Practical Vim, 2nd Edition

Tip 48

Distinguish Between Real Lines and Display Lines

Avoid frustration by learning the difference between real lines and display lines. Vim lets us operate on both.

Unlike many text editors, Vim makes a distinction between real lines and display lines. When the ‘wrap’ setting is enabled (and it’s on by default), each line of text that exceeds the width of the window will display as wrapped, ensuring that no text is truncated from view. As a result, a single line in the file may be represented by multiple lines on the display.

The easiest way to tell the difference between real lines and display lines is by enabling the ‘number’ setting. Lines that begin with a number correspond to the real lines, which may span one or more display lines. ...