Introduction
VimBindings.jl is a Julia package which brings vim emulation directly to the Julia REPL. Feedback is welcome!
Installation
julia> import Pkg
julia> Pkg.add("VimBindings")Configuration
VimBindings.jl can be loaded from startup.jl like so:
# in your startup file, usually ~/.julia/config/startup.jl
if isinteractive()
@eval using VimBindings
endVimBindings.jl must be loaded before the REPL is initialized. This means that the call @eval using VimBindings must not be called within atreplinit, unlike most packages.
VimBindings.jl overwrites some REPL related methods in the standard library in order to add new features, causing a variety of warnings about breaking incremental compilation.
Overwriting methods is not ideal (and there may be a solution which avoids this altogether), but in the meantime this should not cause issues unless you are using other packages which also heavily modify the REPL.
Usage
Start julia as normal. Once the REPL has loaded, you will see a pipe | cursor. This indicates that you are in insert mode, which is similar to the standard REPL experience.
Navigate to Normal mode by striking Esc. Normal mode is indicated with a block █ cursor. From here, you can use vim motions, text objects, operators, etc. For a full list of implemented commands, see Features.
Tmux users
A common practice for users of tmux is to set the escape-time setting of tmux to 0, often after experiencing lag while using vim from within tmux.
Using escape-time set to 0 may cause the VimBindings.jl library to sieze completely and become unresponsive. A higher value will fix this and won't cause noticeable lag. The technical reason for this can be seen in this issue.
Tmux users wishing to use julia with VimBindings.jl should set escape-time to a value above 0, for example:
# .tmux.conf
set -g escape-time 5Feedback
VimBindings.jl is early in development and likely has bugs! Issues with bug reports or general feedback is welcome.
Is your favorite vim binding missing? Add it to the "Key bind request" thread.