this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2025
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5 key presses to save and exit. Frickin vim.
I’m pretty sure that’s close without saving changes. :wq would be needed to save.
To be precise, : means bring up commands, w means save, q means exit, and ! means force
I think it's w = write and q = quit so the letters make more sense
Also :x is the same as :wq
No, it isn't, x writes only when changes have been made, while w writes unconditionally.
TIL. Ty!
Why would you want to write again if no changes were made? It's some obtuse behavior
One obvious use-case is to cause the file to get a new timestamp, which for example tools like make look at.
To be more precise, q means quit the current window. If you've split the window, e.g. with :split or :vsplit, use :qa to quit all windows.
Or 3. Hold shift, press ZZ to save and quit ZQ to quit without saving.
5. Writing and quitting
Since people don't seem to realize that vim has a help system: You can get to this information with
:help quitor:help exitfour. the ! is unnecessary. how many actions are there to save and quit in other editors? ctrl, s, ctrl, w is four. move to file, click, move to save, click, move to ×, click is six.
and that's before we replace the wq with x.
If we count the modifier keys:
Vim: esc, shift+:, w, q, Enter
Emacs: ctrl-s, crtl+x ctrl+c, or use the menu options
I use both, but find Emacs much quicker, though vim is easier to learn, though Emacs is easier while you're learning
i've never had the time to get into emacs, would love to though.
also, some layouts have the : on its own key, and if you include the esc in vim commands you're not using vim correctly :)
Surely you're editing right before exiting, why else would you be saving?
not necessarily. you could also have done a yank-paste, or a repeated action, or had a command output into the buffer.
it's a good habit to always leave the editor in normal mode between actions, because that makes for a cleaner edit history with smaller changesets in the undo tree.
...vim is sort of like driving stick in that way.
Yeah, having used both, my preference is for Emacs, which also comes with the bonus of menu driven ways of doing most things when you've been away long enough to have forgotten a keyboard shortcut. I have always needed a cheat sheet handy when away from vim for a few months
i've moved to helix, partly to stop myself tinkering and partly because the reversed command model is just easier. plus it has popup helpers.
There's no arguing with taste and preference :)
Depends how you count. Both
:and!require shift as well.Fuck it I’m pulling the power cord
You can use ZZ as a shortcut!