God save 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

External Links:

• Tips for using vim as an ide