How do I exit Vim?

Question

Vim is a great text editor for unix systems, but it's notorious for being difficult to exit.

Write a full program that will output :q to exit Vim. It should then read a single line of input, as it will then either be given a bash prompt, in which case the exit was successful, or an error, in which case there are unsaved changes.

The bash prompt will be this:

E37@vimmachine: /var/override)

While the error will be this:

E37: No write since last change (add ! to override)

Upon being given the bash prompt, the program's work is done, and it should not give any more output (except for whitespace).

Upon being given the error, your program should randomly (ie each possibility has a non-zero probability of being chosen) output :q!, to exit without saving, or :x, to save and exit.

This is code-golf so fewest bytes in each language wins!

What if my bash prompt is E37: No write since last change? That is, how can an algorithm distinguish a prompt from an error message? — anatolyg, Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:38
@anatolyg it can't, but it also doesn't have to. The given prompt will always be the one above, that is E37@vimmachine: /var/override) — Mayube, Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:38
The given prompt will always be the one above That should be stated in the challenge spec. As is, it says looks like this, which can mean any number of things. — Dennis, Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 3:16
(joined golf for this comment, sheesh) @musicman523 NEVER use :x to exit vim. Someday you'll accidentally hit :X then random keys when you're confused. After you finally :wq you'll never see your file again. — Aaron McMillin, Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 14:14

musicman523 · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 14:53:27Z

16

Python 2, 66 bytes

Saved 3 bytes thanks to @Mr.Xcoder and 4 thanks to @Mayube!

from random import*
if'('in input(':q'):print choice([':x',':q!'])

Try it online!

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 14:53

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:35

musicman523

4,7721 gold badge25 silver badges61 bronze badges

2

\$\begingroup\$ If you switch to Python 2, you can save 1 bytes by using print instead of print(). And you can take the input with quotes \$\endgroup\$
– Mr. Xcoder
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:39
\$\begingroup\$ @Mr.Xcoder Thanks, it actually saved me 3 bytes! \$\endgroup\$
– musicman523
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:43
\$\begingroup\$ Yes, I didn't see you had 2 print statements \$\endgroup\$
– Mr. Xcoder
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:44
3

\$\begingroup\$ I gave this tip to totallyhuman so it's only fair I give it to you as well. You can remove print':q' altogether and change input() to input(':q') \$\endgroup\$
– Mayube
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:47
\$\begingroup\$ @Mayube oh that's awesome, thank you! \$\endgroup\$
– musicman523
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:48

| Show 1 more comment

André Diego Piske · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 17:26:38Z

7

Ruby, 35 bytes

p:q
p %i(q! x)[rand 2]if/\(/=~gets

Try it online!

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 17:26

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 15:59

André Diego Piske

1931 silver badge6 bronze badges

1

\$\begingroup\$ You can shave a byte by removing the space between p and :q ;) \$\endgroup\$
– ymbirtt
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 16:59
1

\$\begingroup\$ awesome and weird! I didn't know that, thanks @ymbirtt \$\endgroup\$
– André Diego Piske
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 17:27

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Riley · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 13:49:59Z

6

05AB1E, 19 bytes

„:q,'Nåi„:x…:q!‚.R,

Try it online!

„:q,                # Print the string ":q"
    'Nåi            # If N is in the input
        „:x         #   Push the string ":x"
           …:q!     #   Push the string ":q!"
               ‚    #   Wrap them into an array
                .R, #   Randomly print one of them

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:49

Riley

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muru · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-21 08:35:39Z

6

Vimscript, 45 41 bytes

ec"q"|exe"/("|ec["q!","x"][getpid()%2]

Shaved off 4 bytes by using getpid() to get a number. (Can anyone think of a shorter way to get a number that won't be the same everywhere, all the time?)

Assuming +3 bytes for invoking Vim with -c to run the above script and - to read input from stdin:

vim -c 'ec"q"|exe"/("|ec["q!","x"][reltime()[1]%2]' -

edited Jun 21, 2017 at 8:35

answered Jun 21, 2017 at 5:31

muru

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totallyhuman · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 15:40:45Z

5

Python 2, 76 75 72 69 bytes

This answer has been out-golfed.

-1 byte thanks to Rod. -3 bytes thanks to Mayube. -3 bytes thanks to Artyer.

from random import*
print'::qx!'[random()>.5:('N'in input(':q'))*5:2]

Try it online!

