Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Vim VS explainshell

Compare Vim VS explainshell and see what are their differences

Vim logo Vim

Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

explainshell logo explainshell

Match command-line arguments to their help.
  • Vim Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-23
  • explainshell Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-08-07

Vim features and specs

  • Efficiency
    Once learned, Vim can significantly speed up text editing with its modal editing, keyboard shortcuts, and commands that allow for quick navigation and manipulation of text.
  • Lightweight
    Vim is a very lightweight editor, consuming minimal system resources, making it highly performant even on systems with lower specifications.
  • Customizability
    Vim is highly configurable and extensible through plugins and user-defined settings, allowing users to tailor the editor to their specific needs.
  • Ubiquity
    Vim is available on almost every Unix-like system and even on Windows, making it a ubiquitous tool that you can rely on being available in most environments.
  • Support for Multiple Programming Languages
    Vim supports a wide range of programming languages out of the box and offers syntax highlighting, which can be enhanced through plugins.
  • Powerful Search and Replace
    Vim offers robust searching and replacing functionalities, including support for regular expressions, which can be a powerful tool for developers.

Possible disadvantages of Vim

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Vim's modal editing and extensive set of commands can be daunting for new users, requiring significant time and effort to master.
  • Minimal Default Config
    The default configuration of Vim is quite minimalistic, which may necessitate additional setup and customization to meet modern development needs.
  • Limited GUI
    Vim primarily operates in a terminal, and while there are graphical variants like GVim, they are not as feature-rich or user-friendly as modern GUI editors.
  • Plugin Management
    While Vim is highly extensible, managing and configuring plugins can be cumbersome compared to more modern editors that offer integrated plugin management.
  • Inconsistent Behavior Across Platforms
    There may be inconsistencies in behavior or available features of Vim across different operating systems, which can complicate its use in certain environments.
  • Lack of Integrated Modern Features
    Vim lacks some modern IDE features like integrated debugging, advanced code introspection, and refined autocompletion, which often require third-party plugins to achieve.

explainshell features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Explainshell provides a clean and easy-to-navigate interface, making it accessible for users with different experience levels.
  • Command Line Breakdown
    It breaks down complex command-line statements into simpler parts, explaining each part's function in detail.
  • Educational Tool
    Serves as a great learning resource for beginners and intermediate users who want to understand shell commands in depth.
  • Library of Commands
    Leverages the extensive `man` page collection to provide detailed explanations of a wide variety of commands.
  • Web-Based Accessibility
    Being a web-based tool, it is accessible from any device with an internet connection, without needing any additional software installation.

Possible disadvantages of explainshell

  • Dependency on `man` Pages
    The tool relies on `man` pages for explanations, which might not cover all edge cases or the latest versions of commands.
  • Internet Requirement
    Requires an internet connection to use, limiting its accessibility in offline scenarios.
  • Limited to Shell Commands
    Focused solely on shell commands, it doesn't cover other scripting languages or programming environments.
  • No Live Execution
    Cannot execute commands or provide real-time feedback; it's purely an explanatory tool.
  • Potential Outdated Information
    The explanations might occasionally be based on older versions of `man` pages, potentially missing out on new features or changes.

Analysis of Vim

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Vim is a good text editor, especially for users who invest the time to learn its powerful commands and features. Its steep learning curve may be challenging initially, but once mastered, it significantly enhances productivity.

Why this product is good

  • Vim is considered a powerful text editor because of its efficiency and versatility. It offers extensive features, such as syntax highlighting, a robust plugin system, and support for numerous programming languages. Vim is highly configurable, enabling users to customize its environment to fit their needs. It is particularly appreciated for its speed and the ability to perform complex text manipulations using simple commands.

Recommended for

    Vim is recommended for programmers, developers, and system administrators who require a highly efficient and customizable text editing experience. It is especially useful for those who work extensively in terminal environments or need a quick, resource-light text editor for remote systems.

Analysis of explainshell

Overall verdict

  • Explainshell is generally well-regarded and beneficial for users who work with shell commands. It simplifies understanding, reduces errors, and can be an invaluable learning resource.

Why this product is good

  • Explainshell is considered a good tool because it provides detailed explanations of shell commands by breaking them down into individual components and offering descriptions for each part. This can be incredibly helpful for both beginners learning how to use shell commands and experienced users looking to understand complex command structures. The service pulls in documentation from the man pages, making it a reliable and comprehensive resource.

