Neovim Is Overrated

Neovim is actually overrated. I don’t really understand the buzz with some lua scripted, terminal based editor, which is a Vim rip-off. Which same human being hits “gg” to go to the top of a line, and “ggVG” with case sensitivity in mind to select all content?

Hold up. I got you in the first paragraph, didn’t I? Neovim is a pretty cool Vim based editor that I still can not understand why people may hate on or have misgivings about it.

As a former Vim user, I was pleased to discover it. Neovim gives you the ability to create an IDE experience that would save your RAM and computer the heat.

I mean, arrest any fellow on the spot with Electron based applications running, a Chromium browser, and then VSCode? That is a heartless violation of your computer’s memory.

Imagine loading up a code editor to write Typescript with cool extensions, and that takes up about 500-1.5GB of RAM in use. Am I playing Cyberpunk or trying to write code? Most certainly the latter, so what in the actual hell, Jesus Christ.

GUI guys may hate to hear this, but do not let pretty buttons abstracting away, writing CLI instructions on your terminal, blind you to the obvious truth that your massive bloatware of IDEs when you are not writing Java, Scala or the likes is atrocious.

Try Neovim today. It’s easy to get up and running. The issue most people have with Vim or Neovim is the stress of having to create their own functional experience on their own that would make them drop an IDE. This involves writing a lot of Lua, investing time into learning about LSPs (Language Server Protocols), Telescope, a Nerdtree configuration, and most importantly, the keybindings. Weird at first, but helpful and normal in the long run.

You will eventually adapt as you continue. What I do advise a lot of people to do is to invest in distributions.

A Neovim distribution at the basic level is a package with a preconfigured Neovim out of the box to get you up and running with basic to advanced features. Some distributions let you customise freely if you like Lua and personalisation, and then some do not.

It all boils down to your choice. Examples of great distributions are LazyVim, AstroVim, Spacevim, and NVchad.

If you follow some of my content and posts, you’ll realise I’m quite a Chad. I am a fan of NVChad due to not just it’s features, but how much I can customise it to suit my taste and what I want.

It’s a brilliant way to get a functional code editor up and running, integrated with the tools you want. In the end, you’re basically just looking for more LSPs to install and try to get Syntax highlighting via Treesitter, which isn’t a problem. NvChad supports Typescript out of the box, which I began to use, also C and a few languages. You can customise the keybindings, and they have an awesome cheatsheet.

Do I regret making Neovim my primary editor and Visual Studio code my second? Not at all, I have zero regrets.