I typically use several editors: /bin/ed, nvi, EDIT.COM, and Vi Improved. These are the advantages that I find these various editors give me:
ed -- I can quickly edit files without having to wait on an ncurses app to start up. Although I rarely have access to GNU versions of ed, they use readline which is a big perk when you make a typo. nvi -- smaller and faster then vim, works great over slow ssh links or when editing huge files. I like nvi over the original vi, because most of the limitations of the old-school vi are removed; unlimited undo is the best feature added. EDIT.COM -- much faster then notepad over remote connections, and it understands both DOS and UNIX end of lines; meaning I can skip converting formats, the only downside is it's still a 16-bit program. vim -- My favourite and most used editor. I like it because it can be made fairly compatible with vi, but has superior tag stack handling, and the multiple-window, :ex command line history, and completion features leave their nvi equivalents in the dust. (vi had no completion or command history, and lacked split windows.) Vim also has improved register handling, regular expression support, tab pages for organizing workspaces, a client/server mode, and most importantly can be made to adapt itself (e.g. spaces, tabs, eol's) based on file type without much bother. That makes it much easier to use with Python files then most editors in my tool bag. I am a freak: I do not use nor want syntax highlighting. I don't want my editor to understand mail, irc, or the www either, I want it to edit text efficiently so I can go on with the rest of my life as soon as possible. Given the choice of using a space cadets editor like emacs or something primitive one like ed, I would choose *ed* just to speed things up and save on wrist strain. Before I read a tutorial about vi, I used XEmacs very happily---vi just lines up better with how my brain works. -- It is also general consensus that I am nuts ;) TerryP. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
