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I've done vimtutor several times when I get bored. I love the idea of Vim. It's keyboard shortcuts have a lot of relevancy to me and I just feel like there's a lot available to me, that wasn't available in my current editor (Atom). Plus I like the idea of the extensibility that vim offers. As of now I can't get away from Atom just because I can't just start using Vim at work and have a slow curve to get back to speed.

To test my speed I wrote the basic Hello, World program in C. In Atom I was able to accomplish this in under 30 seconds. However in Vim, it took me over 2 minutes. Are there any good resources out there to get over that initial hump?

UPDATE:
So I found the reason I was so much slower on Vim was not because of Vim itself, but the version I have installed on my Mac was bugged and wouldn't let me do things like backspace in INSERT mode. Having only used Vim on my Mac I always thought this was correct. So I would be slowed down by typos because I would have to go to NORMAL mode and then use X on any misplaced characters. I retried this time test on my Linux machine, and I was actually (slightly)faster on Vim. This made the "learning curve" I was having seem non-existent.

jacksons123
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    have patience and lots of practice... it would help if you let us know if there is any specific thing you are finding difficulty with... resources: navigating help, vim resources list I made and documentation on SO – Sundeep Aug 16 '16 at 07:38
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    See also https://robots.thoughtbot.com/the-vim-learning-curve-is-a-myth. – Christopher Bottoms Aug 16 '16 at 12:26
  • Do you need help with formatting, copy/paste, etc? See also VimCasts – Christopher Bottoms Aug 16 '16 at 12:29
  • Also, please mention the resources that you have found. That would make this a much better question (by sharing what others could find useful). – Christopher Bottoms Aug 16 '16 at 12:31
  • Please see this meta answer on why I closed this question for now. – Martin Tournoij Aug 16 '16 at 21:22
  • I would be really interested in hearing more details of your time-test. (As in, what steps you actually performed in each app to complete the task, and which bits were slow for you in Vim.) – Rich Aug 17 '16 at 08:46
  • @Rich Well the main reason I was so much faster in Atom was because of the linter plugin I have for C/C++. This version of Vim had no plugins, and also the version of Vim I was using was actually bugged where I couldn't use backspaces in INSERT mode, so any time I would have to quickly recover typos I would have to go to NORMAL mode and use the X key to delete anything. Not only that, but the return key wouldn't work either so any time I wanted to quickly start a new line I would have to escape and use O. Once I redid this test in a working vim there was no difference in time. – jacksons123 Aug 18 '16 at 14:23
  • Backspace not working in insert mode is an unfortunate side affect of vi compatibility. This can be changed by setting an option: :set backspace=2. – Tumbler41 Aug 18 '16 at 14:59
  • @Tumbler41 I've actually tried this already, it wasn't just not working, I would get errors and it would make me choose a mode. – jacksons123 Aug 18 '16 at 17:54

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The only good resource I can recommend is Vim itself. It's only with practice that you will gain in productivity. So make a deal with yourself, use only Vim, no matter what, stick to it. It'll take some time before you can type as quickly as you used to, but you'll learn so much more.

I can't just start using Vim at work and have a slow curve to get back to speed.

I understand, and it seems to be a blocking point, but you can overcome it. For example, when you're at home, and writing something, whether it's a mail, some code, a blog post, ... do it with Vim.

Now and then, when you start to feel comfortable with the basic movement and edition command, start your day with Vim. And if you can't afford to be slower, go back to Atom. But each day try to start with Vim, for 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, ... And one day you'll never leave it again.

I did the same thing while switching from Sublime Text 2, and the transition was made the day I typed in ST2 ciw. The memory muscle was starting to build up and could not go back (not in a bad way though, I found the Vim way much more productive).

As for any kind of activity, the results come with practice. Practice Vim, talk about it, exchange with others, go to meetings, and read the doc.

If you want for resources to help you understand Vim, I could not recommend enough:

But keep in mind, the real only way to learn Vim, is to open Vim and use it.

nobe4
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It took me 4 months to reach, and eventually surpass, my previous productivity level. In the mean time I just kept using TextMate as my main editor. Be patient.

romainl
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