VIM hacks: quick tips for coding in VIM

Initial setup for a programming environment inside VIM
I prefer having line numbers and syntax highlighting in my code. to get this, you simply write :syntax on for syntax highlighting and :set nu for line numbers. Turning them off would be :syntax off and :set nu! .
both (or all, really) commands in vim can be set to automatically run when you start vim, by writing them in the /home/$USER/.vimrc file, one command each line.

Using vim for programming
Note: every command must be issued in command mode, not insert mode where you enter text. get to command mode by hitting <Esc>.
Highlighting
Hover over a parenthesis or a brace and hit % to find the matching paren or brace.
Hover over any word and hit * to highlight all words that match the current word.
Remove hightlights by typing ":nohl" (no highlight)


Search/Replace
searching is done by using the s-command, and works like this:
:<from>,<to>s/searchpattern/replacepattern/g where from and to are line numbers and the optional /g replaces all occurences on the same line if there are more than one. without /g the first occurence is replaced.

- Example unrelated to programming: 
Search patterns are powerful. By using regular expressions, the user can do all sorts of things with the search/replace function in vim. For instance, say you have a text file listing 100 mp3-files in the following format:
artist_song.mp3
You want the lines to look better, and you issue this search and replace-command:
:1,100s/\(.*\)_\(.*\).mp3/\2, by \1
and you get the result:
song, by artist

A few quick life-saving commands:
G=gg Auto-indent the whole document
:v/./d  Remove all blank lines in the document
u        undo
:!        execute external program. e.g: ":!gcc this.c"
:sh     open a shell, return to vim by pressing <Ctrl>+d


Reference:
http://www.brezeale.com/technical_notes/vim_notes.shtml

VIM hacks: code completion

Code completion is one of the features I use the most in vim, and makes the task of writing a for-loop as easy as writing "for" and hitting <Tab>. it writes out html-tags for me and writes the main method automatically. 

This is not built-in, so you have to fetch the snipMate-plugin from vim.org here: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2540.

Installation:

1. Unzip it into your /home/$USER/.vim/ -directory
2. Open your /home/$USER/.vimrc-file and add ":filetype plugin on" on a separate line.

Now, depending on what your files end with, you get completion for a lot of tags and snippets! Try creating a .html-file and write "html" and press<Tab>, or even better - "head" and <Tab>.

VIM hacks: window management

Opening more windows and navigating between them inside vim is easy, it all just takes a bit of getting used to. Here are the commands we use for creation/navigation and movement:
open a new window with a new or existing file inside vim:
(everything in command mode, <Esc> to get there.)
:new filename.html
Move the window left/right:
<Ctrl>+w H (left) / <Ctrl>+w L (right)
Navigate between the windows:
<Ctrl>+w h (left) / <Ctrl>+w l (right) / <Ctrl>+w j (down) / <Ctrl>+w k (up)
Exiting a window?
- it's just like any other file: :q to quit without saving, :wq to write the changes, then quit.
Resizing windows (applies to current window):

• <Ctrl>+w + (more height)
• <Ctrl>+w - (less height)
• <Ctrl>+w > (increase width) 
• <Ctrl>+w < (decrease width)

Like all commands in vim, it can be multiplied by putting a number before the last symbol (e.g <Ctrl>+w 5< would decrease the width five times the default value).


These are some of the commands I find most important, for more visit http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/windows.html#window-resize