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

I don't think I ever once thought

[Anonymous Coward]

"Boy! I wish there was some sort of book for vim." Maybe that's just me... I don't generally read manuals even when given the choice. More fun to make discoveries as I go.

Why?

[broody]

What does it provide that the Vim HOWTO doesn't? This strikes me as useful as a 'Developers Guide to ctags'.

Notes from the war

[CrosseyedPainless]

Although I am a die-hard emacs freek, on occasion I use one of those spiffy one-handed chording "keyboards", and I must say, vi *rocks* in that case.

Okay, that's all. Get back to your cubicles and your Nerf(tm) Mortar Launchers.

mg

[Frymaster]

the day before yesterday, my friends and i were waist-deep in the old vi-vs-emacs donnybrook (you know the one). reaching and impasse, we decided to seek arbitration with our local unix celebrity (who manages a fairly well-know os project).

his suggestion? mg - it's apparently "like emacs" except "without the bloat".

... of course i'm still going to keep using vim...

for you Python programmers...

[kdart]

Vim also can embed a Python interpreter (and perl too.. but... ). I have spent a little time setting up Vim to be the centerpiece of a Python IDE. If anyone is interested in my stuff send me an email. Perhaps we can exploit the built-in Python even further to make it even better. Who knows... perhaps a Python-zippy for Vim is just around the corner...

*yeah right*

[Saib0t]

The editor that comes with MSVC is usable without a book. What can VI/VIM do that it can't?

Easy: I can't run the MSVC editor from an SSH session.
The thing is, for the MSVC editor, all the commands are "hidden" in menus you reach with the mouse, and the keyboard shortcuts associated with them. vi just has different shortcuts.

If you don't like vi, just use a different editor. Just use what you like best, like all of us do. I don't like vi, I use joe, jed, pico or emacs. Do I complain that vi sucks? No, because it doesn't. It just doesn't fit the way I do editing.