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 15:40

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:37

totallyhuman

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\$\begingroup\$ This prints an extra newline where the challenge says it should not give any more output \$\endgroup\$
– musicman523
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:49
\$\begingroup\$ @Mayube May we output a newline upon terminating? @Adám sure, that's fine \$\endgroup\$
– Stephen
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:59
1

\$\begingroup\$ random()>.5 to save a byte \$\endgroup\$
– Rod
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:03
2

\$\begingroup\$ Does the randomness have to be uniformly distributed? If not, you could do random()>0, because there is a very very small chance that random() will return 0. \$\endgroup\$
– mbomb007
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 17:09
1

\$\begingroup\$ @Artyer You know what [0, 1) means, right? It means that zero is included because the range is zero-inclusive. stackoverflow.com/a/4396303/2415524 ...The easy way to remember it is that on a number line, closed dots are included, and open dots aren't. Brackets look closed, and parens look open. \$\endgroup\$
– mbomb007
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 20:34

| Show 7 more comments

Downgoat · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 17:40:07Z

3

JavaScript, 52 46 bytes

Saved 6 bytes thanks to @ETHProductions

prompt(':q')[30]&&alert(new Date%2?':q!':':x')

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 17:40

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 15:23

Downgoat

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\$\begingroup\$ Doesn't there need to be a ! after the :q if the input is an error? \$\endgroup\$
– Shaggy
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 15:30
\$\begingroup\$ @Shaggy aww, didn't notice that, there goes 9 bytes \$\endgroup\$
– Downgoat
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 15:33
\$\begingroup\$ I think you can save a few bytes with prompt(':q')[30]&&.... Also, new Date%2?':x':':q!' \$\endgroup\$
– ETHproductions
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 17:01
\$\begingroup\$ @ETHproductions oh yeah, thanks! not sure how I overlooked a ternary \$\endgroup\$
– Downgoat
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 17:40

Add a comment |

Charlie · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 18:27:20Z

3

C# (.NET Core), 140 139 138 bytes

using static System.Console;class P{static void Main(){Write(":q");if(ReadLine()[3]==':')Write(new System.Random().Next()>9?":x":":q!");}}

Try it online!

1 byte saved thanks to LiefdeWen!
1 byte saved thanks to Mord Zuber!

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 18:27

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:43

Charlie

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\$\begingroup\$ Placing your program in the System namespace makes you able to shorten System.Random to Random, saving 1 byte \$\endgroup\$
– LiefdeWen
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:48
\$\begingroup\$ @CarlosAlejo works for me in TIO, however it outputs q! not :q! \$\endgroup\$
– Mayube
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:50
1

\$\begingroup\$ @CarlosAlejo Ahh, I didn't even realize that you didn't use a namespace, the question also doesn't say uniformly random, just all possibilities should have non-zero chance so you change .Next(2)>0 to .Next()>9, it leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth but it's still legal. \$\endgroup\$
– LiefdeWen
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 13:56
4

\$\begingroup\$ using static System.Console lets you drop all C. calls, and saves you a byte \$\endgroup\$
– Mord Zuber
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 16:09
1

\$\begingroup\$ @MordZuber what the...? I didn't even know that was possible! Thank you! \$\endgroup\$
– Charlie
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 18:28

| Show 3 more comments

PidgeyUsedGust · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-22 14:03:15Z

3

><>, 32 30 29 bytes

Had a redundant !o.
-1 byte thanks to Aaron.

iii0["@!qx:q:"ooi{=?;o!ox~oo;

Try it online!

Explanation (old)

"@!qx:q:"ooi~i~i~i{=?;o!ox~oo;
"@!qx:q:"                        Push @!qx:q: on the stack (in reverse)
         oo                      Print :q [stack: @!qx:]
           i~i~i~                Remove first 3 input characters
                 i               Load @ or : from the input (= i)
                  {              Shift stack to the left [stack: !qx:i@]
                   =?            If 4th character was @
                     ;              Exit
                                 Else
                      o             Print :
                       !o           Jump to
                         x          Random direction (left or right because
                                    up and down retrigger x)
                                       Left:
                     ;o!o                 Print x and exit.
                                       Right:
                          ~oo;            Remove x, print q! and exit.

