[AlienRobot]

So if I want to erase one word to write another, instead of ctrl+delete or ctrl+backspace, I need to switch to visual model, delete the word, switch to insert mode, and type it?

Doesn't sound more efficient than VS code to me.

[theonething]

Nope, you go to the word, do 'cw' (change word). That deletes the word under your cursor and automatically puts you in insert mode. Then you write your new word. I love it.

[cka]

Or 'caw' if you want to change the whole word, even if cursor is in the middle somewhere. I read it as "change a word".

[theonething]

hmm.. I've always used 'ciw'. What's the difference with 'caw'?

[xigoi]

ciw only deletes the letters, whereas caw also deletes one surrounding space. It’s more useful for other operations such as copying (yaw).

[koakuma-chan]

You need to press `ves` and type the new word. Trust me, it's really fast.

[flykespice]

'cw' is way faster, no need to enter visual mode (don't rely too much on it)

[cbm-vic-20]

The power of the vi-family is that this generalizes consistently. Want to replace everything from here to the next comma? 'ct,TYPE STUFF HERE' I'm not a very accurate mouser, so with a GUI editor without sufficient vi-ness, that means I need to use the mouse to drag a selection, make sure I don't also grab the tiny comma, then start typing. So annoying.

[bencornia]

> The power of the vi-family is that this generalizes consistently.

Absolutely! It takes learning relatively few command/motion combos before you are really cooking. The commands are fairly composable as well. I rarely find myself without being able to find a command that can't do what I want. To be fair it takes some time to learn all the commands but eventually you just forget about it and it becomes automatic.

[koakuma-chan]

I can't believe people actually use their mouse to select text.

[koakuma-chan]

Visual mode is way more practical because you don't always need to edit a word, you might need to edit a few words and/or things that are not words. I always use visual mode to see clearly what I'm changing.