Week 2 Installation Guide

" Basic settings
set nocompatible
syntax on
filetype plugin indent on

set number relativenumber
set mouse=a
set hidden
set ignorecase smartcase
set incsearch hlsearch

" Indentation
set expandtab
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set autoindent

" UI
set showcmd
set wildmenu
set laststatus=2

" Leader key
let mapleader = " "

" Key mappings
inoremap jk <Esc>
nnoremap <leader>w :w<CR>
nnoremap <leader>q :q<CR>
nnoremap <leader><space> :noh<CR>

" Window navigation
nnoremap <C-h> <C-w>h
nnoremap <C-j> <C-w>j
nnoremap <C-k> <C-w>k
nnoremap <C-l> <C-w>l

Save and quit: :wq

Test it:

vim test.txt

You should see line numbers and syntax highlighting.

Neovim (Modern Alternative)

Neovim is a modern fork of Vim with better defaults, Lua configuration, and built-in LSP support. It’s compatible with most Vim plugins and commands.

Why Neovim?

Better performance
More active development
Lua configuration (more powerful than Vimscript)
Built-in LSP (Language Server Protocol)
Better plugin ecosystem

Installation

macOS

brew install neovim

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt install neovim

Linux (Fedora/RHEL)

sudo dnf install neovim

Windows (WSL)

sudo apt install neovim

If not available, you can install to your home directory:

cd ~
wget https://github.com/neovim/neovim/releases/latest/download/nvim-linux64.tar.gz
tar xzf nvim-linux64.tar.gz
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
ln -s ~/nvim-linux64/bin/nvim ~/.local/bin/nvim

Then add to your ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Verify Installation

nvim --version

Should show version 0.9.0 or higher.

Configuration

Neovim uses ~/.config/nvim/init.vim (or init.lua for Lua config).

For Vim compatibility, create a simple init.vim:

mkdir -p ~/.config/nvim
vim ~/.config/nvim/init.vim

Add this to use your existing Vimrc:

set runtimepath^=~/.vim runtimepath+=~/.vim/after
let &packpath = &runtimepath
source ~/.vimrc

Or start fresh with Lua config:

vim ~/.config/nvim/init.lua

-- Basic settings
vim.opt.number = true
vim.opt.relativenumber = true
vim.opt.mouse = 'a'
vim.opt.ignorecase = true
vim.opt.smartcase = true
vim.opt.hlsearch = true
vim.opt.wrap = false
vim.opt.expandtab = true
vim.opt.tabstop = 4
vim.opt.shiftwidth = 4

-- Leader key
vim.g.mapleader = ' '

-- Key mappings
vim.keymap.set('i', 'jk', '<Esc>')
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>w', ':w<CR>')
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader>q', ':q<CR>')
vim.keymap.set('n', '<leader><space>', ':noh<CR>')

Using Neovim

Commands are identical to Vim:

nvim filename.txt    # Instead of vim

Or alias it:

# Add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
alias vim='nvim'
alias vi='nvim'

Helix (Different Paradigm)

Helix is a modern modal editor inspired by Kakoune. It has different keybindings than Vim but similar philosophy.

Why Helix?

Selection-first editing (select, then act)
Multiple cursors built-in
No configuration needed (works great out of the box)
Built-in LSP, tree-sitter syntax highlighting
Written in Rust (fast and safe)

Differences from Vim

Different keybindings (not Vim-compatible)
Selection before action (vs. Vim’s action then motion)
No modes named Normal/Insert (called Normal/Select)
Different learning curve

Installation

macOS

brew install helix

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Add PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:maveonair/helix-editor
sudo apt update
sudo apt install helix

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
cd helix
cargo install --path helix-term

Linux (Fedora)

sudo dnf install helix

Other

Build from source to your home directory:

cd ~
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
source $HOME/.cargo/env

git clone https://github.com/helix-editor/helix
cd helix
cargo install --path helix-term --locked

Then add to ~/.bashrc:

export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

Verify Installation

hx --version

Basic Usage

hx filename.txt

Key differences from Vim:

i enters insert mode (same)
Esc returns to normal mode (same)
But motion then action: w selects word, then d deletes selection
:q to quit (same)
:w to save (same)

Configuration

Helix works great without configuration, but you can customize:

mkdir -p ~/.config/helix
hx ~/.config/helix/config.toml

Basic config:

theme = "onedark"

[editor]
line-number = "relative"
mouse = true
cursorline = true
auto-save = false

[editor.cursor-shape]
insert = "bar"
normal = "block"
select = "underline"

[keys.normal]
# Add custom keybindings if desired

Should You Use Helix?

For this class, we focus on Vim because:

More widely available
More resources and community
Transferable to other tools (Vim mode everywhere)

But Helix is worth trying if you:

Want a modern editor without configuration
Like the selection-first paradigm
Want built-in LSP without setup

You can learn both, but start with Vim for this course.

Running vimtutor

The best way to learn Vim is the built-in tutorial.

For Vim:

vimtutor

For Neovim:

nvim +Tutor

For Helix:

hx --tutor

Complete at least lessons 1-4. Takes about 30 minutes.

Verification Checklist

Test your setup:

# Create test file
echo "Hello, Week 2!" > test.txt

# Edit with Vim
vim test.txt
# Press i, type something, press Esc, type :wq

# Edit with Neovim (if installed)
nvim test.txt

# Edit with Helix (if installed)
hx test.txt

# Clean up
rm test.txt

Check your config works:

# Vim
vim ~/.vimrc
# Should see line numbers and syntax highlighting

# Neovim
nvim ~/.config/nvim/init.vim
# or
nvim ~/.config/nvim/init.lua

O - Open read-only
R - Recover and continue editing
D - Delete swap file (if you’re sure)
Q - Quit

Colors look wrong

Enable 256 colors in Vim:

set t_Co=256

Or use a better terminal (iTerm2, Alacritty, WezTerm).

Can’t use system clipboard

Check if Vim was compiled with clipboard support:

vim --version | grep clipboard

Should show +clipboard. If it shows -clipboard, reinstall Vim:

# macOS
brew install vim

# Linux
sudo apt install vim-gtk3

The Art Of Lazy Programming