VimL Script language: are there any implementations in other languages? [closed]

Question

Problem: One of my favorite aspects of Vim is its flexibility. One of my least favorite is the VimL script language itself. I know everyone has his or her own preference for languages and editors, so I take it for granted that not everyone agrees with me.

Question: If you are a Vim user, and if you have had a similar disaffection for using VimL to extend vim, what alternatives have you used in order to extend Vim while avoiding the default language? I am looking for ideas that may help beyond what I've already tried, including, but not limited to:

• recompiling vim with the add-on support for python, ruby, and perl (nice, but it does not help when I am running vim on someone else's machine without that support added in)
• never writing a line of VimL script and simply download preexisting add-ons (great, if and only if the existing stuff does exactly what you want it to, not so great if you have to make a change and end up having to look at more VimL script)

Disclaimer: Note, this is not a slam against VimL script or anyone's preferences. If it works great for you, that's great! I'm just asking those who have found a need for an alternative, and a way to fulfill that need to their satisfaction.

Update: This question was updated with a request for specific references to specific tools. No discussion, debate, polling or extended discussion is needed. If there exists a specific tool, please feel free to reference it.

• see e.g., https://github.com/luke-gru/riml

Answer 1

I love vim but hate VimL. So I have been trying emacs with the evil plugin. It's a vim-like mode, but with all the benefits of emacs plugins and emacs-lisp as a scripting language. Mostly a win. (It's not 100% like vim — for example, $ isn't a special line column like it is in vim — but close enough.)