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In this case, 
vim
 is able to show you more than one file at a time in the same window, 
effectively splitting the window to show you both files. With 
:split
, or 
:sp
 for short 
(both do the same thing), it will either split the file into two views (the same file open 
in each) or it will show a separate file in the other split, if you give it a filename. This 
command will split the file horizontally:
Figure 5.6: The vim text editor, with two files open in the same window
The previous screenshot 
shows two files open, 
/var/log/apt/history.log
 and 
/var/
log/syslog
. You may also notice that the status bar for each file, at the bottom, shows 
RO
. As you can probably guess, this stands for 
read only
 and displays on the screen 
because I'm viewing files that only 
root
 has access to change, and I didn't use 
sudo
.
To switch between the two files, we can press the 
w
 key twice while holding 
Ctrl
. 
When we do that, our insertion point moves from one split to the other. To exit each 
individual buffer (or the editor itself, if we only have one file open), we can press 
Esc
 
to return to command mode, and then enter the 
:q
 or 
:q!
 command to exit without 
saving changes, or 
:wq
 to exit while also saving changes, just like before.

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Chapter 5