The sys admin's daily grind: Customizing Vim

Charly's Column – Customizing Vim

Article from Issue 251/2021
Author(s):

Working with the infamous Vim is part of every sys admin's daily work. Charly spices up the veteran editor with personal settings for syntax highlighting and indentations.

The Vim text editor accompanies every sys admin throughout their entire professional life, just like the classic corny joke about it: "I've been using Vim for 15 years – but mainly because I have no idea how to quit it." It takes a few years for some admins to grudgingly resign themselves to the text editor. Others claim to really like Vim, but that could be Stockholm syndrome. Either way, the basics have to be drilled in because Vim is one of the constants you can and must rely on with any Linux system.

Beyond the basics, Vim offers a few functions that enhance the user experience. There are two ways to customize the editor: globally or per user. The global settings are located in the /etc/vim/vimrc file; each user can also create a file named .vimrc in their home directory. Settings made there overwrite and supplement the global settings. Many distributions do not specify global settings from the outset (i.e., /etc/vim/vimrc is empty), knowing that adjustments are always a matter of taste.

Let's look at the most important customizations that can be made as a user in .vimrc. The most popular of these relates to syntax highlighting. When programming, Vim displays certain elements such as variables, mathematical characters, loop entry and exit points, comments, and much more in different colors. The syntax on line in .vimrc enables highlighting.

[...]

Use Express-Checkout link below to read the full article (PDF).

Buy this article as PDF

Express-Checkout as PDF
Price $2.95
(incl. VAT)

Buy Linux Magazine

SINGLE ISSUES
Print Issues
Digital Issues
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Print Subs
Digisubs
 
TABLET & SMARTPHONE APPS
Get it on Google Play

US / Canada

Get it on Google Play

UK / Australia

Related content

  • Command Line: Vundle

    If you use Vim, you'll likely need a tool to manage its hundreds of plugins. Vundle can help.

    more »
  • Command Line: Vim

    Vim feels at home with any Linux distribution. This text mode only editor, which completely does without a mouse, is a useful aid for command line fans.

    more »
  • Command Line: Vim Outliner

    If you need to outline an essay, make a list, or write something highly structured like a CSS file for a website, then look no further than the command line, especially if you’re already comfortable with the Vim text editor.

    more »
  • Perl: Tricks with Vim

    The Vim editor has any number of tricks for helping you avoid unnecessary typing. In this month’s article, we look at some effort-saving Vim techniques for Perl hackers.

    more »
  • Command Line: Vim Plugins

    Managing plugins is a requirement for Vim users, and plugin managers can make the task easier. We look at four options.

    more »
comments powered by Disqus

Visit Our Shop

Trial Subscription

Digital Subscription

Subscribe

Direct Download

Read full article as PDF:

Price $2.95

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Desktop Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source