Change an entire line in Vim

Question

Is there a way to delete a full line and start with an insert? Normally I would do:

• 0 (go to start of line)
• C (delete to end of line and start insert)

But is there a command to do the above without having to first enter the 0? Normally it's something like ciw or so to delete the 'wrapping' stuff (in this case the wrap is the line break).

The best I've gotten so far is now:

• Shift-v (go to visual line mode)
• c (change at the start)

Answer 1

In the same way that yy copies the current line and dd deletes it, you can use cc to change it (i. e. yank it, delete it and enter insert mode). S is a synonym for cc.

Answer 2

cc does what you want, I think?

From :help cc:

["x]cc      Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
            insert |linewise|.  If 'autoindent' is on, preserve
            the indent of the first line.

Answer 3

Three ways:

• S [an abbreviation for cc]
• Vs [line-wise selection, then substitute]
• C [assuming the cursor is at the start of the line]

plus various ways to visually select all the text on the line followed by one of s or c.

Note that you can replace multiple lines using V, by moving the cursor down or using % to select a block, then s.