(will update soon)

edited Jun 22, 2017 at 14:03

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 14:14

PidgeyUsedGust

6695 silver badges7 bronze badges

\$\begingroup\$ I'm not sure this would be allowed, but you could win one byte by reading the 3 characters to discard first, then start working on a new stack with [ : iii0[ wil leave you with an empty stack ; nice one anyway, I like how you populate all your possible outputs at the start to avoid additional quotes \$\endgroup\$
– Aaron
Commented Jun 21, 2017 at 20:36
\$\begingroup\$ @Aaron Thanks, that's a very neat trick! Why wouldn't it be allowed? \$\endgroup\$
– PidgeyUsedGust
Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 14:04
\$\begingroup\$ Because you'd be reading the input before having printed the output that leads to its production, which I suppose goes against the spirit of the challenge. However it's not like the challenge can realistically implemented with the official ><> interpreter since python will wait for the input's EOF before executing the ><> code (or something like that) \$\endgroup\$
– Aaron
Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 14:23

Add a comment |

Christian Legge · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 14:11:04Z

Actually, 27 bytes

":q"ü[":x",":q!"]`⌂`J'!,cIƒ

Try it online! (Note: As TIO doesn't play nice with stdin, I've replaced the , (read from stdin) with the literal string, which you can change to test it. Also, you'll need to disable output cache in order to get a different response with the random output.)

Explanation:

":q"ü[":x",":q!"]`⌂`J'!,cIƒ
":q"ü                       - Push the literal :q and print
     [":x",":q!"]           - Push the list of literals :x and :q!
                 `⌂`J       - Push function literals ⌂ (terminate) and J (choose random element from list)
                     '!     - Push the literal !
                       ,    - Read from stdin
                        c   - Pop top two values a,b and return "a".count(b)
                         I  - Pop top three values a,b,c and return b if a is truthy and c if a is falsy
                          ƒ - Pop a function from the stack and call it

Adám · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 14:06:43Z

1

APL (Dyalog), 27 bytes

':q'⋄('!'∊⍞)/':q!' ':x'⊃⍨?2

Try it online!

':q' print this

⋄ then

?2 random integer among the first two

⊃⍨ use that to select from

':q!' ':x' this list of two strings

(…)/ replicate that with, i.e. make n copies of each element in that, where n is

'!'∊⍞ is exclamation point a member of the text input? (Boolean, i.e. 0 or 1)

edited Jun 20, 2017 at 14:06

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:57

Adám

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Neil · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 16:56:13Z

1

Batch, 98 bytes

@echo :q
@set/ps=
@if %s:~3,1%==@ exit/b
@set/an=%random%%%2
@if %n%==0 (echo :x)else echo :q!

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 16:56

Neil

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ymbirtt · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 16:56:54Z

1

Ruby, 33 bytes (32 code, +1 for -n flag)

p:q;$_[?!]? p([:q!,:x][$$%2]): p

I'm not too sure on the $$%2 snippet. I'm using it to generate a random bit to index my array by taking the current ruby process's pid modulo 2, and it'll be fairly unpredictable. .sample adds an extra byte.

Try it online!

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 16:56

ymbirtt

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Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17 09:04:33Z

1

JavaScript, 76 71 50 bytes

prompt(":q")[3]<"@"?alert(new Date%2?":q!":":x"):0

Saved a bunch of bytes thanks to Artyer and Neil, as well as condensing my ternaries and moving first alert to prompt (duh).

edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:04

CommunityBot

1

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 13:58

Stephen

14k3 gold badges52 silver badges117 bronze badges

2

\$\begingroup\$ Why not just call prompt() directly? (Also, are you allowed prompt(":q")?) \$\endgroup\$
– Neil
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 14:28
\$\begingroup\$ You can use the time as a random number (new Date%2 instead of Math.random()>.5), and you can use prompt directly like @Neil said: prompt()[3]< \$\endgroup\$
– Artyer
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 15:22
\$\begingroup\$ @Neil Why? I had been doing a .indexOf on it, before I noticed the other way to do it. Forgot to switch back, thanks! \$\endgroup\$
– Stephen
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 19:55
\$\begingroup\$ @Artyer thanks, I had thought of that and then forgot about it \$\endgroup\$
– Stephen
Commented Jun 20, 2017 at 19:55

Add a comment |

Artyer · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-20 20:17:24Z

1

Python 2, 64 bytes

import time
if'w'in input(':q'):print'::qx!'[time.time()%2>1::2]

Try it online!

Since this is just an agglomeration of both of these Python answers, I've marked this as community wiki.

answered Jun 20, 2017 at 20:17

community wiki

Artyer

Add a comment |

Community · Accepted Answer · 2020-06-17 09:04:33Z

1

Python 2, 47 bytes

print'::qx!'[id(0)%3<2:('N'in input(':q'))*5:2]

Try it online

Explanation:

The source of randomness is id(0)%3<2. The function id returns the memory location of the parameter. Passing anything will give a non-deterministic memory address. The result will always be even, but it will only sometimes be divisible by 3. The results modulo 3 vary. So, this can be a source of randomness. Using <2 means that roughly 2/3 of the time, the resulting boolean is True.

