Configuring VIM as a (Python) IDE

While this is slanted towards configuring Vim for Python development this setup minus a couple of Python specific plugins (pep8, pydoc and pyflakes) would work well for any language.

This setup was influenced by Turning Vim into a modern Python IDE.

Vim Plugins

First of all, here is the list of Vim plugins we’ll be working with …

Autoclose

AutoClose automatically (and correctly) closes brackets, parenthesis, curly braces, single and double quotes.

Color-Sampler-Pack

Color-Sampler-Pack contains the top 100 rated color schemes on vim.sf.net.

Gundo

Gundo is a visual history browser.

Lusty

Lusty includes the LustyExplorer and LustyJuggler plugins for Vim which provide easy to use file and buffer management.

pathogen

pathogen allows plugins to be installed and managed within their own private directories.

pep8

pep8 checks your Python code against some of the style conventions in PEP 8.

pydoc

pydoc integrates viewing and searching Python documentation.

pyflakes

pyflakes highlights common Python errors like misspelling a variable name on the fly. It also warns about unused imports, redefined functions, etc.

ScrollColors

ScrollColors is a colorscheme Scroller/Chooser/Browser.

snipMate

snipmate provides tab completion for often-typed text.

SuperTab

SuperTab provides a tab completion for a variety of tasks.

virtualenv

virtualenv sets Vim paths correctly when working with virtualenvs, allows for activating and deactivating within a Vim session.

Dependencies

pyflakes

The only plugin that requires an external dependency is pyflakes. Let’s take care of that first.

sudo yum install pyflakes

Alternatively, you could install via pip.

sudo pip install pyflakes

git

We are going to manage our Vim modules with git. This allows for easy updating, rollback etc. of Vim plugins. Additionally, most Vim plugins are directly avaialable via github. See the vim-scripts page at github.

sudo yum install git

Repo Preperation

Create plugin directories.

cd $HOME
mkdir -p .vim/{autoload,bundle}

Initialize repo.

cd .vim
git init

Install plugins as submodules to the repo.

git submodule add https://github.com/andrewle/vim-autoclose.git bundle/vim-autoclose
git submodule add https://github.com/vim-scripts/Color-Sampler-Pack.git bundle/color-sampler-pack
git submodule add https://github.com/sjl/gundo.vim.git bundle/gundo
git submodule add https://github.com/sjbach/lusty.git bundle/lusty 
git submodule add https://github.com/cburroughs/pep8.git bundle/pep8
git submodule add https://github.com/vim-scripts/pydoc.vim.git bundle/pydoc
git submodule add https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen.git bundle/pathogen
git submodule add https://github.com/vim-scripts/ScrollColors.git bundle/scrollColors
git submodule add https://github.com/ervandew/supertab.git bundle/supertab
git submodule add https://github.com/jmcantrell/vim-virtualenv.git bundle/vim-virtualenv 
git submodule init
git submodule update
git submodule foreach git submodule init
git submodule foreach git submodule update

Create symlink in order to autoload pathogen.

ln -s '../bundle/pathogen/autoload/pathogen.vim' autoload/pathogen.vim
git add autoload

Move vimrc under repo and symlink it under home.

mv $HOME/.vimrc .
ln -s './.vim/.vimrc' $HOME/.vimrc
git add .vimrc

Commit changes to repo.

git commit -m "Initial commit."

vimrc file

" pathogen
let g:pathogen_disabled = [ 'pathogen' ]    " don't load self 
call pathogen#infect()                      " load everyhting else
call pathogen#helptags()                    " load plugin help files

" code folding
set foldmethod=indent
set foldlevel=2
set foldnestmax=4

" indentation
set autoindent
set softtabstop=4 shiftwidth=4 expandtab

" visual
highlight Normal ctermbg=black
set background=dark
set cursorline
set t_Co=256

" syntax highlighting
syntax on
filetype on                 " enables filetype detection
filetype plugin indent on   " enables filetype specific plugins

" colorpack
colorscheme vibrantink

" gundo
nnoremap <F5> :GundoToggle<CR>

" lusty
set hidden

" pep8
let g:pep8_map='<leader>8'

" supertab
au FileType python set omnifunc=pythoncomplete#Complete
let g:SuperTabDefaultCompletionType = "context"
set completeopt=menuone,longest,preview

bashrc

Additionally, I suggest making the following changes to .bashrc

export EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim

Reference

Autoclose

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/vim-autoclose/README
bundle/vim-autoclose/plugin/autoclose.vim

Color-Sampler-Pack

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/Color-Sampler-Pack/README
bundle/Color-Sampler-Pack/plugin/color_sample_pack.vim

Gundo

Links:
main page
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/gundo/README.markdown
bundle/gundo/plugin/gundo.vim

Help:
:help gundo

Lusty

github page

LustyExplorer

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/lusty/doc/explorer-vim.writeup
bundle/lusty/plugin/lusty-explorer.vim

LustyJuggler

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/lusty/doc/juggler-vim.writeup
bundle/lusty/plugin/lusty-juggler.vim

pathogen

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/pathogen/README.markdown
autoload/pathogen.vim

pep8

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/pep8/README.rst
bundle/pep8/pep8.py

pydoc

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/pydoc/README
bundle/pydoc/ftplugin/python_pydoc.vim

pyflakes

Notes:
This depends on the external pyflakes Python module. Install via yum or pip.

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/pyflakes-pathogen/README.rst
bundle/pyflakes-pathogen/ftplugin/python/pyflakes.vim

See Also:
:help quickfix

ScrollColors

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/ScrollColors/README
bundle/ScrollColors/plugin/ScrollColor.vim

snipMate

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/snipmate/README.markdown
bundle/snipmate/plugin/snipMate.vim

Help:
:help snipMate

SuperTab

Links:
vim.org page
github

Reference Files:
bundle/supertab/plugin/supertab.vim

Help:
:help supertab

virtualenv

Links:
vim.org page
github page

Reference Files:
bundle/vim-virtualenv/README.mkd
bundle/vim-virtualenv/plugin/virtualenv.vim

Help:
: help virtualenv