Snipets in vim / neovim
TL/TR
I love snippets. They decrease my time typing code dramatically. This article will show an easy way to create your own and use them in vim / neovim.
Setting up snippets packages
I use the UltiSnips plugin to create and use snippets in vim so we need to add it to our config file and also the vim-snippets plugin.
- To install them use your favourite plugin manager , I love to use Plug:
Note1: The config file in vim is located in ~./vimrc and the config file for neovim in ~/.config/nvim/init.vim.
Note2: In case you don’t have any plugin manager, install Plug following their repo installation guide.
- Set your snippets location
You can set the snippets folder in your configuration file
- Create your first snippet
Inside ~.vim/UltiSnips create a file named javascript.snippets (to use in javascript files) and add the following example:
The target is to:
- Type the snippet name
- Hit tab to write the snippet
- Hit tab again to jump to the next (2) location step and so on (Also use
ctrl+bto move steps backwards)
- Add the configuration to use
To use it the way described before add the following to your vim config file:
- Finally your config file should look like:
You should save your config file then type :so % to reload it and then type :PlugInstall to install the plugin.
Now you can create a JS file, type i hit tab and type what you want in the first position and then hit tab again to jump to the next position.
Final thoughts
I work as a frontend developer so if your are interested in react snippets and some others feel free to check mines here 🙃.
You are ready to go and try it 🚀! I hope it helps and you found something useful here.
In case you liked it this is part of a serie of articles I wrote about useful vim configurations. If you are interested you can check the others here:
🍻