The rest of the answer is inspired by this one.

edited Jun 17, 2020 at 9:04

CommunityBot

1

answered Jun 21, 2017 at 18:43

mbomb007

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-11 13:51:43Z

1

Keg, 14 12 bytes

\:~2%[q\!|x]

This pushes a random number and outputs corresondingly to the random number.

edited Jul 11, 2019 at 13:51

answered Jul 11, 2019 at 11:58

user85052

Add a comment |

hdrz · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-22 07:12:42Z

0

TCL, 95 bytes

puts :q;puts [if [string match *!* [gets stdin]] {puts [lindex ":q! :x" [expr round(rand())]]}]

A simple and rather long solution in tcl...

answered Jun 22, 2017 at 7:12

hdrz

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ulascan · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-22 08:07:16Z

0

Assembly 86Bytes Linux System Calls

global _start
_start:
mov edx,4
mov ecx,g 
mov ebx,1
mov eax,4
int 0x80
g db ':q!',10

answered Jun 22, 2017 at 8:07

ulascan

213 bronze badges

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user202729 · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-16 04:20:12Z

LOGO, 37 36 bytes

pr[:q]if 4<count rl[pr pick[:q! :x]]

Try it online at Anarchy Golf Performance checker.

Explanation:

pr[:q]if 4<count rl[pr pick[:q! :x]]   Main program.
pr                                     Print
  [:q]                                 the list `[:q]` without delimiter `[]`
      if           [              ]    If...
         4<                            4 is less than...
           count                       the number of word in the...
                 rl                    ReadLine (from stdin),
                    pr                 print
                       pick            a random word picked from the list...
                           [:q! :x]    [:q! :x]

(because E37@vimmachine: /var/override) has 2 words, while E37: No write since last change (add ! to override) has 10 words)

\$\begingroup\$ An explanation would be great. \$\endgroup\$
– pajonk
Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 12:19 — pajonk, Commented Jun 22, 2017 at 12:19

user4098326 · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-11 10:25:33Z

0

Perl 5 (with -E flag), 35 bytes

say":q";<>=~l&&say qw(:q! :x)[$$%2]

Run this with perl -E 'say":q";<>=~l&&say qw(:q! :x)[$$%2]'.

Try it online!

Ungolfed:

say(":q");
if(<> =~ /l/){ #read a line and check if it contains 'l'
    @a=(":q!",":x");
    say($a[$$ % 2]); #print one element from array based on PID
}

answered Jul 11, 2019 at 10:25

user4098326

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Stack Exchange Network

How do I exit Vim?

20 Answers 20

Python 2, 66 bytes

Ruby, 35 bytes

05AB1E, 19 bytes

Vimscript, 45 41 bytes

Python 2, 76 75 72 69 bytes

JavaScript, 52 46 bytes

C# (.NET Core), 140 139 138 bytes

><>, 32 30 29 bytes

Explanation (old)

Actually, 27 bytes

APL (Dyalog), 27 bytes

Batch, 98 bytes

Ruby, 33 bytes (32 code, +1 for -n flag)

JavaScript, 76 71 50 bytes

Python 2, 64 bytes

Python 2, 47 bytes

Keg, 14 12 bytes

TCL, 95 bytes

LOGO, 37 36 bytes

Explanation:

Perl 5 (with -E flag), 35 bytes

Your Answer

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code-golf
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Hot Network Questions

How do I exit Vim?

20 Answers 20

Python 2, 66 bytes

Ruby, 35 bytes

05AB1E, 19 bytes

Vimscript, 45 41 bytes

Python 2, 76 75 72 69 bytes

JavaScript, 52 46 bytes

C# (.NET Core), 140 139 138 bytes

><>, 32 30 29 bytes

Explanation (old)

Actually, 27 bytes

APL (Dyalog), 27 bytes

Batch, 98 bytes

Ruby, 33 bytes (32 code, +1 for -n flag)

JavaScript, 76 71 50 bytes

Python 2, 64 bytes

Python 2, 47 bytes

Keg, 14 12 bytes

TCL, 95 bytes

LOGO, 37 36 bytes

Explanation:

Perl 5 (with -E flag), 35 bytes

Your Answer

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