Vi clone written in BASIC proves old habits :wq hard

The venerable Vi text editor turns 50 years old in 2026, and one hobbyist has marked the occasion by rebuilding the tool in a programming language most developers left behind decades ago. Lee Tusman, an artist and non-professional programmer, created a functional Vi clone in Yabasic, a modern open source BASIC interpreter for Unix and Windows, using only a few hundred lines of code.

Tusman, who began experimenting with BASIC in 2025, describes Yabasic as a fun modern take on the classic language. Before tackling Vi, he built a cyber-hoss racing game inspired by UFO50 and Quibble Race, modified the text-based version of The Oregon Trail, and created a simple Dope Wars economic simulation. These projects helped him get comfortable with Yabasic's syntax ahead of his text editor experiment.

Vi, first released by Bill Joy in 1976 for BSD Unix, is known for its modal editing system, which splits input into command mode and insert mode. This design, while efficient for experienced users, has a steep learning curve and esoteric keyboard shortcuts that are hard to replicate. Tusman, a long-time Neovim and Vim user, wanted to see how much of Vi's core functionality he could recreate in a minimal codebase. He took inspiration from Offpunk, a text-based web browser, aiming to build an ultra-simple editor with only the most essential Vim commands.

The result is a lightweight clone that supports opening existing files, creating new ones, and saving changes. It lacks line wrapping, capping lines at 80 characters, and does not include many advanced Vim features. Tusman notes that the code relies heavily on simple key-press conditionals, keeping the program short and easy to modify. The entire project is public domain, with source code available on GitHub for anyone to fork or tinker with.

When asked why he chose Vi for the project, Tusman said his years of using the editor made its shortcuts second nature. "Once you're addicted to it, it's hard to want to use any other style of editor," he explained. He has no plans to build a full Vim replacement, focusing instead on keeping the program small and usable. Potential future additions include optional line numbers and a fix for cross-platform errors that occur when resizing the terminal window.

The project highlights the staying power of both Vi and BASIC. Vi remains a standard tool for many developers and system administrators 50 years after its release, while BASIC, once the entry point for millions of new programmers, still offers a simple framework for hobby projects. For developers who grew up using TI BASIC or Visual Basic in the 1980s and 1990s, the project brings back memories of early coding experiments.

Tusman jokes that his Vi clone is likely the only one written in BASIC, let alone the best. It is a lighthearted celebration of two technologies that have shaped computing history, proving that old habits, and old tools, can still find new life in modern projects.