This post assumes you’re a php developer and you’re at least vaguely familiar with the VIM text-editor. For those who aren’t here’s a quick run-down:
VIM is a powerful command-line text editor usually a default package in the majority of *nix distros (that includes Mac’s OS X). I believe there are ports available for other OSes, even winblows.
Firstly, vim is a man’s editor. Whiners and GUI lovers can stop reading now. Although, VIM offer GUI ports such as MacVim. Men with thick beards, please stay tuned.
The lightweight text-editor VS bloated IDE debate
It’s a matter of preference really. Some like to use IDEs such as Zend Studio for Eclipse, Eclipse PDT, phpeclipse, Komodo ActiveState, Dreamweaver (*oh dear*) etc. And some prefer lightweight editors such as Coda, Textmate, Notepad++, Textpad, GNU Nano, Emacs, Vi, VIM etc.
I use both Eclipse PDT (just installed version 2.0) and VIM 7.x. Lightweight editors and IDEs are powerful in their own right. I’m not going to argue that you should use one over the other. Use whatever works for you. This is not an evangelism post.
Some say the following about VIM
“vim is for people who like pain – I’ll know what to order at your bachelor’s party” – @donaldza
“#vim is great for scripts, configs etc but let’s be honest, this is the 21st century 
I still use it for merging/diff” – @donaldza
Okay, maybe just @donaldza has an issue 
the rest of us continuing reading
What VIM offers programmers (sysadmins too) in general
- powerful linguistic interface (ie. command-driven so your fingers never need to leave the keyboard)
- syntax highlighting
- so lightweight you can edit files over SSH connections on a distant remote server
- available on just about any *nix
- blah blah yada yada
Straight into the good stuff: Tips for PHP programmers
Assuming you’re already familiar with the basic editing features of such as copying, pasting, yanking, deleting and so forth. If not, try “vimtutor” from your *nix command-line.
This is a copy-paste of my .vimrc file. You can find yours in $HOME/.vimrc. If VIM is already open you can use the “:edit $MYVIMRC” command. I wouldn’t mess with the system-wide default (usually /etc/vimrc/vimrc). Other vim users on your server might not appreciate your preferences
Syntax highlighting. You gotta switch it on like this:
syntax on
Usually triggered by the file extensions you’re using. This list of extensions is configurable so you can highlight your .inc’s too. That’s an old habit you should toss btw. You might wanna change your terminal colour theme. White background works best with syntax highlighting. Then again you could also change VIMs colour theme.
Search highlighting.
set hlsearch
Includes simple and regex searches within VIM
Tabs as spaces.
Often you want X spaces instead of a real tab
set tabstop=4
Starting to get cool…
set autoindent
Autoindent remembers the indentation of the previous line and so your next line starts directly beneath. Python okes should appreciate this one
In the middle of a series of keystrokes?
set showcmd
Often vim has double-barreled commands that require a sequence of more than one keystroke. Showcmd displays on the footer of your screen informing you which command you have initiated
Search and show matches as you type
set incsearch
In the middle of issuing your full search phrase incsearch will highlight matched words. Useful when constructing a long-ish regex
PHP-specific highlighting
The general syntax highlighting offers some php syntax but not everything
" highlights interpolated variables in sql strings and does sql-syntax highlighting. yay
autocmd FileType php let php_sql_query=1
" does exactly that. highlights html inside of php strings
autocmd FileType php let php_htmlInStrings=1
" discourages use oh short tags. c'mon its deprecated remember
autocmd FileType php let php_noShortTags=1
" automagically folds functions & methods. this is getting IDE-like isn't it?
autocmd FileType php let php_folding=1
Note: This is just the beginning of code-folding. A number keystroke combinations exist to expand, contract foldings within the opened file
Syntax checking within VIM (sort of)
" set "make" command when editing php files
set makeprg=php\ -l\ %
set errorformat=%m\ in\ %f\ on\ line\ %l
To use, simply issue “:make %” command inside of VIM to check the syntax of your php against the interpreter. Syntax highlighting can only do so much
Highlighting matching brackets/parentheses
" set auto-highlighting of matching brackets for php only
autocmd FileType php DoMatchParen
autocmd FileType php hi MatchParen ctermbg=blue guibg=lightblue
This automatically highlights brackets and parentheses as the cursor passes over them. Colours configurable
Auto-completion of functions and constants
" autocomplete funcs and identifiers for languages
autocmd FileType python set omnifunc=pythoncomplete#Complete
autocmd FileType javascript set omnifunc=javascriptcomplete#CompleteJS
autocmd FileType html set omnifunc=htmlcomplete#CompleteTags
autocmd FileType css set omnifunc=csscomplete#CompleteCSS
autocmd FileType xml set omnifunc=xmlcomplete#CompleteTags
autocmd FileType php set omnifunc=phpcomplete#CompletePHP
autocmd FileType c set omnifunc=ccomplete#Complete
The above is really auto-completion for more than just PHP as you can tell. Auto-complete is triggered in the middle of typing the identifier
” Basically, while in insert mode, you can type <C-x> <C-o> to have vim attempt to autocomplete the current keyword. If more than one possibility exists, it shows a dropdown, and you can use your arrow keys to highlight the keyword that you wish to use.
But it gets better! Not only does it do this kind of autocompletion, but it also opens a small ’scratch preview’ pane showing the function/method signature — i.e., the expected arguments and return value! ” – Matthew Weier O’ Phinney
Auto change to to editing file’s cwd
" auto switch to folder where editing file
autocmd BufEnter * cd %:p:h
Often one would open a file for editing in VIM from a different working directory eg. vim ~/somewhere_else/myfile.php. This command automagically changes vim’s current working directory to that of the file you’ve opened making it easy to open other files which are close by on the filesystem
Split-panes
Often you want to edit more than one file inside of VIM without having to open and close between them. Using “:split otherfile.php” and “:vsplit otherfile2.php” you can create horizontal and vertical split-panes respectively. You can of course split the same file across two-panes simultaneously using “:split %”
You can split splitted panes to infinity but…
Tabbed-panes are better
With the “:tabnew filename.php” or just “:tabnew” commands you have tabbed panes. voila! “:tabclose”, “:tabprev”, “:tabnext” does exactly what one would expect
You can also use keystrokes such as “gt” to jump between tabs quickly. Of course there are dozens more in-editor commands and keystrokes associated with the above tips/preferences. This post was merely meant to open your eyes to a whole new world of powerful lightweight text-editing. You can find a whole lot more in the resource links that follow and vim help! (”:help”)
More cool vim stuff
