How To Learn the Vim Editor

The Vim is a text editor originally developed for UNIX programmers. It is a modal editor, meaning it operates in four different modes which are command mode (default), edit mode (insert and replace), visual mode, and extended command mode. Based on the vi Editor, Vim has been around for decades and is used daily by thousands of Linux and UNIX administrators, which is why it is a right of passage tradition that new Linux and UNIX users learn this tool.

vi Editor Quick Reference Chart (.pdf)
Handy chart of common vi commands; distributed in Unix classes 
 
vi Editor Quick Reference Chart (.xls)
Excel version of the above chart
 
vi Reference Card (.pdf)
Written by Donald J. Binder, this is another one page reference sheet on the vi editor; this card provides descriptions of various commands and keystrokes
 
vim Quick Reference Card (.pdf)
A two page keystroke reference card; written in 2003 by Laurent Grégorie
 
An Introduction to Display Editing with vi (.pdf)
Written by William joy and Mark Horton of the University of California, Berkley Computer Science Faculty, this in-depth 39 page tutorial on the vi editor reviews the majority of the features in vi
 
Mastering the vi Editor (.pdf)
This is a 17 page tutorial on the vi editor; provided by the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Engineering
 
Introduction to the vi Editor (.pdf)
Rice University’s 29 page tutorial that covers all of the basic usage of the vi editor; also comes with a reference card of vi commands
 
WINvi v2.94 (.zip)
Freeware version of the vi editor for Microsoft Windows
 
vi Links:
vim.org – Official Website for the vi Editor
The vi Lovers Home Page
vi Text Editor: Tutorial
An Extremely Quick and Simple Introduction to the vi Editor

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