On May 26, 2012, at 11:11 PM, Chris Jones wrote:
> Talking of educational.. in reference to what you wrote elsewhere
> regarding Vim help, I thought I might mention that there are two
> distinct parts to Vim's help: the 'user manual' and the 'reference
> manual'.
>
> Maybe the following illustrates the difference between the two:
>
> | :h cpo
> | :h user-manual
>
> The user manual provides structured overviews of pretty much every area
> of Vim without going into too much detail. Studying at my own pace, one
> chapter at a time helped find my bearings. Mind you, I mean studying..
> not printing it and just reading through it.. splitting the screen and
> practising in a scratch buffer until you really know what's there. The
> good thing is there are links to the reference manual whenever you feel
> like digging..
>
> Once you've worked through that, you will be able to find what you're
> looking for in the reference manual much more easily and what you find
> there will make better sense.
Thanks, Chris. I was going to say I had no idea there was a user-manual---until I took a look at the pdf version. In fact, I had a hard copy of the book, but got rid of it because I couldn't understand it. I went looking for it but found that, alas, I have indeed gotten rid of it. May have get myself another copy. The pdf is too maddening to navigate around in.
I take to heart what you say about studying, not just reading through. At this point I have a hard time imagining myself doing this with the entire thing, all at once. I can certainly imagine doing that with the chapters and sections that cover my current level of skill and introduce me to some new useful skills. And returning to it periodically to get myself onto a new level.
Regards,
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Weir
Program and Resource Development ~ Evaluation ~ Writing
Education ~ The Environment ~ Community Development
1111 Clairemont Avenue J3 ~ Decatur, GA 30030
404-636-6142 ~ eeweir@bellsouth.net
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