![]() ![]() Sometimes I’ll be in the middle of editing, realize my editor isn’t behaving exactly how I want, run a quick search for some variables/functions that will change that behavior, write some quick EmacsLisp, and move on with my editing. There’s no more need to switch back and forth between a browser and my editor while reading the settings’ documentation. If there’s any variable or function I don’t understand, it’s easy to jump to where it’s defined and find where/how it’s used to understand it. At any time, I can search for a function and see what keys are bound to it, find what function a key binding executes and edit it, or find the documentation for a variable. Self-DocumentingĮmacs is self-documenting. ![]() all in the same program and perfectly integrated with each other. That means I can have my email client, browser, to-do manager, music player, terminal emulator, etc. This is possible thanks to the amazing power of Lisp.Įmacs is the most powerful editor ever made because anything that can be written in EmacsLisp can be run on Emacs. I can make a change to a function and evaluate it, and the next time it’s run, my new version will be used. Some editors allow plugins and the like, but most don’t allow on the fly modification. Change some configuration, evaluate it, test it, repeat. If you can imagine something you would want to modify, it can be modified with a little bit of EmacsLisp. Even some of the most low-level functions used by Emacs can be modified on the fly. ![]() Every function in Emacs can also be modified if you don’t like the way something works, you can change it. Any text you see on your screen can be modified (from changing the color or font to making it blink and be bold). CustomizabilityĮverything in Emacs can be customized. Using Emacs easily saves me hours every day. There are some great IDEs and other tools out there which are highly configurable and efficient, but in my opinion, none will ever come close to Emacs. Where others would need to reach for the mouse to begin editing settings, I can open my config file and write a few lines of code to make my editor do exactly what I want. Where others would need to reach for a mouse and go search through menus to find the functionality they need, I can search for it by name and learn the key binding for future use. I can do absolutely everything without ever having to touch the mouse. I can copy the code I’m editing in one buffer into an email in another and continue using the same key bindings to edit it while I write feedback to the author. Key bindings can also be easily re-mapped in a central location to make my entire workflow consistent and seamless.Ĭontext switching between programs is a thing of the past. Emacs, however, excels at having consistent key bindings between disparate modes. When I switch between Firefox and an IDE, few (if any) key bindings are consistent between the two. Most GUI applications have plenty of shortcuts, however, most don’t follow any sort of consistency between them. Switching to Emacs is the biggest efficiency boosts I’ve ever had. EfficiencyĪs someone who spends a lot of time at a computer, any small improvement to my workflow compounds over time. ![]() In this blog, I give a brief introduction to my favorite tool Emacs and show how it saves me hours daily as a developer. Imagine if there was a tool that could do all that and a ton more in an efficiently consistent way. I want to track my to-do lists and the amount of time spent on each task. I want to browse the web in my editor, so I can easily copy code examples and run them. I want to manage Git repositories right from my editor without having to touch the mouse. I want to be writing an email or documentation and edit a code snippet in the same way I normally edit code. The problem is, I often want to use the same efficient key bindings I use while programming when I’m doing other tasks. I program a lot, but I also do a lot of other things using a computer. Please keep that in mind as you read the post. Attention: The following article was published over 4 years ago, and the information provided may be aged or outdated. ![]()
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