Computer Science Programming Basics in Ruby

C.2 Linux

Linux users usually have two choices when it comes to full-featured text editors: emacs and vim. We will discuss vim here, but additional information on emacs can be found on Google by searching for emacs. Vim is a fully customizable text editor that offers out-of-the-box syntax highlighting for nearly every language. To learn how to use vim, type the following in the command line:

$ vimtutor

This text editor will teach you how to use all the commands in vim. You may want to customize vim before jumping in, so in your home directory, create a new file:

$ vim ~/.vimrc

and add the lines:

set number
syntax on
set nowrap
set tabstop=4

Then type :wq and press Enter to save and quit.

For a more comprehensive tutorial, read Learning the vi and Vim Editors by Arnold Robbins, Elbert Hannah, and Linda Lamb (O’Reilly).