I thought switching from vim to neovim would be like switching from a nano+ to a VSCode CLI, but it’s far from that. There are so many plugins and it’s not as easy as declaring which plugins I want, having one dictionary/mapping/attribute set with keybindings, another with global preferences, and done.

Then there’s something about language servers. The list on https://github.com/rockerBOO/awesome-neovim is daunting. I thought LSP support was built into nvim. Why are there so many LSP plugins? And what the hell is treesitter and why do I need it?

I copied some dude’s config and suddenly Ctrl+P for completion didn’t work like in VIM.

There’s just so much unexplained jargon and abbreviations, that it feels like I have to read neovim code before even using it (ain’t nobody got time for that). Is neovim actually the right tool to use to have an easy CLI IDE? Is there an easier command-line alternative that just lets me go “oh, this language isn’t supported, let me open the package manager and install the $language-plugin”, with “Goto Definition”, debugging with breakpoints, code formatting, refactoring (rename variable/method/class, extract function, etc.) ? Maybe neovim just isn’t the right tool for those without years of time.

Edit: Thanks for the suggestions everybody. Finally went with Lunarvim and it’s been a joy!

  • garrett@lemm.ee
    3·
    1 year ago

    Some would probably consider it sacrilegious, but you can actually embed Neovim inside VS Code (or Codium, the FOSS soft fork, similar to what Chromium is for Chrome).

    https://github.com/vscode-neovim/vscode-neovim

    I’ve been using this for a couple years (after using vim for a few decades). You get the best of both worlds. You can use both VS Code plugins as well as Neovim/Vim extensions too — whatever you prefer.

    I still use Neovim on the command line for quick edits, but I’m happy with VS Codium + Neovim for long IDE coding sessions.