About Vi

The original Vi was also designed with a minimal memory footprint in mind. In the 1970s, computer memory was a scarce and expensive resource. Vi's small size and efficient design allowed it to run on systems with as little as 32 kilobytes of RAM. This efficiency is still a hallmark of Vi and its descendants, which are known for their speed and low resource consumption.One of the lesser-known facts about Vi's development is that its initial version was written in a single weekend. Bill Joy, a graduate student at UC Berkeley at the time, was frustrated with the limitations of the `ed` line editor and decided to write his own screen-oriented editor. This rapid development was possible because he built upon the existing codebase of `ex`, another line editor.Vi, one of the earliest screen-based text editors, was created by Bill Joy in 1976 for the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix release. It was designed to be a small and efficient editor that would work well over slow terminal connections, which were common at the time. The name 'Vi' is derived from the ex command 'visual', which switches the ex line editor to visual mode.Vi's modal nature, with separate insert and command modes, is one of its most defining and sometimes controversial features. This design choice was made to avoid the need for frequent and awkward key combinations (like holding down Ctrl or Alt) for common editing tasks. While this can present a steep learning curve for new users, it allows for powerful and efficient text manipulation once mastered, making it a favorite among many programmers and system administrators.Despite its age, Vi's influence is still felt today. Its command set and modal editing philosophy have been inherited by its many descendants, most notably Vim (Vi IMproved) and Neovim. These modern editors have added countless features like syntax highlighting, plugins, and scripting, but the core principles of Vi remain, a testament to the power and elegance of its original design.