How can I have the delete key remove newline characters in normal mode (like delete in insert mode)?

Question

My question is similar to this one but for the i_<Del>.

In insert mode, if I type <Del> it removes the next character, including newlines. In normal mode, I have to type x if the cursor is inner the line or J if the cursor is just before the new line.

I could write a mapping that check the position of the cursor (something like nmap <expr> <Del> getpos(".") == getpos("$") ? "J" : "x"), but I am surprised there is no standard way to do that.

Answer 1

I'm not 100% sure this answers your question, but you can join the lines from anywhere in the line by simply pressing J:

                            *J*
J           Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
            Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces (see
            below).  Fails when on the last line of the buffer.
            If [count] is too big it is reduced to the number of
            lines available.

You might also be interested in any of the following nearby help topics:

• v_J
• gJ (and v_gJ)
• :join