Vi IMproved -- Vim

Craig Maloney writes: "Bram Moolenaar's Vim editor has quickly become the clone of choice for users of the venerable vi editor. Unfortunately, until recently finding documentation for the features of Vim meant spending quality time with the help files that come with Vim. While the help files are very good, a manual/tutorial of the Vim editor was needed. Other vi books included scant pages about the improvements of Vim over standard vi, but Vim isn't only a slight improvement to vi. Vi IMproved -- Vim is the manual Vim users need to help them get the full benefit out of Vim." Read on for more of Craig's review of this book below. Vi IMproved -- Vim author Steve Oualline pages 572 publisher New Riders rating 7.5/10 reviewer Craig Maloney ISBN 0735710015 summary The first and only published book covering the basic and advanced usage of Vi IMproved.

Learning to crawl

Books describing editors generally fall into two categories. The first category of books will describe a particular function (like moving through a file) with all the known ways for performing that function, ad nauseum. The second category distills the myriad of ways to perform that function into a handful of the most common or most useful ways. Vi IMproved -- Vim combines both methods with good results.

The first section of the book is entitled Basic Editing; this section introduces the reader to starting and using Vim effectively without getting too bogged down in the gory details of Vim's vi heritage. In the chapter on moving around, the author begins with two methods of movement. In the details portion, the author has the reader performing more complex movements. This is a good approach, much like learning how to walk before learning how to hop, skip, jump, and dance through your document. Unfortunately this approach makes using this book as a reference very difficult. I would read sections that I wanted to use later, only to realize I couldn't find the section again. Vi IMproved -- Vim more than makes up for this shortcoming with a generous appendix detailing the Normal Mode, Command Mode, and Visual Mode commands along with a well-designed quick-reference section.

Made to Order

One of the strengths of Vim over other vi clones is Vim's ability to be used as a regular GUI application, and not just as an xterm-enhanced application.

Vi -- IMproved Vim shows not only how to use the GUI, but also how to customize the GUI to fit the reader's preferences. A good portion of this book deals with customizing Vim to suit the reader's style through the various parameters, menus, and GUI elements. Users who like their editors as stock as possible will find themselves skipping a lot of pages in this book. However even they will be tempted to try out some of the neat functions that pop up as they flip through the pages. The author conveys a sense of exploration, inviting users to experiment and try out new things with Vim.

Errata

Unfortunately, with vi and its clones, a single letter can mean the difference between moving through the document and deleting half of it by accident. Vi IMproved -- Vim is plagued with typos and errors, making this a difficult book for newbies to get into without having the errata sheet from http://vim.sf.net handy. It's understandable why a book like this would have some errors, especially with vi and Vim's terse keyboard commands.

Conclusion

Users of Vim will no doubt be thrilled with Vi IMproved -- Vim. Having a reference outside of the help menus in the program is a godsend for any user of Vim. Unfortunately the errors in this book mar what could have been the definitive book for Vim users, but for those who are starting out with Vim, or who would like to know more about Vim, this book is the perfect starting point and reference. The book covers the 5.x series of editors, but that shouldn't be a problem for most people looking to get started with the 6.x series.

If you're using Vim, you need Vi IMproved -- Vim.

You can purchase Vi IMproved from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

No joe fans?

[swb]

I hate vi (too weird) and emacs (weird, and bloated). Well, I should say I made a run at emacs once but never bought into the lifestyle so it was just too much overhead for simple edits.

I've instead been a longtime fan of joe. Simple, lightweight and powerful enough for more complicated jobs. AND it's user friendly.

Re:Any Text Editor That Needs A Book...

[cje]

You may see the obtuseness of VI as part of the initiation; I see it as damage and route around it.

This is a common misconception among people who are unfamiliar with vi (that the people who use it know that it's hard to use, but use it anyway because they're stuck and the past and so that they can feel smug and superior to the Common Man who can only use Common Editors.) However, it's dead wrong.

I use vi because it's easy to use. That's right; vi is easy to use.

It is not, however, particularly easy to learn, and here's where the problems arise: too many people confuse ease of use with ease of learning. If you sit somebody down in front of a tool such as the MSVC++ editor, of course they will be able to learn it quicker than they would be able to learn vi, particularly if they are already familiar with concepts such as the mouse, pull-down menus, standard keyboard shortcuts, and other familiar elements of modern windowing environments.

But does that mean that, at the end of the day, the MSVC++ editor is easier to use than vi? I don't think so. For example, if I want to delete 8 lines of text in vi, I simply type "8dd". Now, you might say "Well, all I have to do is take the mouse, highlight those eight lines, and choose Edit->Cut or press Delete or Control-C or Control-X or whatever", and you'd be right. And this may be more intuitive and familiar then pressing "8dd", but you'd have a difficult time convincing me that it's easier, and it is most certainly not faster.

Here's the bottom line: Some vi users accuse users of other (mostly GUI) editors of being technically-challenged simpletons. Some users of other (mostly GUI) editors accuse vi users of being anachronistic elitists. Both sides are wrong. An editor is a tool; use the one that fits you the best. Personally, I'll take vi any day, but that is my opinion (and it is for this reason that I qualify my statement with "personally.")