
Ask HN: Best way to learn emacs? - rs86
I am a vim user but it looks to me like emacs can do pretty interesting things with modes. What is the best way to learn it?
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bzalasky
Are you familiar with Spacemacs? As a Vim user, you can be productive on day
one because it lets you emulate Vim (via Evil). Spacemacs also comes with
batteries included and makes it easy to move past editor configuration to
whatever you're trying to get done. If you want more customization, Spacemacs
is still Emacs, and can be extended as you wish.

[http://spacemacs.org/](http://spacemacs.org/)

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loggedinmyphone
[https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs](https://github.com/hlissner/doom-
emacs)

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zapperdapper
Here's how I learned it. I downloaded it, installed it, ran it. Then ran the
built-in tutorial and worked my way through it slowly. I then started using it
for every day editing. I then created my own cheat sheet (in Emacs) based on
commands I needed immediately. As I needed to do more things I extended the
cheat sheet. I worked through online tutorials and read Stack overflow to
figure out how to build out my .emacs file with the options I needed. Been
using for more than ten years now and still learning!

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jj4395722
If you're just starting, the Emacs tutorial is available from the front page,
or C-h t (Control-h then t). Worth doing a few times.

Sacha Chua has some great cheatsheets
([http://sachachua.com/blog/category/geek/emacs/](http://sachachua.com/blog/category/geek/emacs/)),
including basic ones on orgmode.

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_emacsomancer_
In addition to tutorials, use it for real, but starting with some fairly
trivial (in terms of complexity) tasks - like editing .config files. Then add
more complex tasks - perhaps editing LaTeX files (this is actually how I
started on Emacs - AUCTeX, the Emacs package for TeX - is surely the best
LaTeX editor).

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veddox
Use it. Do one tutorial to teach you the basics (navigating within/between
buffers, opening files, tiling windows...) and then just use it. The first
week is going to be a pain, the second and third tedious, after that you'll be
cruising ;-)

