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Mastering the Vim Language

thoughtbot · talk · Watch on YouTube

Testing, debugging & developer tools

What it is

Chris Toomey of thoughtbot explains Vim as a language of commands, motions and text objects that combine into precise edits. He shows how to master the built-in pieces and extend them.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Repeatedly called the best video introduction to Vim's underlying model.

  • 5 people recommended it
  • 7 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “In video form, the best introduction I have seen is Chris Toomey’s”

    Best video introduction to Vim.

    begemotz, 2016-11 · Strong recommendation · in “How to start using VIM?”

  2. “Understanding vim's model, what Chris Toomey of Thoughtbot calls "the Vim Language", helps incredibly”

    Explains why Vim idioms exist and the Vim language.

    dredmorbius, 2019-03 · Strong recommendation · in “Vim Anti-Patterns (2012)”

  3. “Even without plugins mastering vim makes writing code quite natural.”

    Shows text objects and the power of mastering Vim.

    urmish, 2020-07 · Recommendation · in “How Did Vim Become So Popular?”

  4. “Some resources that helped”

    Listed among resources that helped learn Vim.

    tantony, 2022-10 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: How to become good at Emacs/Vim?”

  5. “finally found joy in vim [0]”

    Shows vim keybindings as an editing language.

    jsilence, 2025-05 · Recommendation · in “Edamagit: Magit for VSCode”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: vim, text objects, motions, modal editing, editor productivity

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