Helix Golf

For all examples, we’ll assume that your cursor is on the very first character

Object into Array

Before

const palette = {
  apricot: "#f47868",
  lightning: "#ffcd1c",
  delta: "6f44f0",
};

After

const palette = [
  ["apricot", "#f47868"],
  ["lightning", "#ffcd1c"],
  ["delta", "6f44f0"],
];

Command

Tip

You can click on the commands and it will explain in detail every step

jmr{[mi[s:<enter>r,t,;vgsms[lems"

1. Go to the line below with j, this is because we need to be inside of the object for the next step.
2. mr{[ replaces the nearest pair of curly braces ”{” with square brackets ”[”
3. mi[ selects inside the entire array
4. Use s to enter select mode, which searches inside our selection and creates sub-selections based on a pattern
5. Input : and then hit Enter, which will place a cursor on every ”:” creating many single-width selections
6. r, replaces each selection with a ”,”. Essentially we’ve replaced each colon with a comma
7. t, moves the cursor on each line to the ending comma
8. ; collapses the selection around each cursor into a single selection
9. vgs selects each line excluding the final comma
10. ms[ surrounds each individual selection with ”[” to turn it into an array. We’re almost done here. We just need to transform the first item in each sub-array into a string.
11. l moves 1 character forward, replacing the selection with just a 1-width selection
12. e selects until the end of each word. Since we start at the first character and select until the end, this selects the entire word.
13. ms" surrounds each word with double quotes to make strings

CSV to SQL

Before

id 1,Item 1,cost 1,location 1
id 2,Item 2,cost 2,location 2
id 10,Item 10,cost 10,location 10

After

INSERT INTO `database`.`table` (`id` ,`item` ,`cost` ,`location`) VALUES ('id 1','Item 1','Cost 1','Location 1');
INSERT INTO `database`.`table` (`id` ,`item` ,`cost` ,`location`) VALUES ('id 2','Item 2','Cost 2','Location 2');
INSERT INTO `database`.`table` (`id` ,`item` ,`cost` ,`location`) VALUES ('id 10','Item 10','Cost 10','Location 10');

Command

%<alt-s>"yys\d<enter>dhhbms``x_ms(IINSERT INTO `database<esc>a.`table<esc>la <esc>AVALUES (<esc>"yPS,<enter>ms'A;<esc>Fl;~

1. % selects full file

2. Alt + s split selection into multiple selections on newlines

3. "yy yanks the selections into “y” register. We’ll need it for later

4. s and then input the pattern \d then Enter which creates a selection on all digits

5. d deletes the selections. Essentially we’ve removed all the digits.

6. hh goes backwards 2 chars, important to make sure we are at the end of each word

7. Use b to select till the beginning of every word, which also nicely selects all the words that there are

8. ms` surrounds each word with a backtick

9. ` switches all characters to lowercase

10. x selects each line then use _ to trim the trailing whitespace

11. ms( surrounds each line with parentheses

12. I goes into insert mode at the beginning of each line

13. Type the following:

    INSERT INTO `database

14. Escape goes back to normal mode

15. a to go into insert mode after the backtick then type:

    .`table

16. Escape goes back into normal mode, then la to enter insert mode just before the opening parentheses

17. Add a Space then Escape to go back into normal mode again

18. A goes into insert mode at the end of each line, now type:

    VALUES (

19. Hit Escape to leave insert mode. Your cursor will be at the closing parenthesis.

20. "yP pastes our previously yanked items from the “y” register

21. S,<enter> splits current selection into multiple selections on each comma

22. ms' surrounds each item with a single quote

23. A; adds a semicolon at the end of each line

24. Escape goes back to normal mode and Fl to place your cursor on the lowercase “l” of each “location”

25. ; collapses each selection into a single-width selection

26. ~ toggles the case for each “l” into “L”

Text into Array

Before

Hello
This
Is
Helix

After

[ "Hello", "This", "Is", "Helix" ]

Command

%<A-s>ms"<A-J>i,<esc>xms ms[

1. % selects full file
2. <A-s> split selection into multiple selections on newlines
3. ms" surrounds each word with "’s
4. <A-J>i, join lines inside selection, select the inserted space, and insert ,’s
5. <esc>xms enter normal mode, select line and surround by spaces
6. ms[ surround by []

Convert functions into a class

Before

def calculate_area(length, width):
  result = length * width
  return result

def calculate_perimiter(length, width):
  result = 2 * (length + width)
  return result

def calculate_volume(length, width, height):
  result = length * width * height
  return result

After

class Calculator
  @staticmethod
  def get_area(len, wid):
    return len * wid

  @staticmethod
  def get_perimiter(len, wid):
    return 2 * (len + wid)

  @staticmethod
  def get_volume(len, wid, hei):
    return len * wid * hei

Command

%scalculate<enter>cget<esc>O@staticmethod<esc>jxxs\w+<enter>slength|width|height<enter>bllled%sresult =<enter>C<alt-(>;ddss<enter>xd%>O<backspace>class Calculator:

