[no_protocol]

Watch this three minute video or view the concise notes below it for some very nice tips on handling buffers.

http://vimcasts.org/episodes/working-with-buffers/

> You can quickly jump between the active buffer and the alternate buffer using the command <CTRL-^>. Pressing it again takes you back to where you were before.

If you don't like the <CTRL-^> command for this, you could map it to something else, such as the tab key, with a line in your .vimrc:

  nnoremap <TAB> <C-^>

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> There's no single de-facto manager that's used by 90% of all vimmers.

Most recently updated plugins work with each of the managers. I use a handful of plugins with Pathogen, but the same plugins could be used with another manager.

However, the latest release of Vim now includes a built in plugin system, does that satisfy your need to have one blessed version?

https://shapeshed.com/vim-packages/

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> 20 different buffer navigations

Keep in mind, all these commands can be shortened to the smallest unique prefix. So with `:bn` and `:bp` you can go forward and backward. But if you don't like typing three characters, just sacrifice something else by remapping it in your .vimrc!

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> toggling between two open files, a pretty common use case

When I am working on two files at once, I'll usually put them both up at the same time. If I have "a.txt" open and I also want to work on "b.txt" I can type `:vsp b.txt" and now I have them up side-by-side. I can switch between them with whatever command I have set up to do that.

[jogjayr]

Thanks, that video was pretty good and helped me understand buffers. If you'll indulge me a bit more though, why does Vim warn you while switching out of an unsaved buffer (and make you use !) if it's still going to keep your changes when you come back?

> However, the latest release of Vim now includes a built in plugin system, does that satisfy your need to have one blessed version?

It absolutely does. I'm going to try it out!

[no_protocol]

Not sure if you'll find this delayed comment, but I can give it a shot.

There is a note on the linked video page about `set hidden`, but it doesn't spend much time explaining it. If we open Vim and type `:help hidden`, we get the following:

  'hidden' 'hid'          boolean (default off)
                        global
                        {not in Vi}
        When off a buffer is unloaded when it is abandoned.  When on a
        buffer becomes hidden when it is abandoned.  If the buffer is still
        displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course.
        The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer
        hidden although the 'hidden' option is off: When the buffer is
        modified, 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible, and the '!'
        flag was used.  See also windows.txt.
        To only make one buffer hidden use the 'bufhidden' option.
        This option is set for one command with ":hide {command}" :hide.
        WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers.
        Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!".

The default state of `hidden` is off, so with that in mind, the explanation basically answers why Vim warns you about switching buffers. If you switch away, the buffer is "hidden" -- Vim keeps track of what is in it and doesn't unload it. That's probably what you expect, but can lead to loss of unsaved data if you switch away from a buffer, work on some other buffers for a while, then close Vim without coming back to the unsaved one. So by default, Vim wants you to be explicit when switching away from a buffer that will become hidden. In most cases you probably want to save it first.

Turning `hidden` on would remove the warning, you could switch away from an unsaved buffer with `:bn`.

So if you want to always work with unsaved hidden buffers floating around (view them with `:ls`!), you could add `set hidden` to your .vimrc. Alternatively, you could set up a command to automatically execute a save action every time you tried to switch away from an unsaved buffer. Notice that `autowrite` is mentioned in the help text above. Running `:help autowrite` shows:

  'autowrite' 'aw'        boolean (default off)
                        global
        Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each
        :next, :rewind, :last, :first, :previous, :stop, :suspend, :tag, :!,
        :make, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when a :buffer, CTRL-O, CTRL-I,
        '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one to another file.
        Note that for some commands the 'autowrite' option is not used, see
        'autowriteall' for that.

So if you added `set autowrite` to your .vimrc, instead of `set hidden`, you could avoid the warnings by automatically saving the file, rather than leaving it unsaved.

Hope this helps! One of the pain points of vim is that many of the defaults end up being somewhat unexpected choices. Many people get over that by just looking up someone's post online and copying in a bunch of settings. When you do that, you don't end up learning much about navigating vim and understanding the configuration process. You just end up with a new set of defaults that might also not quite be what you want. I try to keep my .vimrc pretty plain until I realize something could be better, then spend a moment to figure out how to do that and add it in.

[jogjayr]

Thanks again!