Helix IDE unlocks my long-dreamt-of command-line workflow

I’m still enjoying my Helix experience, as it enables a workflow that I think is quite cool. With my dev-on-server setup, I can’t believe how effective I can be even when using Termux on my phone, paired with my ssh-into-tmux-script.

This is what it looks like doing actual (expo) mobile development with Helix IDE from my mobile (via the termux app) while sitting in Oliver Sandwich:

But, I digress… Back to ‘Working on Tags’

While working on my expo app, I began to miss how WebStorm would automatically add closing tags, and update tag pairs as I renamed one of them, etc.

I’ve learnt a few methods to work with tags, which, for now, seem quite adequate.

I loved Vim; the keybindings, simplicity, and modal style usage. I could use plugins to achieve almost anything, enabling smooth workflows and tooling that others have pioneered.

However, as someone who jumps between frameworks, languages and projects, many past chosen plugins become redundant and forgotten. The last thing anyone needs is technical debt from their IDE, and so I entered a period of using JetBrains IDEs a couple of years ago when my role required me to focus on React.

Recently, I stumbled upon Helix IDE at the same time as Nix Flakes, and that spurred the realisation of this powerful but simple setup.

First, make it more like Vim

My frst step for any IDE setup is to make it more like Vim using whichever extension/plugin they have to offer :)

(you can even do this with browser text fields via wasavi)

So, for VSCode I used the main vim plugin,

and then added the following keybindings.json and settings.json which are found at ~/.config/Code/User/ …

The Quest Continues

In 2012, I started blogging about Vim As My Ide. At that time, I was also going to try and focus on Scala as it was all the rage. However, I didn’t like using clunky IDEs like Eclipse to develop in the Java world, and I didn’t have any pressing reason to continue. Today, I’m back on board the Scala train for work purposes and will leverage some of the newfound support for Scala that Vim has.