20 votes

Where Vim Came From

5 comments

  1. [4]
    musa_totter
    Link
    I think it's neat how much vim still gets from ed, whose design came from (relatively) extreme hardware limitations. I wonder how different a terminal editor written for today's hardware would look.

    I think it's neat how much vim still gets from ed, whose design came from (relatively) extreme hardware limitations. I wonder how different a terminal editor written for today's hardware would look.

    4 votes
    1. Emerald_Knight
      Link Parent
      I would guess that there would be a navigable sidebar and "tabs" for multiple file handling, with keybindings to switch between the sidebar and main area and, when in the main editor area,...

      I would guess that there would be a navigable sidebar and "tabs" for multiple file handling, with keybindings to switch between the sidebar and main area and, when in the main editor area, keybindings to switch between tabs, kind of like the way we have [Shift+]Ctrl+Tab to switch between browser tabs and [Shift+]Alt+Tab to switch between application windows. There might even be more powerful search features for handling searching across multiple files.

      Ultimately, however, I can't foresee the size of such an editor being that excessive. I would imagine that however "modern" a terminal-based editor became, it would still be pretty lightweight. Then again, I could be underestimating what people are capable of building and especially of what kinds of monstrosities they're willing to bring into this world, which is always a distinct possibility.

      5 votes
    2. UserFriendlyRobot
      Link Parent
      Probably something like Sublime. Like a spotlight-like feature so all options are accessible via text. Everything accessible via keybinds and addon friendly.

      Probably something like Sublime. Like a spotlight-like feature so all options are accessible via text. Everything accessible via keybinds and addon friendly.

      2 votes
    3. moriarty
      Link Parent
      It would look like emacs (sorry, I had to!)

      It would look like emacs
      (sorry, I had to!)

  2. Gyrfalcon
    Link
    This was a really neat article. I've just started using vim as my main editor for programming in the last few weeks, since I needed to edit on my Raspberry Pi over SSH. Plus, I can compile and...

    This was a really neat article. I've just started using vim as my main editor for programming in the last few weeks, since I needed to edit on my Raspberry Pi over SSH. Plus, I can compile and test my code (mostly) without leaving the window, something I was having trouble getting working on Atom.

    1 vote