Let me share with you my favorite line of my .vimrc. This is my secret sauce. It has honestly changed the way I think, and it is the main reason why SublimeText or Atom will just never be good enough for me.

nnoremap c<cr> :nmap <c-v><cr> :wa\\|<c-v><cr><left>

This is a keybinding for c->return. I use it to bind a command to return. I’ve ingrained in myself that you smash the enter key to get feedback. Writing this post, I’ve bound enter to jekyll build, reload chrome, and bring it to the foreground. When I’m writing ruby or javascript, it will run my specs. If I’m editing html or css, it will reload the browser.

I even have keybindings to set up the most common return bindings! <leader>blog binds the jekyll build process I mentioned. <leader>tr runs my ruby specs (test ruby). And I add new ones all the time, whenever it makes sense.

I took this technique from Gary Bernhardt, while watching his amazing series of screencasts on software development, Destroy All Software. I highly recommend it.

instant spec feedback
Go go gadget rspec!

What do you think? If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments on the post I'd love to hear them. Email me at and I promise I'll get back to you :)