[pcvonz]

I've sunk a pretty substantial amount of time into learning vim (neovim) and imo it's paid big dividends in taking the monotony out of text editing tasks. But, I don't limit myself to one tool. If I need a graphical debugger or the language doesn't have a fast lightweight language server, I use an IDE.

I switch between neovim and an IDE pretty frequently. I use yakuake to open up a terminal when I need it. best of both worlds! Plugins like comrade[1] make this pairing delightful. If your definition of a VIM mode only includes text objects and navigation, than an IDE with VIM bindings is plenty to replace it, but it doesn't cut it for me. My workflow has become reliant on VIM macros, global commands, buffers, and filters. I also haven't found a compelling reason to replace Fugitive[2] for another Git GUI.

None of the stuff I do in neovim is necessary, but it's fast, flexible, a bit obtuse, and pretty dang fun.

It's tough to fill the editing niche VIM fits because of the peculiarities that make it VIM. Doesn't mean that it's the de facto editor for every situation.

[1] https://github.com/beeender/Comrade

[2] https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive