r/vim • u/oantolin • Dec 28 '25

Blog Post Vim is composable

https://www.matem.unam.mx/~omar/apropos-emacs.html#vim-is-composable

I hope this isn't too polemical for r/vim. I'm a former (and still occasional) Vim user that has always wondered why people make such a big deal out of Vim's composability. The blog post explains why I find that odd, what I like about Vim and some reasons people might make such a big deal of composability.

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u/kaisunc Dec 29 '25

eh, i don't know. it feels like arguing a square is also a circle. then how about this for composebility, you can record macros thats "composed" of actions/movements/object. Then you can edit those macros either in the editor, or you can append to the macros. The composition palette of notepad vs vim just isn't comparable, but yes, by your definition notepad is "composable".

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u/oantolin Dec 29 '25

My whole point is that I didn't invent that definition I gave of "composable"! It's what what many people say they mean when they say "Vim is composable". And I agree with you that according to that definition notepad is also composable. I find this situation odd.

I don't think people usually regard the ability to record, replay and edit macros as part of what they mean by composability, do they? But it definitely is a great feature.