~ / operators / line-shortcutslesson 2/7

Line shortcuts: dd, cc, D, C, J and friends

Doubled operators act on whole lines; capitals run to the end of the line.

?how it works

Type an operator twice and it works on the whole line: dd deletes the line, cc clears it and starts Insert mode (keeping the indent) and yy yanks it. The cursor can be anywhere on the line.

Capital letters are shortcuts that run to the end of the line: D is d$ and C is c$. A few one-key shortcuts are worth knowing too:

x deletes the character under the cursor (dl) and X the one before it (dh)
s replaces the character with what you type (cl) and S replaces the whole line (cc)
J joins the next line onto this one

J removes the next line's indent and puts one space between the two lines. It skips the space when the next line starts with a closing parenthesis, so "start(" joined with ");" becomes "start();".

⌨keys

`dd`	delete the line
`cc`	change the line (keeps the indent)
`yy`	yank the line
`D`	delete to the end of the line (d$)
`C`	change to the end of the line (c$)
`Y`	yank to the end of the line (y$)nvim
`x`	delete the character under the cursor
`X`	delete the character before the cursor
`s`	substitute the character (cl)
`S`	substitute the whole line (cc)
`J`	join the next line onto this one
`gJ`	join without adding or removing spaces

Nin neovim

Neovim maps Y to y$, so it yanks to the end of the line just like D and C. In classic Vim, Y yanks the whole line (the same as yy).

Neovim also turns 'autoindent' on by default, which is why cc and S keep the line's indent. Classic Vim's default is off, so there they start at column 0.

4 drills

Delete a whole line: Remove the debugging line the cursor is on. The cursor is mid-line; you don't need to move.
Rewrite the rest of the line: Replace everything from the cursor to the end of the line with the new text.
Retype a line, keep its indent: Replace the whole line the cursor is on with the target text, keeping its indentation.
Join wrapped lines: Each statement got split over two lines. Join them back so each one sits on a single line.

The drill editor loads in your browser.