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Vim, or Vi Improved, is a highly configurable text editor often referred to as a programmers editor.
It offers features, especially for programmers, that it is sometimes considered an IDE.
The Vim editor comes pre-installed in almost all Linux distros.
Vim is regarded as one of the best text editors for security professionals and Linux users.
Its huge and active user base continually releases new modules, add-ons, and text editor improvements.
There are plenty of Vim-inspired (or fork of Vim) editors available on the internet.
Geekflare has tested and listed some excellent Vim-inspired editors that can help you to be more productive.
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NeoVim
NeoVim or nvim is a highly extensible and modern replacement for Vim.
It is a fork of open-source Vim and is fully compatible with Vim and Vimscript features.
nvimexposes a powerful API that plugins and external processes can use via RPC, Lua, and Vimscript.
It is also embeddable within other GUIs, IDEs, and web browsers as an editor or script host.
Kakoune
Kakoune is a fast, customizable, open-source modal editor like Vim.
Kakoune Features
Kakoune runs on Mac and Linux.
It can also work on Windows with Cygwins support.
Most Linux package repositories have Kakoune available and can be installed directly.
Helix
Helix is a modern CLI editor with powerful code editing and manipulation capabilities.
These can be downloaded from its GitHub Releases page.
Inspired by Vim, it features modal editing while still being lightweight.
It is designed primarily for developers but also works well as a general text editor in CLI environments.
Vis Features
Vis is available as source code from its GitHub Releases page.
It needs to be manually built according to the instructions on its readme page.
Refer to its documentation for its usage.
Its source code can also be used to manually build from code.
Warp
Warp is an advanced terminal with a modern UI and built-in AI support.
The features of vi that it enhances is what is being used as base for other Vim based tools.
It just needs a CLI environment with minimal dependencies.
Also, it has a helpful and large community for support.
Vim Features
If youre on Linux, you most likely have Vim installed and ready for use.
It can also be installed on Windows, Mac, and other UNIX-based platforms.
Lapce
Lapce is an open-source, modern code editor written in Rust.
It offers its users a fast editing/coding environment and some nice features.
Lapce Features
Lapce is cross-platform and is available for Windows, Linux and Mac.
Spacemacs
Spacemacs is an Emacs-based, open-source text editor with an active and helpful community.
It is designed on four core pillars: Mnemonic, Discoverable, Consistent and Crowd-Configured.
The system should also have a package manager and git and tar utilities.
This guide will help you choose the one that best suits your requirements.
For more information about the respective editors, refer to the documentation section on their home pages.
