Why every engineer should learn vim

I’ve been using vim for close to 10 years, in various forms, vim, nvim, vscode extensions.

If you’re a professional in DevOps or software engineering, Vim should not be optional.

That doesn’t mean you need to live inside vim or switch to Neovim overnight. Just start with Vim motions, they’re built into most editors via extensions.

You don’t need “full Vim”. Use VSCode with the Vim plugin. That’s more than enough to get the benefits.

Here’s why you should start learning it now:

You keep your hands on the keyboard, which means less context switching and fewer mouse detours

You build deep muscle memory for editing, searching, and refactoring

For DevOps and system administration, it’s essential

The learning curve can be steep. But it doesn’t have to be. Start with just a few motions. Use them until they’re second nature. Then add more.

Vim is a lifelong multiplier. There’s no excuse not to start.