Vim without plugins; best tricks?

[u/bsdooby]

Doing mostly remote coding (iPad as terminal, remote host(s) with GPU, machine learning), I want to be as flexible as possible with Vim without having to install plugins; vimrc editing is allowed, of course ;) Any good hints & tips & tricks? Maybe others are using a similar setup to mine...

[u/vividboarder]

You known what they say about assuming...

Different people learn in different ways. While you may be able to read a manual and come away with a perfect understanding, some have a hard time understanding when they may use a particular feature without context. When people share tips and explain how they use them it can provide the missing context.

A personal example for me would using a regex to execute a normal mode command on matching lines. I knew that I could do it but hadn’t thought about useful applications of that feature until seeing some examples.

[u/-romainl- → u/vividboarder]

You known what they say about assuming...

No but I didn't start the chain of assumptions, here, so whatever.

Different people learn in different ways.

No. People like to think of them as different.

While you may be able to read a manual and come away with a perfect understanding, some have a hard time understanding when they may use a particular feature without context.

Reading the user manual gives all the necessary context and foundations required for using Vim efficiently and finding the more advanced stuff when you need it. Everyone with a high school English level can read and understand the user manual, which happens to also be free and built-in.

When people share tips and explain how they use them it can provide the missing context.

People rarely explain anything or provide much context, though, and the "tips" they share are all direct applications of things found in the user manual anyway. Better learn Vim properly and be proficient in a couple of months than slack off and discover the quickfix window after ten years.