In Vim how to switch quickly between .h and .cpp files with the same name?

Question

Suppose I have a folder with lots of .h and .cpp files. I frequently need to do the following:

1. open a file prefix_SomeReallyLongFileName.h,

Answer 1

You can use the :r (root) filename modifier which removes the last extension (check out :h filename-modifiers for more information)

:e %:r.cpp

where

• % is shorthand for current filename.
• :r removes the extension
• .cpp simply appends that string at the end.

This effectively substitutes the current file's extension with another, then open the file with the newer extension.

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An even shorter way (courtesy of Peter Rincker),

:e %<.cpp

Relevant documentation at :h extension-removal