A simple Vim configuration file to get you on your merry way.

.vimrc

set nocompatible                " don't need Vi compatibility
syntax on                       " color syntax highlighting
set backspace=indent,eol,start  " make backspace work normally
filetype plugin indent on       " load filetype-specific plugins, indent, highlighting settings
set smarttab                    " make <TAB> use shiftwidth for spacing
set autoindent                  " new lines will have the same indentation as the line above
set smartindent                 " use smart autoindenting when starting new lines
set tabstop=2                   " set tab width to 2 spaces
set expandtab                   " use the appropriate amount of spaces when inserting a tab
set shiftwidth=2                " number of spaces to use for each step of indent
set number                      " show line numbers
set nobackup                    " don't use .swp files
set showmatch                   " show bracket matches