

Ask YC: Learning an Editor - PieSquared

I've been an avid Vim user for about a year and a half, or maybe even two now. I'd like to learn Emacs, first of all because it seems (from an outside viewpoint) to be slightly more powerful, but also because it has a few features I'd like to be able to use.<p>I started trying to learn Emacs yesterday, but I find that everything I do doesn't get anything done, and beating my head against it doesn't help.<p>Does anyone have any suggestions or tips on how to get up to speed on usage of Emacs as fast as possible? Maybe a like to a "N00B Guide" or something?<p>Thanks.
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raju
Good advice from both mechanical_fish and pivo. The GNU Emacs book is a tad
old, considering that emacs is now v.22 but it certainly will help you get
from nowhere to a slow jog ;-). Considering I too am trying to learn Emacs,
here's one thing that I try and do. Learn one new command everyday, and
practice that all day. I mean literally - for e.g. Ctrl-T swaps two characters
(I learned that one today). I essentially just started typing random letters
into emacs and hitting ctrl-t every now and then (amongst some other commands
I learned over the last few days).

A good editor has to be an extension of your fingers. Emacs can do that for
you, once you accept that the learning curve is extremely steep. Another thing
I learned, don't try and bite off more than you can chew. Emacs has several
modes and hundreds of extensions that you can install, each with their own
commands, and key-board shortcuts (not to mention the initial set up and
configuration). Take it one step at a time, figure out the basic commands from
the tutorial, and take it from there. Once you have established mastery of
moving around within emacs, basic editing, searching etc you will not only be
ready, but be much more comfortable with the "zen of emacs".

Here is another discussion (of several more, I am sure) that I came across on
HN today. Some good advice there...

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=230639>

Good luck.

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mechanical_fish
I learned emacs from an O'Reilly book: _Learning GNU Emacs_

[http://books.google.com/books?id=a_lea3-w-1kC&printsec=f...](http://books.google.com/books?id=a_lea3-w-1kC&printsec=frontcover&dq=learning+gnu+emacs&sig=ACfU3U0R9HW920MS1ANHyyfKvGz96QrSjA)

If that and/or the tutorial doesn't do it for you, google "emacswiki" and see
what else you can find. Also, "steve yegge emacs" (but maybe not on your
_first_ day, unless you need further inspiration).

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visitor4rmindia
Have you tried reading the EMacs tutorial (C-h t)? That's how I started. And
as far as I remember, it was pretty good at getting me up to speed. I also
found it useful to write out my own cheat sheet as I went along.

After that I kinda got lost until I discovered "The Info Directory" (C-h i). I
just went through each item step by step and read most of it. Kinda painful
but it gave me a really good feel for the entire system.

IMHO, though, there's not much point in switching from Vi to EMacs unless you
do ELisp. Vi is a beautiful environment to work in but, with EMacs, you can
make your environment behave practically in any way you want.

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cbryan
I started using Emacs a few months back and I found that having a keybinding
reference next to your computer is super handy. So long as you know what
you're trying to do, you can just look it up and do it. After a while the
commands will become second nature. Muscle memory baby!

I found this really nice visual cheat-sheet by Stephen Chan and it helped me a
ton. There are a few text references out there but I think this is by far the
best.

<http://www.scribd.com/doc/264676/NotesheetEmacs>

PS: Look around for information on modes, they're worth mastering.

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stcredzero
The reason why there is so much Emacs/vi debate is because both editors are
quite powerful! From what I have seen, both are very good editors. If you
already know vim really well, then you won't benefit editor-wise from learning
Emacs. If you want a portable operating system/programming environment within
an OS, then Emacs offers a lot more than vi does.

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j2d2
Emacs and Vi debates go on and on but usually have two categories. Some people
like total control over their environment (emacs) and some people usually find
enough power to get most things done fast (vi).

Often, people who use vi don't realize they're actually emacs people and versa
vice. Considering that control over your editor _is_ the source of your
productivity it's worth it to check both out. _Then_ get busy!

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pivo
Did you try the tutorial? Load it with Ctrl-h t

It would help to be more specific about what you'd like to learn about emacs.

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lele
use emacs' viper-mode to leverage your previous experfence with vim

