VIM has built-in feature for indenting code and formatting comments. That can make coding a lot easier.

To enable automatic indenting and formatting of C code (or C-like code as in Java), put the following lines in the file .vimrc in your home directory. If the file does not exist, create it.

• set formatoptions=tcqro2
• set autoindent
• set smartindent
• set cindent

Now restart VIM by typing the command vi on the command prompt. Try to enter a program as follows.

int main(void)
{
     int i, j;

     i = 10;
     j = 15;

     if(i < j)
     {
         i += 10;
     }
     else
         j = 30;
}


Notice that when you type if(...) and press 'enter', VIM indents the next line automatically. If you type {, then VIM will go back and put it under i of if. When you press enter again, VIM will indent the next line.

Simliarly when you need to close a brace, just type 'enter' to go to a new line and type }, VIM will automatically align it to its matching indent level.

VIM also formats comments. Just type /* on a line and press enter. VIM will put a * at start of each line and will continue doing so until you type a / on a fresh line.

This results in following format of comments

/*
 * This comment is written using VIM.
 * It is fun writing comments with VIM.
 * You can relax and let VIM format everything for you.
 * Thats all I have to say now.
 */

For more information, consult VIM help.