God save the VIM!: My personal .vimrc

set number            <-- A must 
set ignorecase        <-- quite useful
set encoding=utf-8
set tabstop=4          
set shiftwidth=4      <-- 8 is too much and annoying
set expandtab         <-- replace tabs with spaces. That makes layout independent of tab's setup.
set foldmethod=indent <-- Ummm, depends on taste. Automatic folding based on indentation
Once a file is open it may be better to change it to foldmethod=manul
set cursorline        <-- Visual help (cursorcolumn is useful sometimes) 
syntax off            <-- Syntax highlighting never works to me.
set cindent           <-- C indent rules                                           
set smartindent       <-- Make vim smart about indentation
set autoindent        <-- Enable autoindent 

" associate file extension (lp) with syntax (lua)

au BufNewFile,BufRead *.lp setlocal ft=lua

" shorcut for if-then-else in C-style languages
ab ite 
\if () {
\
\} else if () {
\
\} else if () {
\
\} else {
\
\} end  

 

" shorcut for if-then-else in lua
ab itel 
\if ()  then -- {
\
\elseif () then -- } { 
\
\elseif () then -- } { 
\
\else -- } { 
\
\end -- }

" 
fu! SaveSess()
    execute '!mkdir .vim'
    execute 'mksession! .vim/session.vim'
endfunction

fu! RestoreSess()
execute 'so .vim/session.vim'
if bufexists(1)
    for l in range(1, bufnr('$'))
        if bufwinnr(l) == -1
            exec 'sbuffer ' . l
        endif
    endfor
endif
endfunction

autocmd VimLeave * call SaveSess()
autocmd VimEnter * call RestoreSess()

" indentation rules for FFmpeg
set shiftwidth=4
set softtabstop=4
"set cindent         < -- useful for C alike languages
"set cinoptions=(0   < -- useful for C alike languages

autocmd FileType make,automake set noexpandtab shiftwidth=8 softtabstop=8 < -- " Allow tabs in Makefiles.
highlight ForbiddenWhitespace ctermbg=red guibg=red < -- hihglight forbidden Trailing whitespace and tabs
match ForbiddenWhitespace /\s\+$\|\t/
autocmd InsertEnter * match ForbiddenWhitespace /\t\|\s\+\%#\@<!$/ < -- Do not highlight spaces at the end of line while typing on that line.

Update 2012-04: The RestoreSess/SaveSess (Grotty copy&paste from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5142099/auto-save-vim-session-on-quit-and-auto-reload-session-on-start) is a really great addition. It saves and automatically restore all the vim session (open file, tabs, window layouts,...). One more reason to say Eclipse "Good Bye!".

Update 2014-05: Unashamedly copied Makefile related stuff from ffmpeg documentation project.

Update 2014-11:  associating file extensions with language syntax and shorcuts for if-then-else.

External Links:

• Tips for using vim as an ide