I wouldn’t expect that you could go from zero experience with Neovim/Vim to more efficient than the editor you’ve been using extensively in less than a month. most of the people that responded here had been using Vim prior to switching. The one that had no prior Vim experience took half a month to get the basics down and be comparable with their prior editor (VScode).
Everything you’re after is available, but trying to learn it all at once can be overwhelming as you’ve been experiencing.
Reinstall a fresh stable version of NeoVim and if you haven’t already followed the tutorial, follow it.
Install ripgrep for full, in file, text search for the current (or specified) directory.
Install kickstart.nvim and watch the kickstart.nvim walkthrough video to learn how configuration and plugins work in Neovim. (It also includes a Fuzzy Finder [fzf] that works with ripgrep inside of NeoVim.)
Practice Vim Motions so they become second nature to you. Watch the first 5 videos of The Primeagen’s Vim Video Playlist to see the fundamental movements beyond what’s in the tutorial. You could use a VSCode extension that replicates Vim Modal Editing with Vim Keybindings to get used to the Vim Motions while you’re still using VSCode.
Get familiar with the Neovim User Documentation which han be accessed and navigated with Vim Motions by typing :help while in Normal mode in Neovim
Watch videos on multiword/mulitline editing options with Neovim (Part 1) | (Part 2)
The best chat beginner community for Neovim that I know of is in The Odin Project Discord. There’s a Neovim thread in the #odin-general channel there. (Bonus, while you’re in the Discord you can help out others trying to learn web development.)
The point is to find your own way by learning from others, not to simply mimic others. Although up front, mimicing what others are doing is a good way to get started.
I am a little late but look into VimBeGood plugin by Primeagen. If you don’t have basics down. It’s like an old typing game but for learning the basic vim commands.
Quick Update:
Your Guide was a great start and i’m using wezterm, tmux and Neovim (kickstart-modular with my adjustments) in production.
My biggest pain point currently is ‘d’ overrides my last yank.
My favorite command is ‘cinq’
There are always many ways to deal with workflow annoyances you run into. Most people go looking for plugins or write a plugin or remap some keybindings, but many forget to read the manual to look for builtin solutions. In the case of using d, you can assign the deleted text to a register other than the default register for yank/delete commands.
dd will delete a line and send it to register "
"xdd will delete a line and send it to register x
p will put the text from register " after the cursor
"xp will put the text from register x after the cursor
Use any lowercase letter for a register. There’s always more beneath the surface of simple vim features.
I wouldn’t expect that you could go from zero experience with Neovim/Vim to more efficient than the editor you’ve been using extensively in less than a month. most of the people that responded here had been using Vim prior to switching. The one that had no prior Vim experience took half a month to get the basics down and be comparable with their prior editor (VScode).
Everything you’re after is available, but trying to learn it all at once can be overwhelming as you’ve been experiencing.
So one step at a time, I suggest that you:
:helpwhile in Normal mode in Neovim.
The best chat beginner community for Neovim that I know of is in The Odin Project Discord. There’s a Neovim thread in the #odin-general channel there. (Bonus, while you’re in the Discord you can help out others trying to learn web development.)
The point is to find your own way by learning from others, not to simply mimic others. Although up front, mimicing what others are doing is a good way to get started.
Take your time with all of this, there’s no rush.
Wow, thank you for your time and extensive answer. This a huge motivation boost and will definitely help me getting into it.
I am a little late but look into VimBeGood plugin by Primeagen. If you don’t have basics down. It’s like an old typing game but for learning the basic vim commands.
Quick Update: Your Guide was a great start and i’m using wezterm, tmux and Neovim (kickstart-modular with my adjustments) in production. My biggest pain point currently is ‘d’ overrides my last yank. My favorite command is ‘cinq’
That awesome!
There are always many ways to deal with workflow annoyances you run into. Most people go looking for plugins or write a plugin or remap some keybindings, but many forget to read the manual to look for builtin solutions. In the case of using
d, you can assign the deleted text to a register other than the default register for yank/delete commands.ddwill delete a line and send it to register""xddwill delete a line and send it to registerxpwill put the text from register"after the cursor"xpwill put the text from registerxafter the cursorUse any lowercase letter for a register. There’s always more beneath the surface of simple vim features.
Relevant sections of the User Manual:
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