Undo Tree

see tree, version control

resource vim :h undo-tree and :h usr_32 The undo tree --- https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/undo.html#undo-tree and https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/usr_32.html

resource my jumptree.vim plugin, provides undo tree semantics for the jumplist --- https://github.com/Bricktech2000/jumptree.vim

undo trees are so much more than "restoring overwritten undos". they turn your undo history into a mini version control system complete with feature branches and give you superpowers like the ability to seamlessly try out different ideas in parallel on the same file

the way vim does undo trees is particularily clever: the two additional bindings it introduces---earlier g- and later g+, atop the usual undo u and redo <c-r>---are all that's needed to freely navigate the entire tree. for more information, see :h undo-tree and :h usr_32 The undo tree. I also like to abuse == to "git commit" the current text state onto the top of the tree, which works because it always creates a new undo block while generally being a no-op

some plugins visualize undo trees for you, but really that's unnecessary; after a bit of practice you get pretty good at holding a mental model of the tree, and procedural memory takes over. undo trees are gamechangers and I'm never writing an undo system that doesn't support them