Learning the vi and Vim Editors, 7th Edition

Preface to the Seventh Edition

This seventh edition of Learning the vi and Vim Editors retains all the good features of the sixth edition. Time has proven Vim to be the most popular vi clone, so this edition adds considerably expanded coverage of that editor (and gives it a place in the title). However, to be relevant for as many users as possible, we have retained and updated the material on nvi, elvis, and vile.

What’s New

The following features are new for this edition:

• Once again, we have corrected errors in the basic text.

• Seven new chapters provide exhaustive coverage of Vim.

• The material on nvi, elvis, and vile has been brought up-to-date.

• The previous edition’s two reference appendixes on ex and vi have been condensed into one and now contain selected additional material on Vim.

• The other appendixes have been updated as well.

Versions

The following programs were used for testing out various vi features:

• The Solaris version of vi for a “reference” version of Unix vi

• Version 1.79 of Keith Bostic’s nvi

• Version 2.2 of Steve Kirkendall’s elvis

• Version 7.1 of Bram Moolenaar’s Vim

• Version 9.6 of vile, by Kevin Buettner, Tom Dickey, and Paul Fox

Acknowledgments from the Sixth Edition

First and foremost, thanks to my wife, Miriam, for taking care of the kids while I was working on this book, particularly during the “witching hours” right before meal times. I owe her large amounts of quiet time and ice cream.

Paul Manno, of the Georgia Tech College of Computing, provided invaluable help in pacifying ...