diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 56ac3a4924d9e61fb9f8dd6a687794bb845e04fa..a997f8144e08c268ae829fd2dcc847449b75d4b3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,7 +5,10 @@
 ######################
 build
 .project
+#files ending with ~ are emacs backups
 *~
+#files ending with .swp might show up when using vi
+*.swp
 
 ######################
 # Project specific 'ignore patterns'