Yes, I have used magit while trying to find some love for emacs. It's fine. But I still prefer VS Code's git integration. It's the simplest client I've seen. I don't mind using the command line for git, but if I'm in the editor, I can do anything I need to do for my daily workflow with keyboard commands or point and click, whichever mood I'm in.
And as far as text editing, there is a lot that VS Code provides for getting around and moving around text and windows and files. Multiple cursors and syntax-aware selections provide me what I loved about Vim (macros and text objects). And now I don't drive myself nuts hitting the escape key in every other application where I type some text.
Vi/Vim user since 1992. Flirted with emacs every so often. I haven't used Vim in 9 months since installing VS Code. Here's why:
1. IntelliSense support is the best outside of Visual Studio itself.
2. Integrated debugging (currently use C#/mono and Python debuggers a lot)
3. Great git integration. Best "GUI" client around. (advanced git features are not provided, but everyday stuff is really well done)
4. Visually appealing. Not saddled with a terminal heritage.
Just to name a few. Yes, Vim and Emacs have all of these, to some degree. But VS Code does them all better (IMO).
It's fun to use. There's a lot to discover, but there's enough there to be productive right from the start.
Thanks for the link. I checked it out today and was finally able to convert from pathogen to Vundle. The site gives you the exact strings to configure the plugins in all the major plugin managers. IIRC, it scans github looking for .vimrc files and indexes them to gather usage data. Very cool.
I've tried switching from pathogen to Vundle a couple of times and given up when I couldn't figure out how to get it to find a few of my old plugins. This site gives me the Vundle commands that work. Finally! What a great idea - scanning github for .vimrc's and extracting what folks have done with them! You've advanced the platform with this contribution.
I think Vim is potentially as configurable as Emacs, but it is harder to do after you get past some basic key mappings and a few plugins.
In all my exploring of Emacs, I never saw a .emacs that wasn't completely tricked out with custom stuff that only works for that user.
Because of this, I believe you are correct - it's easier to work in a plain vi environment since we don't typically trick out Vim like our fellow Emacs users do with their environment.
What I have found is that ALL editors have modes. Most default to edit mode, and require key sequences to invoke other commands (Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Function keys, Menu choices, etc), then drop you back into edit mode.
Vi chose _a_ way of working. Turns out, a lot of folks have taken to it over the years. (And a lot haven't. They're nice people, too) :)
I do a lot of work on multiple rows/sections/blocks of similar data. My workflow usually goes like this...
1. Do the same thing 3 times, realize that I'll be done faster if I automate it.
2. qz to record a macro into buffer z.
3. Do the work, taking care to leave myself in a state where the next invocation of the macro will pick up right where I want it to.
4. q to finish recording.
5. :map <M-f12> @z to execute buffer z
6. Hit Alt-f12 over and over until I'm done.
Seems like a lot of steps, but it has saved me tons of time.
Of course, as the other commenter said, some folks don't use the feature. That's ok. There's room for all kinds :)
I was taught that one by the brother-in-law. He also tried to teach me 1234l (the letter 'l') to go to the end of a line. I figured out a better way pretty quickly on that one.
I didn't find the magical 'g' until much later, and 1G was already burned into my synapses. I'm trying to change. It's a little awkward :)
Thanks for quantifying it for me. I never dug in deep enough to figure it out. It always just felt "wonky" when I used. (That's an opinion, of course.)
Exactly. It's why I wrote the article. For me, using Vim brings with it a whole general feeling of comfort, which probably includes those early days hacking away on the Xenix box with family close by and Mario dinging in up the hallway.
Weird, I know. But whenever I come back to Vim after straying for any amount of time, I just feel happy. Probably because I can do everything I want to do in the text without having to think about it.
And as far as text editing, there is a lot that VS Code provides for getting around and moving around text and windows and files. Multiple cursors and syntax-aware selections provide me what I loved about Vim (macros and text objects). And now I don't drive myself nuts hitting the escape key in every other application where I type some text.