Reformat with mdformat

2025-05-20_nvim.md

@@ -1,19 +1,23 @@
----
+______________________________________________________________________
+
 date: 2025-05-20
 title: Exploring Neovim
 tags:
-  - software
-  - linux
-  - development
----
+
+- software
+- linux
+- development
+
+______________________________________________________________________
 
 I don't know exactly what it was that prompted me to start looking at `vim` and `nvim`
 about a week ago, but I ended up down that rabbithole this week. For the uninitiated,
-[vim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vim_(text_editor)) is a modal text editor and 
+[vim](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vim_(text_editor)>) is a modal text editor and
 [Neovim](https://neovim.io/) is a popular fork. I have no strong opinion regarding vim vs Nvim vs emacs, but I found some [good tutorials for nvim](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsz00TDipIffreIaUNk64KxTIkQaGguqn),
 so Neovim is the editor I chose.
 
 ## Background Information
+
 I have worked as a software developer for more than five years, which begs the question:
 what have I been using for a text editor and why am I bothering to write about something
 so trivial? Well, I have used [nano](https://www.nano-editor.org/) for the most part when
@@ -31,6 +35,7 @@ did include `vim`, but not `nano` and I found myself using `cat` and `sed` to ma
 changes just to get online so that I could get `nano` installed.
 
 ## Some `nvim` Basics
+
 This post will *not* be a detailed how-to on using `nvim`, bit I feel that I should at
 least cover some basics. Having used `k9s` and `tmux`, I came into this with some
 familiarity typing `:` to get at a command input. I also quickly discovered that
@@ -41,6 +46,7 @@ efficient for keeping your fingers on the right keys. I also noted that `home`,
 etc also work in addition to the `vim` navigation using `^` and `$`.
 
 ## Lua Scripts
+
 Beyond basic text editing, the real reason to use `nvim` is Lua script support. I have
 already updated my [public dotfiles repository](https://forge.mcknight.tech/d_mcknight/dotfiles/src/commit/1e6512df4903965b6b9acf361b638c19bce9d78b/nvim)
 with my nvim configuration. For the most part, I followed the excellent tutorials I linked
@@ -52,12 +58,14 @@ config in the future, but for now I just want to spend some more time getting us
 `nvim` as a text editor.
 
 To quickly review some of the functionality I find myself using thanks to plugins:
+
 - neotree (mapped to `<space>f` in my config) gives me a file tree to navigate to different files and show file status info, similar to VSCode
 - treesitter provides syntax highlighting for everything I've edited so far, and it automatically pulls new definitions as needed
 - Telescope provides a UI for searching file names and contents, though I admittedly haven't used it much
 - gitsigns provides inline highlighting of changes and git blame support, just like what I use in VSCode
 
 ### Language Server Protocol (LSP)
+
 Prior to starting to use `nvim`, I thought syntax highlighting and code completion was all
 built into IDEs. In fact, the [Language Server Protocol](https://microsoft.github.io/language-server-protocol/)
 is a standard method by which a program (language server) can receive information about a
@@ -71,6 +79,7 @@ functionality. This combination of packages provides a system for managing langu
 servers and implementing syntax highlighting, code definitions, and auto-formatting.
 
 ### Tmux integration
+
 Since I have been [using tmux](https://blog.mcknight.tech/2024/03/27/Shell-Customizations/#tmux),
 I also am using [vim-tmux-navigator](https://github.com/christoomey/vim-tmux-navigator) so
 that I can use the same `<ctrl>`+`Arrow` shortcut to swich between tmux panes and nvim
@@ -82,6 +91,7 @@ this might change in the future, but for now it is still very useful to move bet
 the logical areas of my terminal in a consistent way.
 
 ## Workflow Changes
+
 In making the transition to `nvim`, I have found it a lot easier to manage my
 [dotfiles repository](https://forge.mcknight.tech/d_mcknight/dotfiles/src/branch/main)
 with `nvim` since I don't usually bother attaching that directory to an IDE. Now, I get
@@ -108,6 +118,7 @@ this point I think its worth it so I'm not twisting my left wrist every time I n
 reach `esc`.
 
 ## What to do next?
+
 Working through this `nvim` setup has gotten me thinking more about how I can optimize
 my daily workflow. I might look into CLI file management tools next as I do find myself
 using a GUI file explorer regularly, sometimes just to end up copying a path to paste