Sunday, September 30, 2012

Re: OT: The so called "steep learning curve" of vim...

On 09/30/12 08:37, meino.cramer@gmx.de wrote:
> it is often said, taht certain software has a "steep learning curve".
> Vi/vim is such an example for the use of this phrase...
>
> I would take the time as measure for the x-axis and the amount
> of stuff I have learned about -- for example -- vim as a measure
> for the y-axis..
>
> Or...what do I misinterpret here? ;)

I think the misinterpretation is that the x-axis should be labeled
"effort learning new stuff over time", not just "time"; and the
y-axis would be "productivity".

A "shallow" learning curve would then mean that, with minimal
effort, one achieves some corresponding level of productivity.

With Vim, the average user that hasn't gone through basic training
(vimtutor, reading man pages, etc) is usually pretty lost with
things as basic as quitting. So the graphs would look something like

Nano, other "easy" editors
P|
r|
o|
d|
u|
c|
t| . . Maxiumum editor capability . . . . . . .************
i| ****************
v| ****************
i| ********
t| ****
y|*
=+==========================================================
| Effort over time --->


cat
P|
r|
o|
d|
u|
c|
t|
i|
v|
i| . . Maxiumum editor capability . . . . . . . . . . . . .
t| ****
y|*
=+==========================================================
| Effort over time --->



Vim
P| **
r| **
o| **
d| *
u| *
c| *
t| *
i| *
v| * <-- the infamous steep curve
i| *
t| *
y| ***** <-- time spent learning before you can do anything
-+----------------------------------------------------------
| Effort over time --->

Emacs
P| **
r| **
o| **
d| **
u| **
c| **
t| **
i| **
v| **
i| **
t| **
y|**
-+----------------------------------------------------------
| Effort over time --->


-tim


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