fun with visual selections in vim (on mac)

fun-with-visual-selections-in-vim.md

fun with visual selections in vim (on mac)

Math

In insert mode type some math like 2+2

Then switch to visual mode and select it.

With visual mode still active type !bc

Your selection is now replaced by the result.

text to speech

In visual mode select a sentence somewhere in a file.

With visual mode still active type :w !say

The computer should read your text out loud.

If you want the computer to read out loud the whole file type :%w !say

Tips

Tip: By typing :w before the command you avoid that the selection is replaced by the output of the command.

Tip 2: This also works with other shell commands, but bc and say seemed cool to note here.