My usual programming toolbox includes vim, ctags, bash, rg (or grep if I have to), sed, awk, tmux (or screen), git, and usually a CLI for one of MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Redis. The only vim plugins I like to have: ctrlp (file fuzzy finder) and advanced text motions.

On the iPad I use Blink shell, the Github client, Apple Notes. I always have a paper notebook and pen, my short-term memory gets less reliable every year.

I have noticed a lot of younger people using or at least learning vim and CLI tools, maybe retreating from the complexity of modern software development setups. Maybe just a retro fad, I don’t know.

I also see terminal setups described online that try to reproduce the GUI experience — lots of colors and planes and widgets. Neovim and zellij both look like that to me — a lot of extraneous functionality and visual clutter that mimics VSCode. I prefer a more minimalist environment. I don’t even use syntax coloring.

Everyone has to find the tools that work for them, that takes time. I think most programmers figure out at some point in their career that continually experimenting and polishing their tools doesn’t always help get the work done, and when you freelance you get more conscious of billable vs. non-billable time.

i think you're mostly more modern than i am, despite being much older. i generally use grep rather than rg, screen rather than tmux, emacs rather than vim for programming (though i use vim on my phone and for writing email), no redis, no fuzzy find, and no ipad. the only differences in the opposite direction are that i usually use python or perl rather than sed and awk, and i do use syntax coloring—for me, terminal colors were one of the big pluses of moving from sunos 4 to linux

i don't think younger people using vim is a fad, but we'll see. vim to me, especially neovim, seems mostly like emacs in vi clothing