Vi_Vim

vi is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by (and thus standardized by) the Single Unix Specification and POSIX. The original code for vi was written by Bill Joy in 1976, as the visual mode for a line editor called ex that Joy had written with Chuck Haley. Bill Joy’s ex 1.1 was released as part of the first BSD Unix release in March, 1978. It was not until version 2.0 of ex, released as part of Second Berkeley Software Distribution in May, 1979 that the editor was installed under the name vi (which took users straight into ex’s visual mode), and the name by which it is known today. Some current implementations of vi can trace their source code ancestry to Bill Joy; others are completely new, largely compatible reimplementations. The name vi is derived from the shortest unambiguous abbreviation for the ex command visual, which switches the ex line editor to visual mode.

Vim (a contraction of Vi IMproved) is a clone of Bill Joy’s vi editor for Unix. Vim is designed for use both from a command-line interface and as a standalone application in a graphical user interface. Vim is free and open source software and is released under a license that includes some charityware clauses, encouraging users who enjoy the software to consider donating to children in Uganda, license which is compatible with the GNU General Public License. Although Vim was originally released for the Amiga, Vim has since been developed to be cross-platform, supporting many other platforms. In 2006, it was voted the most popular editor amongst Linux Journal readers.

Vi and Vim are especially useful for command-line extension use.

See also

emacs

Material

• http://www.openvim.com/tutorial.html
• http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialAdvanced_vi.html
• http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Tutorial
• http://www.viemu.com/a_vi_vim_graphical_cheat_sheet_tutorial.html

Books

• Robbins, Arnold; Lamb, Linda ; Hannah, Elbert (2008). Learning the vi and Vim Editors. O’Reilly Media
• Robbins, Arnold (2011) vi and Vim Editors Pocket Reference: Support for every text editing task. O’Reilly Media
• Oualline, Steve; Qualline, Steve (2001). Vi iMproved (VIM). Sams