~ / registers / unnamedlesson 1/5

The unnamed register: x, dd, yy and p

Every delete and yank lands in one shared register, and p puts it back.

?how it works

Vim doesn't have one clipboard, it has many registers. The one you use without thinking is the unnamed register "": every d, c, x and y fills it, and p / P put it back.

So deleting is really cutting, which gives you some neat little moves:

xp swaps two characters: cut one, put it after the next.
ddp swaps two lines.
yyp duplicates a line.
deep swaps two words, starting from the space before the first one.

p puts after the cursor and P puts before it. Text cut or yanked as whole lines goes below (p) or above (P) the current line instead, because the register remembers it was whole lines.

The catch: the next delete overwrites it. The next lessons show how to keep text safe in other registers.

⌨keys

`x`	cut the character under the cursor
`dd`	cut the whole line
`yy`	yank (copy) the whole line
`p`	put after the cursor (lines: below)
`P`	put before the cursor (lines: above)
`xp`	swap two characters
`ddp`	swap the line with the one below
`yyp`	duplicate the line

Nin neovim

In Neovim Y yanks to the end of the line, like D and C, instead of the whole line. Use yy for whole lines: Yp would put the rest of the line inline, not a new line.

4 drills

Fix a typo with xp: Two letters are swapped. Jump to the first of them, then swap them with xp.
Swap two lines with ddp: The line under the cursor belongs below the next one. Swap them with ddp.
Duplicate and tweak with yyp: Duplicate the line with yyp, then change one word of the copy to match the target.
Swap two words with deep: Swap the two words after the cursor. The cursor is on the space before the first word: try deep.

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