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Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

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Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#71

Post by TomDavey »

asgard1024 wrote: post #56
goblinfoblin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The starter packages like prelude and emacs-starter-kit are more like a learning to walk with a crutch when you have perfectly working legs. They offer an easy way to start but once you start using them you'll find it hard to do it the normal way (like when you need to modify your emacs config or add some new elisp that isn't included). It is better just to start emacs do C-h t and start learning, then add and config…

I don't have problem with Elisp. That's actually lot easier than what IDEs offer as a way of customization (Java?), and that's one reason I am interested in Emacs :-). What I don't like is the transition period where I am not set up properly. It doesn't quite feel like learning, but rather reinventing the wheel. And I don't have big requirements either - I just need some sort of project management (being able to work…

Invoking the help system by typing C-h b (the command "describe-bindings") will open a new buffer showing all the keybindings in effect in the current buffer. Picking an unused binding to your liking is a matter of scanning the list.

The Emacs help system is a marvel and an astonishment. It's the second thing to explore after running the built-in tutorial. And it's the first thing to master.

Don't neglect the hyperlinked, highly navigable Info Manuals, which you read right within Emacs. They are among the most literate technical documentation I've ever read.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#72

Post by spacemanaki »

runeks wrote: post #65

> Go ahead and undo that change. How do I do that? Thanks for the guide by the way!

C-_ is undo in Emacs. That's hold Control, and press "underscore". On my keyboard (most keyboards?) this requires holding Shift and pressing the "minus" key. Hopefully that's clear.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#74

Post by sb »

I started using emacs about seven years ago after about eight years of exclusively using vim, primarily because I wanted to see what the editor war's were all about (and because I got the blues from work and needed something uplifting...) I agree with the learning curve, and constantly am fine tuning my setup and configuration, but once you've mastered the basics, it truly becomes one of the most powerful editors. Plus it is constantly evolving (e.g., multiple cursors).

Another good emacs guide that I came across recently is:

http://m00natic.github.io/emacs/emacs-wiki.html

Additional resources I found helpful:

http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsNiftyTricks

http://web.psung.name/emacstips/essential.html

Plus, check out the videos from Magnar Sveen's emacs rocks:

http://emacsrocks.com

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#75

Post by sb »

RBerenguel wrote: post #38
Matti wrote: post #26

Emacs-related things I have learned recently: * Sticky modifiers: I don't know why it took me so long for me to activate these. The difference between holding Ctrl while hitting another key or just hitting Ctrl once before the next key makes a huge difference for me. http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/StickyModifiers * Got an old-styled Thinkpad keyboard with the trackpoint buttons below the spacebar? I mapped the left b…

I think you may also like key chord-mode: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/KeyChord

Seconded! Especially with magit (and I suppose with vc in general) key chords are really nice.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#76

Post by nonrecursive »

goblinfoblin wrote: post #50
asgard1024 wrote: post #42

I also recently started using Emacs. Not much progress in learning, yet, though. It would be nice if someone made a nice starting package that would set it up more sanely for all the IDE-oriented people (basically take what modern IDE can do out of the box and setup Emacs that way). Something similar to what Ubuntu did for Linux. I have seen lots of personal configs on Github, and read lots of Emacs Wiki on how to se…

The starter packages like prelude and emacs-starter-kit are more like a learning to walk with a crutch when you have perfectly working legs. They offer an easy way to start but once you start using them you'll find it hard to do it the normal way (like when you need to modify your emacs config or add some new elisp that isn't included). It is better just to start emacs do C-h t and start learning, then add and config…

I might be biased (I'm the author), but I don't think that emacs-starter-kit prevents you from doing things the normal way. You can still modify your emacs config and include vendor elisp, and ESK doesn't make it more difficult.

And with the tutorial - I have a pretty low opinion of it. I mean, it starts out talking about how to navigate up and down one screen - who cares about that when they're starting to learn a new editor? Who? Emacs already has a reputation for being obscure and difficult, and the tutorial does not help.

This frustration isn't directed at you, of course - I appreciate the comment. In general, though, I think that Emacs instructions would be better if they had a little more empathy for the learner. As a new person, I don't care about hearing all this magical stuff about emacs right off the bat - I can't even make sense of it because I have no context. Just show me how to actually do real work.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#77

Post by samatman »

burgerz wrote: post #14

What benefits does Emacs have over something like Sublime? All I can see is you can customize a million key binds so you don't have to use the mouse. Sorry but I'm not racing type to as fast as possible when I write code, I don't mind spending an extra second and using a cursor.

Long term Sublime user here. Recently dove deep into Emacs due to a need for Common Lisp arising.

Sublime is an excellent text editor. Emacs is an ancient book of magic spells, with a strange, hoary culture surrounding it. It is phenomenally powerful, and also very, very weird.

I still use Sublime for 'editing text', but for a mixed workflow with compilation, git commands, REPLs and shell scripts? Emacs. I suspect once I finish rolling Emacs into the precise form I want it, I will more or less stop using other tools.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#78

Post by davexunit »

asgard1024 wrote: post #56
goblinfoblin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The starter packages like prelude and emacs-starter-kit are more like a learning to walk with a crutch when you have perfectly working legs. They offer an easy way to start but once you start using them you'll find it hard to do it the normal way (like when you need to modify your emacs config or add some new elisp that isn't included). It is better just to start emacs do C-h t and start learning, then add and config…

I don't have problem with Elisp. That's actually lot easier than what IDEs offer as a way of customization (Java?), and that's one reason I am interested in Emacs :-). What I don't like is the transition period where I am not set up properly. It doesn't quite feel like learning, but rather reinventing the wheel. And I don't have big requirements either - I just need some sort of project management (being able to work…

C-h b - describe the key bindings for the current binding

C-h f - describe a function

C-h k - describe a key binding

The help system in Emacs is wonderful.

Re: Start Using Emacs – A Thorough Guide for Beginners

#79

Post by samatman »

samatman wrote: post #77
burgerz wrote: post #14

What benefits does Emacs have over something like Sublime? All I can see is you can customize a million key binds so you don't have to use the mouse. Sorry but I'm not racing type to as fast as possible when I write code, I don't mind spending an extra second and using a cursor.

Long term Sublime user here. Recently dove deep into Emacs due to a need for Common Lisp arising. Sublime is an excellent text editor. Emacs is an ancient book of magic spells, with a strange, hoary culture surrounding it. It is phenomenally powerful, and also very, very weird. I still use Sublime for 'editing text', but for a mixed workflow with compilation, git commands, REPLs and shell scripts? Emacs. I suspect on…

You can also find me complaining about Emacs less than a month ago on this very site, and refusing to use it. It took a lot to push past the completely alien keystroke syntax, including a lot of installing re-binds that change it substantially.
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