use Perl

• here's some small improvements (Score:2)

  by jmm (276) <johnNO@SPAMperlwolf.com> on 2003.11.04 9:51 (#25453) Journal

  There is some improvement to be made.

  /2CR         # (CR is return) search for the 2 (or some other way to get there)
  r1kr2        # change 2->1, up, change 1->2
  ddp          # delete 1'st line, append 1'st line after 2'nd

  The "r" is useful to change one character ("R" will overwrite a bunch of chars, it's like insert mode but overwrites).

  The "ddp" switches the current line with the next. It is a variant on the very useful (especially for dyslexics) "xp" which swaps the current char with the next.

  Actually, though, I would normally just swap the second args, instead of swapping the first args and then swapping the lines. Go to the 2'nd arg on the 1'st line (/\$CR), delete it (de), down to the start of the 2'nd arg on the 2'nd line (j), prepend the deleted arg (P), back to the start of the 2'nd 2'nd arg (l), delete it (dt'), up to the 2'nd arg pos in the 1'st line (kh), prepend it back (P).

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  • vi is like perl (Score:2)

    by jmm (276)

    I found one aspect of vi that prepared me well for Larry's view of perl (that writing pidgin perl is a great way to start and should be tolerated, nay encouraged).

    I found that my initial use of vi was adequate, but that every 6 months or a year I would read through the vi manual and pick a few more useful idioms and add them to the set that I knew well enough to use without thinking. After a few years of this, my vi repertoire was large enough that most of the new idioms I tried to learn were not useful o