Vim Notes

Vim "leader" Key

<leader> key is a vim tool that can be used to create personalized shortcuts.

Default <leader> key is backslash \. To change the leader key to comma , add let mapleader = "," to your vimrc. You can use any other key as <leader> key, even space or function keys. But noting that you only have 1 second to press the actual shortcut key after the leader key is stroke(by default of course, you can configure it after all), it's kinda shitty to use backslash or function key as leader, isn't it?

Mapping a command with <leader> key is pretty easy.

1map <leader>h :noh<CR>

Above mapping means if you press <leader> and h key in sequence, it will run :noh(remove highlighting for in-buffer search).

Mapping custom functions? No problem!

1function! ToggleLineNumber()
2if v:version > 703
3  set norelativenumber!
4endif
5set nonumber!
6endfunction

Above function toggles both relative and normal line numbers but not relative when using versions before vim 7.4.

And here's the mapping for it.

1map <leader>l :call ToggleLineNumber()<CR>

Vim Buffer

Buffer is the coolest concept I've learned while I use Vim to be honest.

In Vim, a buffer is nothing more than text that you are editing. For example, when you open a file, the content of the file is loaded into a buffer. So when you issue this command:

1vim .vimrc

You are actually launching Vim with a single buffer that is filled with the contents of the .vimrc file. Easy peasy!

Now let’s look at what happens when you try to edit multiple files. Let’s issue this command:

1vim .vimrc .bashrc

Now you've opened two buffers, and you can hop from one to another, it's very very similar with tabs in other applications like vscode or chrome.

For example, :bnext will lead you to the next buffer, and it cycles through the list of all open buffers.

So adding below two lines to your .vimrc file will give you a superpower to use buffer smartly and visually(I assume you're using airline plugin. But there must be similar ways if you are not using airline).

1" enable the list of buffers
2let g:airline#extensions#tabline#enabled = 1
3
4" show filenames only
5let g:airline#extensions#tabline#fnamemod = ':t'

You can see all the buffer commands by :h :buffer, but only using :bnext and :bd was cool enough for me personally.

There are other related concepts in Vim, like window and tab. A window in Vim is just a way to view a buffer. Whenever you create a new vertical or horizontal split, that is a window. And Tabs? A tab is just a collection of windows according to the docs. However, correct use of buffers may bring a lot of fun on its own.

Now you've got a correct understanding of buffers in vim, that means you can supercharge your daily coding with Vim. :D

Happy coding!