improve rationale for writers

This commit is contained in:
Reed Esau
2014-02-11 02:23:04 -07:00
parent ecb9b6d920
commit 2c7bedb22e

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@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ its rich ecosystem of plugins.
With plenty of word processing applications available, including those
that specifically cater to writers, why use a fixed-width font modal
editor for writing?
editor like Vim for writing?
* Your hands can rest in a neutral home position, only rarely straying
to reach for mouse, track pad, or arrow keys
@@ -44,15 +44,17 @@ editor for writing?
But while such reasons might be sound, by themselves they are scant
justification to switch from the familiar non-modal word processor.
A compelling reason is called for—one that can appeal to a writers love
Instead, you need compelling reason—one that can appeal to a writers love
for language and the tools of writing.
To find that reason you must look behind the mysterious modal commands of
a vi-style editor like Vim. Whats the significance of a command like
`cas` to _Change Around Sentence_? On one level its merely a mnemonic. On
another these vi commands can be thought of as a grammar of their own,
comprised of nouns, verbs, and modifiers. Put another way, they are
a _domain specific language_ for text manipulation. For more details:
You can find that reason in the mysterious modal commands of a vi-style
editor like Vim. Whats the significance of a command like `cas` to
_Change Around Sentence_ to replace an existing sentence? You can see it as
a mnemonic. But dig a bit deeper to see that these vi commands have a grammar
of their own, comprised of nouns, verbs, and modifiers. Think of them as the
building blocks of a _domain specific language_ for manipulating text that
with mastery can become a powerful tool to express yourself, as many coders
have found. For more details:
* [Learn to speak vim verbs, nouns, and modifiers!][ls]
* [Your problem with Vim is that you don't grok vi][gv]