ago next
@StealthyScript The code-focused IDEs have definitely set our expectations high with autocompletion.
sammysysadmin 1 year ago next
@TechPilot Coincidently, I was watching a video on how code completion works in IDEs recently.
prodtesterpaul 1 year ago next
@SammySysadmin Oh, do you have a link to the video? I've been curious about how IDEs handle autocompletion under the hood.
zbrainzen 1 year ago next
@ProdTesterPaul The video discusses code completion, search, and a bit of refactoring. [Video Link](https://youtu.be/fIjU-vz6Nyw)
gurugabby 1 year ago next
@ZBrainZen Fantastic video. I've been watching a lot of content on IDE internals recently.
melaniemaker 1 year ago prev next
My biggest concern about Vim was the initial learning curve, but it's paid off dividends in the long run.
amyengineer 1 year ago next
Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm considering switching now as well.
adeveloperslife 1 year ago next
@AmyEngineer I'm Team Vim these days too. I use YouCompleteMe for autocompletion and UltiSnips for snippets.
jillyjava 1 year ago next
@adeveloperslife Thanks for your response! I'm taking note of these recommendations.
jeffreyjavaholic 1 year ago next
@JillyJava Always great to help those on the fence! Is there any specific aspect of Sublime you still prefer?
fullstackfrank 1 year ago next
@JeffreyJavaholic For me, it's the friendly UI and easier plugin installation flow. But that's all secondary now that I got used to Vim.
javascriptjeff 1 year ago next
@FullStackFrank Sure, any new tools in your dev environment that speed up work the more time you invest in them is a win.