1. % selects the entire file

2. s searches inside the current selection and creates sub-selections based on a pattern. Input calculate then hit Enter to make a selection on all instances of the word

3. c then type get to change each “calculate” word into a “get”

4. Escape to go back to normal mode

5. Use O to create an empty line above each cursor, write:

   @staticmethod

6. Hit Esc to go into normal mode.

7. We need to select 2 lines below the current line, first go down with j and then press xx which will select the current line, and then select the next line In total we now have 3 cursors each with 2 lines selected, which includes the first line of the bodies of each function and the function definition themselves

8. s brings up a prompt to select sub-selections by a given regex. The \w+ regex selects each word, type it and then Enter

9. s again then type length|width|height followed by Enter. This will look at the contents of the current selections, and create sub-selections where it finds the regex which means “length or width or height”. So we select each instance of those 3 words

10. Our cursor is currently at the end of each word. Let’s go to the beginning with b

11. We want to keep the first 3 characters and discard the rest from each of the parameters. To do this, move to the 4th character with lll

12. Use e to select until the end of each word and then d to delete it

13. Select the entire file again with % followed by s to bring up selection prompt again

14. Write result = followed by Enter to select all instances of that string

15. C creates a new selection on the line directly below, for each cursor

16. Use Alt + ( to rotate the contents of the selection backward

17. ; collapses each cursor into a single selection

18. dd deletes two characters on each of the 6 lines

19. s to bring up the prompt, then input s followed by Enter to select all “s” characters

20. Select each of the lines with x followed by d to delete

21. Select whole file with % and indent with >

22. O creates a newline above and enters Insert mode, then Backspace to delete an extra tab

23. Write this:

    class Calculator:

Enumerate and align

Before

[
  { word: "a", count: 2565 },
  { word: "and", count: 1777 },
  { word: "of", count: 1331 },
  { word: "that", count: 1263 },
  { word: "to", count: 1030 },
  { word: "in", count: 1027 },
  { word: "it", count: 754 },
  { word: "as", count: 730 },
  { word: "was", count: 687 },
  { word: "you", count: 652 },
  { word: "for", count: 630 },
]

After

[
  { rank:  1, word: "a",    count: 2565 },
  { rank:  2, word: "and",  count: 1777 },
  { rank:  3, word: "of",   count: 1331 },
  { rank:  4, word: "that", count: 1263 },
  { rank:  5, word: "to",   count: 1030 },
  { rank:  6, word: "in",   count: 1027 },
  { rank:  7, word: "it",   count:  754 },
  { rank:  8, word: "as",   count:  730 },
  { rank:  9, word: "was",  count:  687 },
  { rank: 10, word: "you",  count:  652 },
  { rank: 11, word: "for",  count:  630 },
]

Command

%s\{<enter>a rank: <ctrl-r>#,<esc>%s |\d+<enter>&

1. % selects full file
2. Use s to enter select mode, which searches inside our selection and creates sub-selections based on a pattern
3. Input \{ and then hit Enter, which will place a cursor on every ”{”, creating many single-width selections
4. a to go into insert mode after the ”{”
5. Input rank:
6. Ctrl + r followed by # inserts an increasing number for every selection starting with 1
7. Input ,
8. Escape goes back to normal mode
9. Use s to enter select mode again
10. Input Space and |\d+ which is a regular expression selecting all spaces and numbers, then hit Enter
11. & to align all selections in columns, note that the numbers get right-aligned

Convert snake_case to camelCase

Before

const user_profile = {
  first_name: "John",
  last_name: "Doe",
  birth_date: "1990-05-15",
  email_address: "john_doe@example.com",
  phone_number: "555-123-4567",
  mailing_address: {
    street_name: "Main Street",
    house_number: 123,
    apartment_unit: "4B",
    zip_code: "10001",
    city_name: "New York"
  }
};

After

const userProfile = {
  firstName: "John",
  lastName: "Doe",
  birthDate: "1990-05-15",
  emailAddress: "john_doe@example.com",
  phoneNumber: "555-123-4567",
  mailingAddress: {
    streetName: "Main Street",
    houseNumber: 123,
    apartmentUnit: "4B",
    zipCode: "10001",
    cityName: "New York"
  }
};

Command

%s\w+(:| =)<enter>s_\w<enter>~<alt-;>;d

1. % selects the entire file
2. s\w+(:| =)<enter> selects all words that are followed by either a colon or equals sign with space - capturing variable and property names
3. s_\w<enter> finds all underscores followed by a character within those selections
4. ~ toggles the case of the character after each underscore (making it uppercase)
5. <alt-;> flips the selection cursor and anchor - this adjusts our selections to ensure we can properly target the underscores
6. ; collapses multiple selections to just the underscores
7. d deletes all the underscores