#+title: vim language quick reference
#+pubdate: <2018-05-06 00:00>

Example command =di"= (| is the cursor below):

#+begin_src txt
somefunc("here is a |string") --> somefunc("") 
#+end_src

The general form is =<action> <operator> <text object>=, or as I like to
think, =<action> <verb> <noun>=. Verbs modify nouns.

So, for =di"= above:

- =d= is the action (delete)
- =i= is the verb (inside)
- ="= is the noun (matching quotes)

Verbs are optional depending on the noun, but with this outline there
are many commands you compose.


** [[#h-db13f55e-95e0-49ba-bb8e-7d51a7c996a2][Actions]]
:PROPERTIES:
:CUSTOM_ID: h-db13f55e-95e0-49ba-bb8e-7d51a7c996a2
:END:

| action | mnemonic | meaning                      |
|--------+----------+------------------------------|
| c      | change   | delete and enter insert mode |
| d      | delete   | delete                       |
| g      | go       | movement/jump to             |
| p      | paste    | paste                        |
| r      | replace  | replace                      |
| v      | visual   | enter visual mode            |
| y      | yank     | copy                         |

** [[#h-26bed420-c778-4113-946c-e034463cc628][Verbs]]
:PROPERTIES:
:CUSTOM_ID: h-26bed420-c778-4113-946c-e034463cc628
:END:

| verb | mnemonic | meaning                                                 |
|------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------|
| a    | around   | inclusive of noun selector                              |
| i    | inside   | exclusive of noun selector                              |
| f    | find     | forward to character, inclusive                         |
| F    |          | backward to character, inclusive                        |
| t    | till     | forward to character, exclusive (character is the verb) |
| T    |          | backward to character, exclusive                        |

** [[#h-e32d2d3f-d18b-4b9a-9a09-00f32acefce5][Nouns]]
:PROPERTIES:
:CUSTOM_ID: h-e32d2d3f-d18b-4b9a-9a09-00f32acefce5
:END:

| noun                         | mnemonic  | meaning                                |
|------------------------------+-----------+----------------------------------------|
| b                            | block     | blocks of surrounding =([{= (implicit) |
| p                            | paragraph | paragraph                              |
| s                            | sentence  | sentence                               |
| t                            | tag       | =<tags> pairs of </tags>=              |
| w                            | word      | word                                   |
| %                            |           | matching [{( under cursor, inclusive   |
| ~/~                          |           | forward to search result               |
| <,>                          |           | =<tags> pairs of </tags>=              |
| ?                            |           | backward to search result              |
| ~'~, ~"~, ~`~                |           | surrounding ="'`= pairs                |
| ~(~, ~[~, ~{~, ~}~, ~]~, ~}~ |           | surrounding =([{= pairs                |

You can install plugins to get more nouns and nice contextual actions. For example with tpope's
[[https://github.com/tpope/vim-commentary][commentary]] you get a =gc= action for commenting in whatever programming language you are in -- which
you can compose with any of the above nouns and verbs!