Vim

General

:syntax on
:set hlsearch
:set modeline

Language-dependent settings

autocmd FileType python setlocal tabstop=4 expandtab

Persistent cursor

" http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Restore_cursor_to_file_position_in_previous_editing_session
"
" Tell vim to remember certain things when we exit
"  '10  :  marks will be remembered for up to 10 previously edited files
"  "100 :  will save up to 100 lines for each register
"  :20  :  up to 20 lines of command-line history will be remembered
"  %    :  saves and restores the buffer list
"  n... :  where to save the viminfo files
set viminfo='10,\"100,:20,%,n~/.viminfo

Persistent undo

" https://stackoverflow.com/a/22676189/1697183
"
" Put plugins and dictionaries in this dir (also on Windows)
let vimDir = '$HOME/.vim'
let &runtimepath.=','.vimDir
"
" Keep undo history across sessions by storing it in a file
if has('persistent_undo')
    let myUndoDir = expand(vimDir . '/undodir')
    " Create dirs
    call system('mkdir ' . vimDir)
    call system('mkdir ' . myUndoDir)
    let &undodir = myUndoDir
    set undofile
endif