I like my Vim with a little drop of prudence
I frequently create temporary macros or maps for ad hoc edits when I find myself having to do the same job more than a few times over. This is a good thing to spend some time reflecting on in your editing. If you’re in the heat of the moment and don’t want to break concentration or waste time on R&D right now, make a note to come back when you have time to look at your current editing inefficiency. I recommend setting up a practise file (something I mention in learnvim) which you can quickly jump to using a global bookmark.
So, there you are editing away on another dreary Tuesday and in a moment of lucidity you realise you’ve just mashed the same key pattern a dozen times over — you’ve just discovered an inefficiency! Awesome.
Quick check: “Do I have time to investigate and optimise this now?”
No: :-( Sucks to be you. Quick! To the Practise File! Make a quick note about this so that you can come back to it on your morning tea break.
Yes: :-) You soldier! Yank a sample snippet of the problem at hand and then… Quick! To the Practise File! Paste in your snippet and start experimenting with ways to optimise the necessary changes. Is there a map or macro you can make to wrap these steps up into a fast and simple solution? Take your macro/map back to the real work you were doing before this R&D diversion and finish the rest of those lame edits with the genuine vim you should be applying to life.
“But couldn’t I have just experimented in my original file?”
Sure… but then you lose the problem. You’re left with just a finished solution. A useless page of sterile, problemless text. That might please your boss and clients, but it’s just no good for your continued development as a vimmer. You’ll grow more by squirreling away interesting little nasties like this that you find in the wild so that you can revisit them during quieter moments as part of your Deliberate Practise regimen.
I frequently create temporary macros or maps for ad hoc edits when I find myself having to do the same job more than a few times over. This is a good thing to spend some time reflecting on in your editing. If you’re in the heat of the moment and don’t want to break concentration or waste time on R&D right now, make a note to come back when you have time to look at your current editing inefficiency. I recommend setting up a practise file (something I mention in learnvim) which you can quickly jump to using a global bookmark.
Setting up a Practise File
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So, there you are editing away on another dreary Tuesday and in a moment of lucidity you realise you’ve just mashed the same key pattern a dozen times over — you’ve just discovered an inefficiency! Awesome.
Quick check: “Do I have time to investigate and optimise this now?”
No: :-( Sucks to be you. Quick! To the Practise File! Make a quick note about this so that you can come back to it on your morning tea break.
Yes: :-) You soldier! Yank a sample snippet of the problem at hand and then… Quick! To the Practise File! Paste in your snippet and start experimenting with ways to optimise the necessary changes. Is there a map or macro you can make to wrap these steps up into a fast and simple solution? Take your macro/map back to the real work you were doing before this R&D diversion and finish the rest of those lame edits with the genuine vim you should be applying to life.
“But couldn’t I have just experimented in my original file?”
Sure… but then you lose the problem. You’re left with just a finished solution. A useless page of sterile, problemless text. That might please your boss and clients, but it’s just no good for your continued development as a vimmer. You’ll grow more by squirreling away interesting little nasties like this that you find in the wild so that you can revisit them during quieter moments as part of your Deliberate Practise regimen.
