January 2021
Intermediate to advanced
832 pages
18h 3m
English
Content preview from Linux Command Line and Shell Scripting Bible, 4th Edition
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CHAPTER 10Working with Editors
Before you start your shell scripting career, it's wise to gain proficiency using at least one text editor in Linux. Using features such as searching, cutting, and pasting allows you to develop your shell scripts more quickly.
You have the choice of several editors. Many individuals find a particular editor whose functionality they love and use that one exclusively. This chapter provides a brief sampling of a few of the text editors you can employ in the Linux world.
Visiting the vim Editor
The vi editor was one of the early editors used on Unix systems. It uses the console graphics mode to emulate a text-editing window, allowing you to see the lines of your file; move around within the file; and insert, edit, and replace text.
Although it is quite possibly the most complicated editor in the world (at least in the opinion of those who don’t like it), vi provides many features that have made it a staple for programmers and system administrators for decades.
When the GNU Project ported the vi editor to the open source world, they chose to make some improvements to it. Because it extended the original vi editor found in the Unix world, the developers also renamed it “vi improved” or vim.
This section walks you through the basics of using the vim editor to edit your text shell script files. ...