When speaking of legends among text editing software, one must introduce “Vim”. And speaking of Vim inevitably brings us to Vi—Vim is an advanced successor to Vi. While Vi and Vim boast formidable power, their essence can be encapsulated in just two words: “text editing.” They stand among the earliest text editors on computer operating systems, dating all the way back to 1976 when Bill Joy, later a co-founder of Sun Microsystems, first developed Vi.
Having lived longer than I have, Vi and Vim have matured into extraordinarily stable software thanks to the contributions of countless software engineers. An enormous ecosystem of plugin extensions has earned Vi/Vim the reputation of being the ultimate text editor.
However, its immense power is precisely what makes it intimidating. Low-level control commands and habits far removed from “Microsoft-style” GUI conventions have discouraged many beginners.
Yet ever since Vi/Vim gained support for graphical interfaces and the Windows operating system, the barrier to entry has significantly dropped. Even novice computer users can now benefit from its myriad strengths, such as lightning-fast startup times and split-window editing.
Furthermore, Vi/Vim is used not only for plain text editing; its versatile language support gives it a legendary status in programming circles. Many seasoned experts prefer it over heavyweight integrated development environments (such as Microsoft Word, so to speak—though those developers are monsters in their own right). From the perspective of a lightweight user like myself, relying purely on Vi/Vim for end-to-end software development might lead to… well, disaster.
Nonetheless, strictly from a writer’s viewpoint, writing with Vim carries numerous benefits. Some tech websites have curated lists such as “20 Fantastic Full Screen Text Editors for Distraction-Free Writing,” where the core principles are speed, minimal distraction, and full-screen focus—criteria where Vim undeniably excels.
Interestingly, the top editor featured on that list was Dark Room, which in some ways takes us back to the command-line era of two decades ago (smile).
Further Reading & Recommended Appendices
- Writing a Personal Wiki Journal with Vim / Software Tutorial
- Quick Reference Cheat Sheet for Vi/Vim Programming and Text Editing Commands
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