vim

TOC

1. vim plugins
2. using a plugin manager
3. the basics
   1. colorscheme
   2. autocompletion
   3. linting
4. my vim config summary
5. final note - licence

NOTE: My vimrc has numerous plugins, all of which i use everyday. Since not everyone is as creazy as i am, this file only explains how to install the basic ones. For any additional info on any of the plugins used in my vimrc, or anything else concerning vim usage please email me at sotiris4321@gmail.com

To install my configuration please do the following:

• run the install.sh script. If installing for the first time please REMOVE ~/.vim and run the 'install_new'. It will make sure you have the correct structure and that plugged is installed.
• Please read the above! DO NOT RUN install.sh unless youre sure. It will not work and will propably confuse you!!!
• open vim and run ":PlugInstall".
• run ":CocInstall " to install the autcompletion plugins you want(for example ":CocInstall coc-clangd"). You can find the ones I use in the README file.

⚠️ please read the requirements to make sure your environment is prepared otherwise the script will fail

Also a good practice would be to check this repo from time to time since I update it regurarly adding new features and extending old ones!

You can always find the changes here.

vim plugins

To experience the real power of vim we have to use pluggins. Pluggins in vim can be compared to libraries in a language. i They extend the basic functionality of vim and add more features.

using a pluggin manager

Although we could simply download the plugins by hand and simply place them inside the corresponding dirs, I will show you the more relaxed, automatic way: Using a plugin manager!

I will demostrate using "Plugged" but you can use any other manager you wish and everything should be fairly the same!

To download and enable plug, we just have to run

  curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs
  \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

in our terminal.

You can also add this script I have created that will automatically check your Plug installation and your plugins and update if necessary when you start vim.

if empty(glob('~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim'))
  silent !curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs
    \ https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim
  autocmd VimEnter * PlugInstall --sync | source $MYVIMRC
endif

⚠️ If youre trying this on windows please reffer here since installation is NOT the same.

https://github.com/junegunn/vim-plug

As you can propably guess by reading the script above, to install any plugins and/or add new ones we simply run ":PlugInstall" from whithin vim. Any plugin that is included between the plug#begin and plug#end calls will be installed and added to vim.

Let us first figure out what we need though.

the basics

When using a code editor I, and I believe most of you expect three basic features:

• Movement, highlighting and ease-of-use functionality.
• good color highlights, variable trackings, namespaces etc...
• autocompletition and linting and propably debuging if applicable

Since vim has propably the most sophisticated command mode compared to any other editor we really needn't worry about the first point mentioned.

colorscheme: gruvebox to feel the groove

What we now need, is to choose a colorscheme. Lucky for us there are thousands of colorschemes with unique features and a variaty of functionalities for everyone to choose. I have choosen gruvebox since its simple but has really good variable tracking and type distinction.

To install gruvebox just add this line to your vimrc, after calling plug (Plug#begin).

Plug 'gruvbox-community/gruvbox'

automplete: Coc ftw!

Now lets move on to the real stuff. Autocompletion, linting and debuging.

For autocompletion the choice is a one-way road: Conquer Of Completion or simply coc.

a little history lesson

Coc utilizes the recently published language servers initally developed by Microsoft (YES i didnt want to believe it either!) and connects lsp engines directly to vim!

You propably have no idea what im talking about, like , what the fuck are lsp's!?

Well the good thing is you dont really need to know because everything will just work out of the box.

The bad thing is you propably are falling way behind developments and should really start reading but thats a topic for some other time! My warning paragraph.

Now lets look at Coc and how to install it.

You simply add the following line to your vimrc (after calling plug obviously):

Plug 'neoclide/coc.nvim', {'branch': 'release'}

Coc on its own wont do anything!!!

Its just the link between some language server/engine and vim. Following the link below you can find all available lsp engines. Just choose the ones you want and install them using the ":CocInstall" command. For example,to install c/c++ engine i would run ":CocInstall coc-clangd". After that just visit the plugins repository/site and read about the different options!

https://github.com/neoclide/coc.nvim/wiki/Language-servers

⚠️ Coc does NOT work with the setpaste option of vim! If you use that option coc will break and there will be no completion!

Coc needs a configuration file in json format named "coc-config.json" where all the values are set. You can safely use mine since i have already done the configturation and coc is working perfectly with any language i have yet tried!

ALE: linter..lets go!

⚠️ when editing large files (>150-200 lines) ALE is SERIOUSLY SLOW. I personally have stopped using it completely but am leving this config here for anyne who still wants to give it a try!

Sugestion: just use

"diagnostic.checkCurrentLine": true

in your CocConfig and you should have the same powerful linting using the much much much much faster lsp engine of coc.

If you still want to try it here is my old config:

Now lets move on to linting! Many people find that Coc is enough for developing software. Personally i want a more "intelligent" view of my code, i and not just plain old stupid compilation. Here is where ALE comes into play.

ALE is a powerful linter that can help any developer find bugs and logical gaps (line unused or uninitialized variables) before he even has to compile or run the code.

To install ALE just add the following line to your vimrc (after you have called plug!):

Plug 'dense-analysis/ale'

ALE has lsp features itself so if you want to use it along with Coc like me you have to add:

let g:ale_disable_lsp = 1

to your vimrc and also add the line

"diagnostic.displayByAle":true 

to your coc-config file!

MyVim

My AWESOME vimrc and coc configuration in short!!!!!

OVERVIEW

NOTE:For installation guidelines please read this file from the top!

Vim plugins(using plug):

• vim-man

• nerdtree

• polyglot

• vim-cpp

• jsonc

• vim-rainbow

• nerdcommenter

• coc

• gitgutter

• fzf

• vim-surround

• emmet-vim

• matchit

• vim-fugitive

• lightline

  Since it is suggented by the developers of coc I also use vim-lsp-cxx-highlights.

colorscheme

• gruvbox

Coc extensions:

• coc-spell-checker
• coc-snippets
• coc-vimlsp
• coc-sh
• coc-cmake
• coc-clangd
• coc-markdownlint
• coc-json
• coc-tsserver
• coc-html
• coc-phpls

NOTE: the configuration for coc was just copied and dumped from the internet (with some additions) and could probably be better.

final note - about the licence

For those of you that are still alive despite the boredom and my bad humor, CONGRATS, youre on the best way to become a vim user and burn your brain off like us!

If you would like to contribute with any ideas or suggestions or any given questions please contact me at sotiris4321@gmail.com

Keep in mind that all of this is advisory and by no given means is it to be taken as fail-proof or official!

YOU ARE USING ALL OF THE ABOVE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

⚠️DISCLAMER: All of the mentioned software and any other kind of used or implied copyrighted matterial is NOT owned by me but by the respectful owner and is subject to the licence under which its published!

Concerning my code: unless optherwize stated it is usable under the GPL licence as described in the LICENCE file that you downloaded along with the code.

BY USING ANY PART OF THIS REPOSITORY IN ITS CURRENT, PAST OR FUTURE FORM, YOU AGREE TO THESE TERMS