My Updated Vim Configuration

I have used the same vim configuration since college and while it works well, it has become very dated. Recently, I decided to overhaul my vim configuration and thought I would share the results. Read on to learn more!

• Install vim +lua (required for neocomplete — easy to accomplish on mac, requires a manual compile for Linux)

$ sudo port install vim +lua
$ sudo port activate vim $(sudo port echo installed | grep vim | grep lua | awk '{print $2}')

• Install spf13-vim (note while the installer is suppose to backup your existing vim configuration, it did not work in my case so I had to manually delete)
• Install Powerline fonts
• In .vimrc.before.local

  let g:airline_powerline_fonts=1

• Turn on solarize
  • In iTerm2
    • Preferences > Profiles > Colors > Color Presets > Solarized Dark
    • Preferences > Profiles > Text > Font and Non-ASCII Font > Hack
  • In .vimrc.local

    let g:solarized_termcolors=16
    color solarized
    let g:airline_theme="base16_solarized"

• Mac only: Change EDITOR to: mvim -f (for git support)

So what is so cool about this setup? Many things!

1. I do not need to maintain VIM configuration! Of course I can still make modifications if I desire
2. I get VIM best practices for free! (I am sure some bugs too)
3. Plugins that play nice together! Including
   • Undotree – undo with history (similar to git)
   • NERDtree – directory listing navigation within VIM
4. Colors that are better on the eyes

What issues have I experienced since making the change? Only one:

1. Ctrl+C no longer works — this is not a big deal locally as I can use ‘y’ (i.e. yank), however this trick does NOT work over SSH. My solution is to “:set nonumber” and then Option+ followed by Ctrl+C to get what I want. If this becomes too much of a hassle I make look into alternatives.

© 2016, Steve Flanders. All rights reserved.