Why does Vim use the HJKL key as the direction key?

Introduction: In the past, there was a saying on the Internet that when you put your finger on the keyboard, HJKL is closer than the arrow key, and the natural input efficiency is higher. It sounds quite reasonable. In fact, it is not. Let's take a look at the answer that Peter is Krumins found.

One day when I was reading something about Vim, I found out why it uses the HJKL key as the direction key. When Bill Joy created the Vi text editor, the machine he used was the ADM-3A terminal, which used the HJKL key as the direction key. Naturally, Bill Joy uses the same button.

The HJKL key looks like this:

HJKL keys on ADM-3A terminal keyboard with arrows

Below is the full picture of the ADM-3A terminal, Vi is created on this.

ADM-3A terminal Overview

Since Vim is derived from Vi, the same HJKL key is used.

The following is the ADM-3A terminal keyboard board, note that the ESC key is next to the left side of the Q key:

That's why the ESC key is used to switch the Vi mode! It is very close to your fingers and easy to press. In addition, let's also figure out why the home Directory of the Unix system is ~, Check the HOME Key in the upper right corner!