Get your favorite IDE features in Vim

Ryan Paul at Ars Technica has a offers a tutorial on adding features to make it friendlier for those who are used to using IDEs*.

"Vim made easy: how to get your favorite IDE features in Vim"

The open source Vim text editor offers a significant amount of power and flexibility, but it can be difficult to configure properly. In this tutorial, we will show you several easy ways to make Vim behave more like a conventional integrated development environment.

The Vim text editor is a favorite of many programmers and system administrators. Although it provides an exceptional amount of power and flexibility, it can be somewhat intimidating for new users. Programmers who transition to Vim from a conventional integrated development environment (IDE) tend to find the paradigm shift a bit disorienting.

Of course, Vim is like the old saying about Unix: it's user friendly, but it's choosy about who its friends are. :)

* Read more about integrated development environments at Wikipedia.