Re: Start of perl setup and drop db scripts

[Chris Travers <..hidden..>]

On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 6:35 PM, David Godfrey <..hidden..> wrote:
> On 28/03/12 01:13, Chris Bennett wrote:

> Hi Chris,
>
> Regarding the editor your script opens,
> could I suggest that you try and open "nano" first and fall back to vi.
> While I know vi is the editor of choice for many old school programmers,
> most non programmers are totally lost in vi.
> Nano on the other hand is fairly easy to use even for a novice, and seems
> to be installed on most modern linux systems by default.

Two points here:

If you are going to do a lot of programming, it is *really* worth your
time to learn VIM (my personal preference) or EMACS really well.
These two editors are not just the choice of old school programmers.
They have features that will greatly improve your productivity.  The
question as always is whether the time spent learning the editor will
pay off.  If you do a lot of programming it certainly will.  I can do
more things faster with VIM than anything else.  I presume those who
are really good with EMACS can say the same.  This is why the
perpetual flame war is between vi (and clones) and EMACS, not between
either of these and Nano.  EMACS has more features, while VIM probably
has an easier learning curve.  There are tutorials on the web if you
want.

On the other hand, if you are just doing a little bit of light-weight
coding from time to time, then really I would recommend either an
editor like Nano or something like gedit.  These are simple,
discoverable, and easy to use but they lack advanced features that you
will really appreciate if you end up spending a lot of time coding.

If I were to suggest where the line should be drawn, if you plan to
spend at least 5 hrs each week for at least one month, it's probably
worth learning an advanced editor.

Best Wishes,
Chris Travers