My notes on learning VIM from some people at work.
I've mainly been an IDE guy. VIM is just something I've used when managing config files on a linux server. I see a lot of people these days using VIM for their primary text editor when writing software. I'm open minded, let's give it a try!
Prerequisite: Installing Plugins in VIM
Get a cheatsheet and practice it! Forcing myself to edit files with VIM throughout the day. Get used to using h,j,k,l to move around. This quick reference sheet has the basics and doesn't hit you with too much at once.
The thing that became immediately apparent to me was that it was difficult to move around the project efficiently. This is where I was introduced to ctags and CtrlP. Ctags are basically a way of indexing your source code, and CtrlP is a plugin that enhances VIM's builtin fuzzy search. Here is a great writeup on the whole thing: VIM Source Code Navigation
I want a color scheme so I can read my code more clearly. Here is a nice plugin: vividchalk