Text Editors
Peter Vaillancourt, Rich Knepper, and Adam Brazier
Cornell Center for Advanced Computing
Revisions: 8/2025, 1/2023, 11/2019, 10/2017, 9/2014 (original)
A text editor is a tool to assist the user with creating and editing files.
There is no "best" text editor; it depends on personal preferences.
Regardless of your typical workflow, you will likely need to be proficient in using
at least one common text editor if you are using Linux for scientific
computing or similar work. Two of the most widely used command-line editors
are Vim and Emacs, which are available via
the vim
and emacs
commands, respectively, in systems where they are installed.
Objectives
After you complete this segment, you should be able to:
- List the two most widely used command line editors and how to access them
- Describe the major differences between text editors
- Discuss the basic functionality of Vim and Emacs
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course.
CVW material development is supported by NSF OAC awards 1854828, 2321040, 2323116 (UT Austin) and 2005506 (Indiana University)