Why I’m studying to program in Vim as an alternative of VS Code

Many Linux veterans nonetheless vouch for Vim for enhancing paperwork and writing code. As a Linux user myself, I can see why. When many corporations are going AI-first with their code editors, Vim stays true to what it was meant for: a easy terminal textual content editor that makes you environment friendly whereas programming.

That’s what made Vim stick out to me amongst all of the noise. So a lot in order that I used to be able to ditch even VS Code, my go-to editor for coding and textual content enhancing. I’m not alone. According to Stack Overflow’s 2026 Developer Survey, 27% of builders use Vim, a textual content editor from 1991, which is infamous for complicated you about how to exit.

I wished to be free from the arrow keys

Vim made navigating the supply code fast

This is not nearly VS Code. In most fashionable code editors, you utilize the arrow keys to navigate the file. Whether I wished to leap phrases or strains, I needed to attain for the arrow keys or the navigation keys. Now, when I’m in the midst of an intense coding session and have to navigate the codebase, that is tedious for me.

That’s after I determined to check out Vim’s navigation keys: h, j, ok, and l. What’s extra amusing is that there is an attention-grabbing story behind this. Bill Joy wrote the unique vi editor, the one which impressed Vim, utilizing a Lear Siegler ADM-3A terminal. That keyboard had no separate cursor keys. Instead, the arrows had been printed proper on h, j, ok, and l. Joy’s personal vi guide even says skilled customers “choose these keys to arrow keys.”

Arrow keys work on Vim too. But the true win comes from utilizing the 4 alphabetical keys. I can kind 5j to leap down 5 strains as an alternative of mashing the down arrow key. Now, arrow keys aren’t even the largest drawback. Say I need to leap phrases or sentences. I’ve to make use of Ctrl along with the arrow and navigation keys.

In Vim, virtually all navigation shortcuts are inside your attain with out lifting your hand. Tricks like this are what save you hours of editing time in Vim.

Vim is the quickest approach I can put collectively a program

Quick scripts, calculations, prototypes

Learning Python means I’ve to jot down a number of tiny throwaway scripts. Maybe I need to see how a list comprehension behaves, or what a specific Python library does. For a five-minute experiment like that, launching a full editor appears like overkill.

I open a terminal and sort vim check.py. I write a couple of strains of code, save with :w, after which run :!python3 %. I do not even have to go away Vim. The :! half runs a shell command, and % stands for the present file’s title. The output exhibits up proper there. After that, one press of Enter takes me again to my code.

This is to not say that VS Code is heavy or something. Microsoft’s requirements page calls it light-weight, with a obtain below 200MB. Still, on my low-resource Ubuntu VM, Vim is prepared with out me occupied with what code to jot down.

VS Code is busy turning into an AI editor

I do not like nudges from an AI software after I need to think about studying

Here comes my small scorching take. In May 2025, Microsoft stated its subsequent step was making VS Code an open-source AI editor. It deliberate to open-source the GitHub Copilot Chat extension and fold its elements into the editor itself. Two months later, we noticed that 8 of the 9 headline options in VS Code 1.102 had been Copilot-related.

A number of months later, that plan had clearly moved ahead, with inline suggestions becoming open source by November 2025. Now brokers are the primary occasion. The newest secure launch as of scripting this, VS Code 1.143, makes the Copilot harness the default for brand spanking new agent periods. Those periods can maintain operating within the background. You can see the place I’m going with this.

For an expert developer, that path makes loads of sense. I contemplate myself a learner, although. If I’m caught with a coding drawback, I need to struggle by means of it myself as an alternative of glancing at a chat sidebar. Vim would not supply that shortcut out of the field. Right now, that is precisely what I would like.

A gradual begin, compensated in the long term

I will not say using Vim was an easy start, nor am I an knowledgeable in it. Moreover, VS Code is a superb editor that I nonetheless use. In many circumstances, although, area of interest or broad, Vim makes extra sense than VS Code. If you want Vim however are in search of a contemporary various, Neovim is another excellent choice.