Difference between Viper, Vimpulse and Evil for Emacs?

Question

I have recently started using Emacs after using Vim for a long time now (like many others out there), and I personally feel that Vim movement keys and text objects are one of the best things an editor can have. I heard about emulating these features in Emacs using the different plugins, but after reading a bit more on the internet, I'm confused.

I have come across three modes specially: Viper, Vimpulse, and Evil. Can someone please help me out with understanding how to use these modes to achieve a near perfect Vim emulation? Do I need to install all three of them? What is the difference between them? Thanks.

Answer 1

Simply put:

• Viper: Basic Vi emulation mode offered by Emacs; in-built and comes bundled with Emacs
• Vimpulse: Adds on to the Viper mode but offering advanced features like visual selection and text objects
• Evil: A completely new Vim emulation mode for Emacs and is said to be the successor of both Viper and Vimpulse mode. This mode is said to be much better than both the above combined and users report facing lesser problems with this. Recommended going forward.

The instructions to install Evil can be found here. Good luck!