SpaceVim VS vim-which-key

SpaceVim

On the vim side, you can try https://spacevim.org.

https://github.com/SpaceVim/SpaceVim There isn't much difference between a text editor and an IDE, so not sure if this is what you were looking for.

Hi, I'm new to using vim I followed the instruction from spacevim.org but this won't work..

You can find distributions with plugins for those editors, like Doom Emacs or space vim. These days, I enjoy doing (neo)vim configs (with lua). Both can use the language server protocol (with different plugins or natively in neovims' case) and so you'd get similar setups done like in code.

I'm considering picking up a pre-made configuration project as my Neovim daily driver, but boy, there sure are a lot of them. SpaceVim, CosmicNvim, AstroNvim, LunarVim, NvChad, and many more I'm sure.

Spacevim

The only Vim distro I'm aware of is SpaceVim (https://spacevim.org/). I just tested it for a short time but it couldn't compete with my hand crafted settings ;-) But I'm using some of the plugins of SpaceVim in my setup, eg. vim-which-key and vista.vim.

The only Vim distro I'm aware of is SpaceVim (https://spacevim.org/). I just tested it for a short time but it couldn't compete with my hand crafted settings ;-) But I'm using some of the plugins of SpaceVim in my setup, eg. vim-which-key and vista.vim.

Sounds like you want vim-which-key and coc.nvim.

> even though I'm a terminal user ... I really like the discoverability of GUIs, and that's where a good GUI is unbeatable by CLI.

CLI has poor discoverability? Sure; but even on the terminal, discoverability can still be good:

A couple of nice examples of discoverability in keyboard-focused programs:

- emacs' which-key[0]; there's a vim port[1] too. This shows you (some) of the available keybindings for the next input, and a short label. So you don't have to remember what `SPC h p ...` or all the options under `SPC f...`.. but it still helps to recall that `SPC h` is for 'help' related commands, `SPC f` for file related commands.

- emacs' magit[2][3]. Magit is so good at discoverability, that I'd rate it as the best tool for using git with. I've learned more about git from using it.

[0] https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key

[1] https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key

[2] https://magit.vc/

[3] https://emacsair.me/2017/09/01/magit-walk-through/

Agreed, that's the only time I find missing Emacs' which-key. (Looks like there is https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key for this.)

I think you mean a plugin which shows available key bindings as you type, which is what vim-which-key does.

Just an extension.

It is https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key if you are interested.

>Were you also able to replicate the small popups that open when you press `m`, `g`, etc.?

Yes, although 'm' has a totally different meaning in vim (placing a mark), so there is no popup for that. But it works where there are actually sensible choices, even for marks it works and shows you every available one, which is pretty cool

But again, that's not a specifically vim issue, its endemic to TUIs (hence bash completions and all the other hacks to make discoverability accesible). As well, there are some projects to ameliorate this in vim like the which-key family of plugins01 and others like them.

__usability features__ Emacs has a lot of great ideas for usability, some of which have been copied to vim like which-key https://github.com/folke/which-key.nvim https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key

Printing cheat sheets is helpful. At some point, make your own. which-key.nvim (or vim-which-key) is a plugin I wish I had found years ago. It gives you hints of next keys available to press. It's great for beginners, and experts. It's like the ultimate real-time cheatsheet.