It’s a couple of years in the making now but I actually gave up on leaving vim after a few months. The cost of learning to use “normal” input methods and editing started to outweigh the benefit of not relying on vim keybindings for everything I do.
On the one hand it feels like a failure. I had so many good reasons to stop using vim. But at the same time I couldn’t shake the strong reliance I’d build on certain workflows in vim. The way I thought and reasoned about writing is too deeply dependant on the modal style of editing.
Using vim keybinds, vim modal editing, just feels so natural to me. For sure I can unlearn it, but after a while I started to realise how much work it would be. The vim style being just too ingrained.
So what now? Are my initial thoughts and complaints about using vim invalid? In a way, sure. But only from the point of view of my mindset at the time. I was so very focused on what my coworkers saw. On how hard it could be to follow along when I’m bouncing around splits and files. Did it really change anything in the end?
No. I’m still the same developer. I still work the same way. Only slower. Lagging. I felt more constrained than ever, especially since I tried to follow the de facto standard of today to use vscode on a mac device like a good webdev.
And I hated it. I couldn’t stand it in the end. As well as my way of work simply didn’t make a difference to working with my colleagues. We don’t need to sync our configs, we don’t need everyone to use the exact same setup. Anything I missed I could easily add into my vim config. Sure vscode can look immensely pretty, but it’s so slow. I can feel it when I type. Even when it’s only a few milliseconds of delay I can sense it.
I’ll stay in my lane, in my terminal. It’s where I feel good. It’s where I’m at my best. Jumping around between splits and windows and files. Navigating tmux, putting the editor in the background to reach the terminal, basking in the neon glow of my oldschool text-based interface.
It makes me happy.
This roundtrip of vim was an eye-opening experience to me, teaching me to not take anything for granted, showing me how important it is to enjoy not only what you do but also what tools you use.
Until next time.
