Vim - editor and shell side by side
linux, shell, ssh, tabs, vim
Solution
I'd say the tool you're looking for is tmux. tmux will allow you to have 2 (or many more) sessions running at once, either in splits on your screen or in sessions that you can easily switch between. So yes, you can have vim on the left and the shell on the right and easily switch between them.
This is all extremely handy, but the best feature when working remotely over ssh is that the sessions continue if you lose your connection - you just reconnect, then `tmux a` to reopen your existing session, containing vim, long running install or build scripts, whatever.
A quick and easy guide to using tmux
Problem
Is there a way to have a text file open in Vim, and have the shell open next to it in the same window? I find myself opening a script for editing, making changes, closing Vim, running the script to test it, then opening Vim again, over and over. I suppose I could have two separate windows with a shell in one and Vim in the other but that somehow feels clunky (I guess I'm too used to IDEs). The real problem, however, is that I am using SSH to connect to a remote machine, and having two separate windows with two separate SSH sessions seems not just clunky but actually Wrong. Is there a better way or am I stuck with two windows/SSH sessions?