Vim

Introduction

Introduction

First, let's define a few terms around the structure of Vim.

A buffer is the text loaded into memory for editing. In other editors or programs, this might just be called a file. In Vim, it is similar but the same object is also used in ways unrelated to files.

A window is a viewport onto a buffer. There is always at least one window and one buffer in Vim, typically they are 1:1. One buffer open in one window. When you start Vim without specifying a file, it is an empty buffer.

You may also have multiple buffers and/or multiple windows open at the same time. These are covered in the Buffers and Windows sections for more on each.

Exiting Vim

There are a meme of jokes about exiting Vim, the truth is once you grok using vim, you don't want to exit. 🙂

:w : Write current file

:w [file] : Write buffer to file

:q : Quit

:wq : Write current file and Quit

:x or ZZ : Write if changes made and Quit

:q! or ZQ : Quit without save

:wqa : Save all changed files, and quit

:qa! : Quit all files, without save

Yes, there are numerous ways to exit. I find using either ZZ or :x my preferred way because it will not change the file's modified time if no changes were made.

Vim will try to protect you from yourself, if there are multiple files open with changes, it will not exit. You must explicitly use one of the ! commands or save the changes first.