Peteris Krumins personal blog
Why Vim uses hjkl keys as arrow keys
I was reading about vim the other day and found out why it used `hjkl` keys as arrow keys. When Bill Joy created the vi text editor he used the ADM-3A terminal, which had the arrows on hjkl keys. Naturally he reused the same keys and the rest is history. Here is how the `hjkl` keys looked. ADM-3A keyboard's hjkl…
- Points
- 52
- HN comments
- 61
- Submissions
- 1
- Cited by
- 11 commenters
Tools & ProductivitySoftware Engineering2024
On Hacker News
| Submitted | Title on HN | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 1, 2024 | Why Vim uses hjkl keys as arrow keys by avinassh | 52 | 61 |
Cited in comments
Linked from 12 Hacker News comments by 11 different people, from Aug 2019 to Sep 2025.
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