Text Editors

Nano

Nano is a simple, user-friendly text editor included with most Linux distributions.

Basic Usage

nano filename

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Ctrl + O: Save (Write Out)
• Ctrl + X: Exit
• Ctrl + W: Search
• Ctrl + K: Cut line
• Ctrl + U: Paste
• Ctrl + C: Show cursor position
• Ctrl + G: Help

Features

• Syntax highlighting (with nanorc configuration)
• Search and replace
• Line numbers
• Mouse support

Vim

Vim (Vi IMproved) is a powerful, modal text editor.

Modes

• Normal: For navigation and commands
• Insert: For typing text
• Visual: For selecting text
• Command-line: For commands

Basic Commands

vim filename

Navigation (Normal mode)

• h, j, k, l: Move left, down, up, right
• w: Next word
• b: Previous word
• 0: Beginning of line
• $: End of line
• gg: Beginning of file
• G: End of file
• :[line]: Go to line number

Editing

• i: Insert before cursor
• a: Insert after cursor
• o: Open new line below
• O: Open new line above
• x: Delete character
• dd: Delete line
• yy: Yank (copy) line
• p: Paste after cursor
• u: Undo
• Ctrl + r: Redo

Saving and Quitting

• :w: Write (save)
• :q: Quit
• :wq or :x: Write and quit
• :q!: Quit without saving

Advanced Features

• Search: /pattern
• Replace: :%s/old/new/g
• Multiple files: :e filename
• Split windows: :vsplit or :split

Emacs

Emacs is a highly extensible text editor.

Basic Usage

emacs filename

Key Bindings

• Ctrl + x Ctrl + s: Save
• Ctrl + x Ctrl + c: Exit
• Ctrl + k: Kill (cut) line
• Ctrl + y: Yank (paste)
• Ctrl + s: Search forward
• Ctrl + r: Search backward

Features

• Built-in Lisp interpreter
• Email client, web browser, etc.
• Highly customizable

Choosing an Editor

• Nano: Best for beginners and quick edits
• Vim: Powerful for advanced users, ubiquitous on servers
• Emacs: Most feature-rich, steeper learning curve

Configuration

Nano

Edit ~/.nanorc: set linenumbers set mouse include "/usr/share/nano/*.nanorc"

Vim

Edit ~/.vimrc: syntax on set number set tabstop=4 set shiftwidth=4 set expandtab

Emacs

Edit ~/.emacs or ~/.emacs.d/init.el: (global-linum-mode t) (setq-default tab-width 4)

Practice Exercises

1. Create a file with Nano and write a short paragraph.
2. Open the same file with Vim and make some edits.
3. Practice Vim navigation and editing commands.
4. Configure your preferred editor with basic settings.

Next, we'll cover package management with APT.