Display line numbers in vim editor

Follow the below steps to display line numbers in the vi editor:

• Enter in command mode, Press Esc if you are in insert mode
• Use the following command to display line numbers

:set number

alternatively,

:set nu

Example:

In this article, we will cover how to make the Vim editor display or hide line numbers. First, we look at what Linux and VIM editors and why we use them, are its features and how can we use them Follow the basic VIM editor guide to get familiar with the editor followed by various options to make the vim editor display or hide line numbers and how we can change the default settings of vim editor to display or hide line numbers.

Linux

Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991 as a hobby project. It is an open-source (source code that can be used by anyone freely) kernel that is most popular and widely used in the industry as well as in personal systems. There are various operating systems based on the Linux kernel, some of the popular Linux distributions are Ubuntu, Cent OS, Red Hat, Debian, and Kali Linux.

VIM Editor

VIM stands for VI Improved (VIM) which is an improved version of the vi editor released in 1991, vi editor is a widely used text editor in Unix/Linux systems and is known for its efficiency and flexibility, vi editor was developed in 1976 by Bill Joy. There are two modes in Vim Editor:

• Insert Mode
• Command Mode

Basic VIM editor guide

1. Create/Edit a file using Vi editor

vi filename

2. Insert Mode

To make any changes in the file first you need to enter in the insert mode to modify the file. To get into insert mode press button ‘i‘ to enter in insert mode.

3. Command Mode

To run any command in the vi editor you have to first enter in the command mode if you are currently in the insert mode then press Esc and then ‘:’ colon followed by your command to run your command in the editor.

4. Basic Navigation

To navigate easily within the file vi editor provides a large number of commands which are as follows: