Vim

a highly customizable text editor with efficient key bindings

see procedural memory, undo tree

resource vim bindings cheat sheet --- YLInLlY.png --- https://i.imgur.com/YLInLlY.png

resource :h quickref, specifically the key bindings --- https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/quickref.html

resource :h registers, good reference on registers --- https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/change.html#registers

resource :h help-summary, on using :help effectively --- https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/usr_02.html#help-summary

vim bindings are susceptible to fossilization

some useful bindings not present in the quickref:

• g+ - g- --- go to newer/older text state in the undo tree
• :u!<cr> --- undo one change and remove it from the undo tree
• :undol<cr> --- list all leafs in the undo tree
• Q --- replay last recorded macro (Neovim only)
• q: - q/ - c<c-f> --- open command-line window
• @: --- repeat the last command-line
• gi --- resume insert at the position the last insert was stopped
• i<c-e> --- abort an autocompletion (see |ins-compl| and |popupmenu|)
• i<c-y> --- accept an autocompletion (see |ins-compl| and |popupmenu|)
• gF --- edit the file under the cursor at the line specified
• <c-w>F --- gF but in new window
• gx --- netrw open the file under the cursor in external program
• :cr<cr> --- rewind to the first quickfix item
• :cope<cr> - :ccl<cr> --- open/cloe the quickfix window
• :cpf<cr> - :cnf<cr> --- :cn<cr>/:cp<cr> until a new file is hit
• :chi<cr> --- display the quickfix list history
• :col<cr> - :cnew<cr> --- go to an older/newer quickfix list in the history
• vO --- switch the parity of vo in a blockwise selection
• vg<c-a> - vg<c-x> --- incrementally increment/decrement numbers in selection
• vP --- put from register without overwriting the unnamed register
• c<c-r><c-w> --- insert the word under the cursor
• c<c-r><c-a> --- insert the WORD under the cursor
• c<c-r><c-l> --- insert the line under the cursor
• gn - gN --- select next/previous match, applying an operator if one is pending
• ov - oV - o<c-v> --- force the operator to work charwise/linewise/blockwise
• ov --- when motion is charwise, toggle inclusive/exclusive
• o2i' - o2i" --- oa'/oa" but without surrounding whitespace
• i<c-x><c-e> - i<c-x><c-y> --- scroll from within insert mode
• i<c-x><c-l> --- autocomplete the entire line, ignoring indent
• i<c-x><c-l> --- after <c-x><c-l>, autocomplete subsequent lines
• i<c-x><c-f> --- autocomplete from filenames in working directory
• i<c-x><c-n> - i<c-x><c-p> --- after <c-n>/<c-p>, autocomplete subsequent words
• i<c-x><c-i> - i<c-x><c-d> --- autocomplete from occurrences/definitions across includes
• [i - [d --- display first occurrence/definition of word under cursor across includes
• [I - [D --- display all occurrences/definitions of word under cursor across includes
• [<c-i> - [<c-d> --- go to first occurrence/definition of word under cursor across includes
• ]<c-i> - ]<c-d> --- go to next ccurrence/definition of word under cursor across includes
• <c-w>i - <c-w>d --- [<c-i>/[<c-d> but in new window
• 1gd - 1gD --- gd/gD but ignore {} blocks before the cursor
• vzy - zp --- yank/paste a block, removing trailing spaces
• c<c-n> - c<c-p> --- recall next/previous command line
• :mes<cr> --- view message history
• i<c-g>k - i<c-g>j --- go to the column where insert was started, one line up/down
• [% - ]% --- matchit.vim jump to beginning/end of %able group
• g% --- matchit.vim cycle backward through %able groups
• zs - ze - scroll so the cursor is on the left/right of the window
• N <c-w>q --- quit Nth window
• :tabs<cr> --- list open tabpages
• :tabe<cr> --- open new blank tabpage
• <c-w>T --- move current window to new tabpage
• <c-w>gf - <c-w>gF --- gf/gF but in new tabpage
• :tabe FILE<cr> - :tabf FILE<cr> --- :e FILE<cr>/:fin FILE<cr> but in new tabpage
• :tab CMD<cr> --- run CMD but open tabpages instead of windows
• :tabc<cr> --- close the current tabpage
• :tabo<cr> --- close all tabpages but the current one
• gt - gT - N gt --- go to next/previous/Nth tabpage
• g<tab> - <c-w>g<tab> --- toggle between two most recent tabpages
• :diffs FILE<cr> --- open FILE in new window and enable diff mode
• :diffp PATCH<cr> --- apply PATCH in new window and enable diff mode
• :difft<cr> - :diffo<cr> --- add/remove current window to/from the diff windows
• :diffo!<cr> --- switch off diff mode for all windows of current tabpage
• [c - ]c --- jump to previous/next diff change
• N do - N dp --- obtain/put a diff change from/to buffer number N

useful shell bindings spread a little all over the quickref:

