&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:NetBSD_6.1_vi_C_Hello_World.png) vi editing a Hello World program in C. Tildes signify lines not present in the file. | |
| Developer(s) | Bill Joy |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1976 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix, Unix-like |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Text editor |
| License | BSD-4-Clause or CDDL |
| Website | ex-vi |
vi (pronounced as distinct letters, /ˌviːˈaɪ/ )[1] is a screen-oriented text editor originally created for the Unix operating system. The portable subset of the behavior of vi and programs based on it, and the ex editor language supported within these programs, is described by (and thus standardized by) the Single Unix Specification and POSIX.[2]
The original code for vi was written by Bill Joy in 1976 as the visual mode for the ex line editor that Joy had written with Chuck Haley.[3] Joy's ex 1.1 was released as part of the first Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) Unix release in March 1978. It was not until version 2.0 of ex, released as part of Second BSD in May 1979 that the editor was installed under the name "vi" (which took users straight into ex's visual mode),[4] and the name by which it is known today. Some current implementations of vi can trace their source code ancestry to Bill Joy; others are completely new, largely compatible reimplementations.[citation needed][discuss]
The name "vi" is derived from the shortest unambiguous abbreviation for the ex command visual, which switches the ex line editor to its full-screen mode. The name is pronounced /ˌviːˈaɪ/ (the English letters v and i).[5][6]
In addition to various non–free software variants of vi distributed with proprietary implementations of Unix, vi was opensourced with OpenSolaris, and several free and open source software vi clones exist. A 2009 survey of Linux Journal readers found that vi was the most widely used text editor among respondents, beating gedit, the second most widely used editor, by nearly a factor of two (36% to 19%).[7]
- ^ Computerphile (9 July 2018), EXTRA BITS GREP from ED and Text Editors - Computerphile – Computerphile, archived from the original on 18 November 2021, retrieved 17 April 2020
- ^ The IEEE & The Open Group (2013). ""vi — screen-oriented (visual) display editor", The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7; IEEE Std 1003.1, 2013 Edition". Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ^ "Interview with Bill Joy". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
- ^ "Second Berkeley Software Distribution Manual". roguel ife.org. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- ^ Joy, William; Horton, Mark. "An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi" (PDF). freebsd.org. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ "The Jargon Lexicon". Hacker's Dictionary 4.3.0. 30 April 2001. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ^ Gray, James (1 June 2009). "Readers' Choice Awards 2009". Linux Journal. Retrieved 22 January 2010.