“Find next” in Vim

Question

To search forward in Vim for cake, I\'d type /cake, but the cursor jumps to the first match when I press return. Is there a Vim command analogo

Answer 1

As discussed, there are several ways to search:

/pattern
?pattern
* (and g*, which I sometimes use in macros)
# (and g#)

plus, navigating prev/next with N and n.

You can also edit/recall your search history by pulling up the search prompt with / and then cycle with C-p/C-n. Even more useful is q/, which takes you to a window where you can navigate the search history.

Also for consideration is the all-important 'hlsearch' (type :hls to enable). This makes it much easier to find multiple instances of your pattern. You might even want make your matches extra bright with something like:

hi Search ctermfg=yellow ctermbg=red guifg=...

But then you might go crazy with constant yellow matches all over your screen. So you’ll often find yourself using :noh. This is so common that a mapping is in order:

nmap z :noh

I easily remember this one as z since I used to constantly type /zz (which is a fast-to-type uncommon occurrence) to clear my highlighting. But the :noh mapping is way better.