• :!cmd --- run shell command cmd
• :r!cmd --- read in output of shell command cmd
• v:w !cmd --- write out selected lines to shell command cmd
• !!cmd --- filter current line through shell command cmd
• !motion cmd --- filter motion motion through shell command cmd
• v!cmd --- filter selected lines through shell command cmd

some "compound" bindings to be treated as units for procedural memory:

• ea --- insert after word
• Ea --- insert after WORD
• o<esc> - O<esc> --- insert a blank line below/above
• Jx --- join lines, removing all leading whitespace
• Jde --- join lines, removing leading word (like // c comments and - markdown lists)
• xp --- swap a character with the next
• ddp --- swap a line with the next
• r<cr> --- split a line at the cursor position
• m' --- push current cursor position onto the jumplist (well kind of)
• == --- push current text state onto the undo tree (well kind of)
• 99g+ --- jump to the latest change in the undo tree
• 99<c-r> --- jump to the latest change in the current undo tree branch
• *N --- highlight the word under the cursor
• 0D --- clear out the current line without deleting it
• VP --- replace the current line with the contents of the unnamed register
• <cr>; - -; --- repeat last f/t search on the next/previous line
• gon - GN --- repeat last //? search from the start/end of the buffer
• <c-o><c-w>^ --- reopen just-opened buffer in new window instead
• <space><bs> - <bs><space> --- set curswant to the current column number

some small tricks and workflows I use:

• peek at occurrences of a pattern---without clobbering the last search or cluttering up the jumplist---with /re, then <c-g> and <c-t>, then <esc>
• quickly repeat a compound change by recording it with the usual qqcommandsq then mashing Q (Neovim only)
• perform an interactive substitution with /re, then cgnreplacement<esc> or dgn, then skip with n and repeat with . --- more flexible than :s/.../c<cr>
• interactively append a suffix to the end of matches with /re/e<cr>, then asuffix<esc>, then skip with n and repeat with .
• keep or delete lines matching a pattern with :g/re/d<cr> and :v/re/d<cr>
• grep recursively from the working directory with :vim/re/**<cr>; matches are put in the quickfix list

  note turn :fin into a fuzzy finder with set wildmenu path+=** --- https://youtu.be/XA2WjJbmmoM?t=6m44s

• when it exists, print the digraph for the character under the cursor using ga

  note useful digraphs worth memorizing: “”‘’…•‾–—   §¶ °′″‴ ×÷−±√≈≡≤≥≮≯≠∞∝ ∫∏∑∂∆∇αβγ ∃∀∧∨¬∈∋∅ ½⅔¾₀₁₂₊₋₍₎⁰¹²⁺⁻⁽⁾ⁿ

• if 'noruler' is set, query the cursor position with <c-g>
• query the word count for a selection and for an entire buffer with g<c-g>
• append a suffix to the end of a range of lines with <c-v>selection$Asuffix<esc>
• edit the current command-line in normal mode with <c-f>
• move left and right, wrapping across lines, with <bs> and <space> --- by default, <bs> and <space> are in 'whichwrap' while h and l are not
• jump to the first byte of a file with go --- gg won't go to the first byte when 'nostartofline' is set

  resource Byte Positions Are Better Than Line Numbers, by Casey Muratori --- https://www.computerenhance.com/p/byte-positions-are-better-than-line

• hold the shift key to temporarily disable the mouse
• view a searchable digraph table with :h euro<cr>
• jump to a URL or path on the current line with f/ and F/ --- slashes are uncommon and URLs and paths usually contain them
• use undos from within insert mode by marking undo points with <c-g>u and undoing with <c-o>u. delete all entered characters with <c-u>
• temporarily isolate a window with <c-w>|/<c-w>_ then revert to equal window size with <c-w>=
• insert something of the form first second first third using ifirst<esc>asecond<c-a>third
• repeat a change with a different motion using cmotion replacement then cmotion<c-a>
• fill out one cell of a plaintext table with gRcell contents then move to the next cell up/down with <c-g>k/<c-g>j
• perform a * without clobbering the last search with ]<tab> aka ]<c-i>
• set curswant to the current column number by hitting <space> and <bs> simultaneously
• delete the current buffer without closing the window by editing another buffer with say <c-^> then running :bd#<cr>
• delete an entire if/for/while (...) { ... } construct with dVaB

Vim patterns support a \& operator that may look like regular expression intersection, but unfortunately it's just a lookahead because the subpattern matches are not required to end at the same positions. what a shame