6 Vim Books That Separate Experts from Amateurs

Drew Neil’s extensive experience as a programmer and educator shines through in this focused guide to Vim, a text editor prized for speed and efficiency. This book dives into over 120 practical tips that teach you how to harness Vim’s core features, like macros, the Dot Formula for repeating commands, and advanced search-and-replace techniques using regular expressions. You’ll learn to streamline editing tasks without relying on plugins, making it ideal if you want to master Vim’s native power. Developers, sysadmins, and anyone serious about coding will find this a solid resource to boost productivity and deepen their command-line skills.

Jovica Ilic brings a unique blend of expertise in IT, information security, and human psychology to this guide, aiming to demystify Vim without overwhelming you with unnecessary details. Instead of trying to master every command, this book zeroes in on a handful of crucial concepts that deliver the greatest productivity gains, from registers and buffers to recursive macros. You'll find practical chapters on personalizing Vim, using visual modes effectively, and managing plugins, all illustrated with realistic examples that help you perform complex text edits across multiple files. Whether you're new to Vim or seeking to deepen your skills, this book offers a focused path to becoming significantly more efficient in your coding or writing workflows.

This tailored Vim Mastery Blueprint offers a deeply engaging journey into mastering Vim editing skills, crafted specifically to match your background and goals. It explores essential Vim commands, efficient navigation techniques, and customization options adapted to your experience. The book examines practical editing workflows, plugin management, and scripting basics to enhance your coding productivity. By focusing on your interests, this personalized guide reveals pathways through Vim’s complexities, ensuring you gain confidence and speed in your daily editing tasks. It brings together core knowledge and personal learning needs for an immersive, hands-on Vim experience that speaks directly to your unique requirements.

Ruslan Osipov's experience with Vim shines through in this detailed guide that takes you well beyond the basics. You’ll learn how to harness Vim and Neovim for efficient software development, including advanced editing techniques, plugin management, and using Vimscript to customize your workflow. The book walks you through practical tasks like refactoring and debugging with examples tailored especially for Python developers, though the concepts apply broadly. If you want to make Vim your go-to editor and understand its ecosystem deeply, this book equips you with the skills and mindset needed to integrate it into your daily coding routine.

When Drew Neil, a programmer and trainer deeply versed in Vim and Neovim, wrote Modern Vim, he aimed to elevate Vim from a text editor to a full-fledged development environment. This book teaches you how to leverage Vim 8's latest features and Neovim's innovations, like asynchronous task execution and an integrated terminal emulator, to streamline coding, testing, and debugging workflows. For example, Neil guides you through setting up plugins with Vim 8’s package support and managing sessions to preserve your work state. If you're a programmer or web developer working in Unix-based systems, this book offers concrete techniques to boost your efficiency with Vim or Neovim.

What started as Cláudio Santos Ribeiro’s quest to unify scattered Vim resources into a single guide became a focused manual on transforming Vim from a simple text editor into a powerful Integrated Development Environment. You’ll find detailed guidance on optimizing Vim’s installation, configuring plugins, and mastering file navigation and auto-completion, all aimed at speeding up your coding workflow. This book is particularly suited for developers who want to unlock Vim’s full potential without juggling multiple disparate tutorials. Its concise 82-page format makes it approachable yet informative, especially for those ready to elevate their everyday development experience.

This tailored book explores a step-by-step approach to accelerating your Vim speed and workflow, crafted to fit your unique background and goals. It covers essential Vim commands, navigation techniques, and automation tools, focusing on what matters most to your current skill level and interests. By matching your learning path to your specific needs, it reveals how to seamlessly integrate efficient habits into daily coding routines. The personalized content delves into mastering macros, plugin optimization, and workflow customization, making it easier to adopt expert practices without overwhelming you. This focused journey is designed to boost your confidence and productivity with Vim through a carefully tailored progression.

Unlike most Vim books that focus on exhaustive command listings, Jacek Artymiak’s Vi(1) Tips offers a curated collection of essential skills tailored for OpenBSD users navigating the command-line environment. Drawing on his deep expertise in Linux and system administration, Artymiak emphasizes practical tips that improve your efficiency with the Vi/Vim editor, such as advanced navigation techniques and editing shortcuts. The book is concise yet rich with insights that benefit both intermediate users familiar with Vi and those aiming to deepen their command-line fluency. If you’re looking to sharpen your text editing within Unix-like systems, this book provides focused guidance without unnecessary complexity.