Editing Files with Linux Text Editors

Task 2: Running the Vim Tutorial

I started by running the vimtutor application to learn the basics of Vim, which is one of the text editors available in Linux.

From my location in the terminal, I entered:

and pressed Enter to start the vimtutor session.

I then completed lessons 1-3 in vimtutor, which taught me the fundamental operations in Vim.

The terminal window displayed the vimtutor output, starting with tutorial lesson 1.1 about moving the cursor. I could see that vimtutor consists of tutorials designed to teach users how to use Vim effectively.

When I was done, I entered :q! and pressed Enter to exit vimtutor.

Task 3: Editing a File in Vim

Next, I used the Vim command-line editor to create and edit a file through the following steps:

1. From my current location in the terminal, I entered vim helloworld and pressed Enter. This created a new file called "helloworld" and opened it.
2. Once inside the file, I needed to enter insert mode to add text. I pressed i to enter insert mode (I noticed the bottom left of the terminal indicated I was in insert mode), and then typed:
   Hello World! This is my first file in Linux and I am editing it in Vim!
3. After typing my text, I pressed ESC to exit insert mode.
4. To save my changes and quit, I entered the command:
   :wq
5. I then reopened the file by typing:
   vim helloworld

   (I found I could use the up arrow to recall this command since it was the last one I used)

6. I added another line to my file:
   I learned how to create a file, edit and save them too!
7. Once finished, I pressed ESC to exit insert mode and entered:
   :q!

   This returned me to the main terminal.

8. I went back to the helloworld file with Vim to analyze what happened. The difference I noticed was that when I used :q! instead of :wq, my changes weren't saved - this command quits without saving.

Additional Vim Commands I Practiced

I also tried these useful commands:

• dd - Deleted the entire line
• u - Undid the last command
• :w - Saved changes without quitting

Task 4: Editing a File in Nano

For this task, I used nano, an alternative command-line editor, to create and edit a text file.

1. Similar to how I used Vim, I entered nano cloudworld in the main terminal and pressed Enter. This created a new file called "cloudworld" and opened it.
2. Unlike Vim, I didn't have to enter any special mode to start typing in nano. I immediately typed:
   We are using nano this time! We can simply start typing! No insert mode needed.
3. To save my changes to the file, I pressed CTRL+O and then pressed Enter to confirm the filename.
4. After saving, I pressed CTRL+X to exit the nano editor.
5. To verify that my file saved correctly, I went back into the file by entering nano cloudworld I confirmed everything was correct and then exited the editor by pressing CTRL+X again.

I found nano to be more straightforward than Vim since it doesn't use different modes for editing and navigation. The commands are displayed at the bottom of the screen, making it easier to remember what to do.