This article is still in progress! Only public because Hugo won’t let me set it as a draft without deleting the references…

Wait, what happened?⌗

My old Neovim config in comparison to Theovim
My old Neovim config in comparison to Theovim

I started using Neovim as my primary text editor last summer. By August, I developed a configuration with LSP support, and I have been using Neovim extensively for my development in C, C++, Python, shell scripting, basically everything but Java (Why not? Because: 1. I worked as an TA for the introductory Java class for 3 semesters, and IntelliJ is what most students use. I wanted to be on the students’ level and use the tool they use. 2. IntelliJ is simply too good for Java).

This (2023) spring semester, me and my CS major friends took CS25200: Systems Programming. This class is the last of the required core CS classes list, and it had a reputation as a time sink with big low-level project like implementing memory allocator and free functions, making shell interpreter, and a web server. All the works were //TODO

Appearance⌗

  • Colorscheme: I have moved on from OneDark.nvim to tokyonight.nvim. There was an attempt to make my own colorscheme, pastelcula.nvim, but even with help from my friends, it was an impossible task for someone with a colorblindness
  • Statusline: I have been using Lualine with a heavily modified evil theme. At one point, I realized that with the amount of work I put in to make the custom statusline using Lualine, I could have just made a statusline from scratch. And that’s exactly what I did! I am happy that I have much better understanding in Neovim’s statusline system and that I have a full control over what components I can display.
  • Tab/buffer line: I was using barbar.nvim, now I use bufferline.nvim. Honestly, there are no functional differences between two, and I might move back to Barbar since it offers less features (and that’s exactly what I want). I have experiment with Neovim’s stock tab system and tabby.nvim, which simply beautifies the stock tab system. However, I never have that many buffers, and many of Theovim’s users found the tab system confusing. I’m fine with bufferline plugins, as long as it supports tab system on the side
  • Startup dashboard: I used dashboard-nvim before. However, the author of the plugin, which also maintains lspsaga.nvim, frequently releases breaking changes. There’s nothing wrong with it, but I personally want more stability. So as a result, I wrote my own Dashboard plugin!! It was much harder than I thought it would be due to many error checking involved, but I’m happy with what I have. I am writing a post on how to write one yourself, and I will link it here once I finish.

Well, nothing much has changed except that I use telescope much more often. I have keybindings and a custom menu (more on this in the later section) for launching buffer switcher, recent files, search history, keybinding descriptions, etc. It’s a great plugin.

LSP⌗

There are three main changes:

  1. I now use mason-lspconfig so that when a user downloads an LSP server, it’s automatically configured without touching a configuration file. This was the first change I made as soon as I released my configuration to other people
  2. on_attach function for LSP servers format the file based on vim.g.linter_status variable, which is a custom variable I made to toggle formatting on/off. It also integrates with my custom statusline and you can see the status at all time!!
  3. I have removed many LSP related plugins like trouble.nvim and lspsaga.nvim and been utilizing more stock LSP function. For example, instead of trouble, I display buffer level diagnostics using vim.diagnostic.open_float(0, { scope = "buffer", border = "rounded" }). LSP on Neovim is being actively developed, and for stability and performance, I decided that this compromise (stock functions tend to be uglier and less functional – duh) was worth it

Note Taking⌗

I don’t use vimwiki on Neovim anymore. I have used it on a vanilla Vim for my journals and personal wiki for a while, and I’m currently in a process of migrating them to Org-roam (should I make Emacs post? Maybe). But I introduced VimTeX, which is the only Vimscript plugin in Theovim now. I use VimTeX along with TeXLab LSP server. I still haven’t found a better way to do real-time compile without VimTeX.

Package Manager⌗

I have migrated from packer.nvim to lazy.nvim. Nothing wrong with packer, but it was a big trend in the Neovim community early this year to migrate to Lazy, so I hopped on the bus as well.

Others⌗

Other changes I made:

File organization:⌗

At one point, I broke configurations down to small chunks, such as making separate Lua files for each plugins. It may be a good practice for Lua programming, but as a Neovim configuration, I found scattered files hard to navigate and disorganized. So instead, I have broken down configuration to the smallest units where each can shine without other files. For example, one can take my core.lua, rename it as init.lua, and have a pretty decent stock Neovim experience. One can copy and paste my plugin.lua, and they will have a decent list of plugins and the bootstrap for lazy package manager. One can copy my lsp.lua, and they will have a complete LSP setup including completion and keybindings for core functionalities, given they have Mason.nvim and other plugins installed. One can take my dashboard.lua and … You get it.

Utilizing floating windows⌗

Floating windows are awesome. They look cool, they don’t destroy your current window layout, when paired with scratch-buffer, they can be a great way to display information. I use floating window for two purposes:

  1. Displaying various documentations
  2. Notepad

Notepad is by far the favorite feature that I developed. It’s a scratch-buffer paired with a small, transparent floating window, and I can write down random ideas I come across quickly and easily. The contents disappears with Neovim close, I am planning on adding a functionality to let users quickly save the contents.

//TODO image of keybinding help and notepad side by side

Custom Menus⌗

//TODO move this section to a separate post

I don’t like unmemorable keybindings, and it’s the main problems I have with Emacs. They have keybindings for almost every features (and adding packages only add more), and often times when I use Emacs, I almost always hit a random keystroke that does some weird things. It wouldn’t be a problem if the keybindings are intuitive like Vim’s editing keybindings (e.g. [d]elete [a] [w]ord, [i]nsert), but they aren’t.

On the similar note, one great thing about Lua plugins that unlike Vimscript plugins, they don’t define bunch of keybindings for you (which many Vimscript plugins tended to do). They merely gives you examples of keybindings you can define in your setup() function.

I took this opportunity and made many keybindings that I think are intuitive. However, the problem comes when there are many functionalities that I “often” use. Let’s use telescope as an example. Following keybindings make a lot of sense

  • <SPC>ff: [f]ind [f]ile
  • <SPC>fb: [f]ile [b]rowser
  • <SPC>f/: / is a search binding for Vim

However, I also want to quickly access things like “Telescope Commands” (list of commands), “Telescope Command History,” and “Telescope Colorscheme.” Those are features I don’t use as much as the ones with dedicated keybindings, but I use them nonetheless. How do I make keybindings? <SPC>fc and <SPC>fcc? Aren’t they getting too complicated?

That’s when the custom menus come in play. I utilize vim.ui.select to group these features together, and the only binding I need to memorize is <SPC> [f]ind [a]ction. After that, features are one keystroke away from accessing. No need to squeeze your brain for keybindings you cannot memorize.

//TODO weird Org keybinding

Comments⌗

Every functions have a comment in the following form:

--[[ function_name()
-- This function does this and that
-- Use it like so: function_name(arguments)
--
-- @requires util.lua
-- @arg str: string to be processed
-- @returns cool table
--]]
function function_name()
-- ...
end

I coudln’t find the definitive guide on Lua coding standard, so I mixed Java’s Javadoc style comments with other programming language function headers that I knew. Kids, comment your code. It will help your future self.