Recommended for

  • Beginners looking to learn shell commands
  • Developers and system administrators who frequently use the command line
  • Anyone seeking to understand complex shell command structures
  • Learners improving their scripting and command-line skills

Vim videos

What Vim Is and Why You Should Learn It

More videos:

  • Review - JAC Vapour VIM Review - JAC does a side by side mod...
  • Review - Jac Vapour VIM - Quick Look

explainshell videos

No explainshell videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Vim and explainshell)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Mac
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Vim and explainshell

Vim Reviews

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Vim offers a variety of features like split windows, macros, and extensive customization options. It has a steep learning curve, but once you master it, youโ€™ll be amazed at the speed and productivity it brings to your coding workflow. Vim is a favorite among experienced developers who value speed and efficiency above all else.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
Itโ€™s tough to say which developers would enjoy Vim as a text editor. Itโ€™s an old system with an outdated interface. Yet, it still has the charm and powerful feature-set that the average developer needs. I would recommend it to more advanced developers who enjoy using open source software and being a part of a communityโ€“like the one you can find behind Vim.
Source: kinsta.com
12 Best LaTeX Editors You Should Use
The entire installation process is perfectly documented on their Sourceforge page, which you must definitely pay a visit. There is another standalone Vim software, known as the gVim that brings a GUI-based interface to the Vim document editor. Vim-LaTeX has been developed specifically for the programmers and it is so highly configurable that it can function anyway, ranging...
Source: beebom.com
The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
Vim is a totally free Notepad++ alternative. It is available to use on Windows, Mac and Linux computers and it is very powerful. I was able to customize Vim to get it to look and function just how I want it. There is really good help support with Vim so if you are new to programming it will get you through most issues.
10 Best Notepad++ Alternatives in 2020
Vim is an advanced text editor open source tool which is also considered to be an IDE in its way. This tool allows managing your text editing activities with vim editors and UNIX System which can be used on-premise or online.
Source: www.guru99.com

explainshell Reviews

We have no reviews of explainshell yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, explainshell seems to be a lot more popular than Vim. While we know about 114 links to explainshell, we've tracked only 10 mentions of Vim. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Vim mentions (10)

  • regular Vim has lua?!
    Lua is quite small, encouraging distros to include it. The ubuntu gvim has, and the gvim AppImage linked from vim.org does. The default Makefile from github is set up to not include it, but you can uncomment one line there to get it. Source: over 3 years ago
  • is there a way to make highlighted text persistent after quit when using something like [match Search /\%'.line('.').'l/] ?
    I've not used vimwiki locally (tho I'm old enough to remember the Vim wiki on vim.org :), but I think what you are wanting to do is extend vimwiki's syntax file. I presume it installs one at $VIMRUNTIM/syntax or or ~/.vim/syntax. If this sounds right, then create a ~/.vim/after/syntax/vimwiki.vim file and place your match command in there. Then everytime you open a vimwiki file it should apply your... Source: over 3 years ago
  • vim.org - Is there a reason for this 1800s-esque design?
    Vim.org has 242k total visitors, tailwindcss.com has 4.4m, planetscale.com has 412k, jpl.nasa.gov has 2.6m, all built with Tailwind, all several years younger than Vim's website. Unnecessary comparison, unnecessary defence. It's a valuable tool, fine, but a complete disregard for anyone who doesn't love a crappy website and would like to navigate a website like a normal human is not something to be defended. Maybe... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • What is YOUR process of writing ?
    I write in Vim with some customizations in my vimrc to gear it more towards prose writing than code editing. It's not pretty, but Normal Mode and Ex commands are the most powerful text editing tools out there, so that means I spend less time on making corrections and other edits. Source: over 4 years ago
  • Why developers need to know about Vim
    If you are open minded and would like to try it out, click me for more information! Cheers. - Source: dev.to / over 4 years ago
View more

explainshell mentions (114)

  • 11 Independent DevOps Learning Sites That Are Not Selling You a Certification
    What it is: explainshell takes a shell command and annotates each flag with the relevant chunk of the man page. - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • Show HN: Shellock, a real-time CLI flag explainer for fish shell
    There is https://explainshell.com/ not in terminal but should do the trick. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • 15 bash scripts to automate boring DevOps tasks so you can go play Elden Ring instead
    Explainshell paste a bash command and it explains every part. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • Linux for Non-Techies: A Simple Guide to Getting Comfortable
    Explainshell.com (Explains any Linux command). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • If OpenSSL Were a GUI
    I've found this tool handy for faster-than-man explanations of various CLI invocations: https://explainshell.com/ Sadly, it hasn't been updated in years. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Vim and explainshell, you can also consider the following products

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

cheat.sh - The only cheat sheet you need Unified access to the best community driven documentation

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

regular expressions 101 - Extensive regex tester and debugger with highlighting for PHP, PCRE, Python and JavaScript.

Microsoft Visual Studio - Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Microsoft.

crontab guru - The quick and simple editor for cron schedule expressions by Cronitor