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Emacs is like Chinese to me, and truthfully to most developers I know. Is there a gentle intro somewhere? Most of what I've seen is just people throwing out pac

Emacs is like Chinese to me, and truthfully to most developers I know. Is there a gentle intro somewhere? Most of what I've seen is just people throwing out package names with no real explanation.

ams6110 9y ago
The built in tutorial isn't a bad place to start. I think that's what I used to get going in emacs over 20 years ago.
innocentoldguy 9y ago
I think Harley Hahn's Emacs book is a pretty good place to start: http://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484217023 http://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484217023
ubernostrum 9y ago
Start with zero add-ons. Don't use any fancy modes, just let it do syntax highlighting and maybe ctags and nothing else. Especially no VCS integration, no debugging or shells. Use it to edit text. Get familiar with: buffers; windows; the mark and the region; the kill ring and how to use it; the standard editing and navigation commands available in every buffer. Once you feel comfortable with those, then you can think about adding other stuff on, and can add things one at a time. I've been using Emacs since 2000 or so, and that's how I started. It's also how I still often use Emacs today; I don't particularly care for IDE-like features, and I don't use a lot of packages. And I'm still quite productive with it because the base stuff Emacs is good at is already pretty darned good!
damontal 9y ago
If you try it, swap your caps lock and CTRL keys. It will make it much easier to use. Also have a look at this blog post. https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/effective-emacs https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/effective-emacs
- suprfnk 9y ago
  If you don't try it, consider swapping control and caps lock too. Most people use control way more, but caps lock has the superior position on the keyboard. That is, the home row, where your pinky is naturally while resting your index fingers on F and J.
neutronicus 9y ago
If you're willing to try a vim-y emacs, Spacemacs is a very discoverable emacs distribution.
rekado 9y ago
Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen is excellent: https://www.masteringemacs.org/ https://www.masteringemacs.org/

Emacs is like Chinese to me, and truthfully to most developers I know. Is there a gentle intro somewhere? Most of what I've seen is just people throwing out package names with no real explanation.

ams6110 9y ago

The built in tutorial isn't a bad place to start. I think that's what I used to get going in emacs over 20 years ago.

innocentoldguy 9y ago

I think Harley Hahn's Emacs book is a pretty good place to start: http://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484217023 http://www.apress.com/us/book/9781484217023

ubernostrum 9y ago

Start with zero add-ons. Don't use any fancy modes, just let it do syntax highlighting and maybe ctags and nothing else. Especially no VCS integration, no debugging or shells. Use it to edit text. Get familiar with: buffers; windows; the mark and the region; the kill ring and how to use it; the standard editing and navigation commands available in every buffer. Once you feel comfortable with those, then you can think about adding other stuff on, and can add things one at a time. I've been using Emacs since 2000 or so, and that's how I started. It's also how I still often use Emacs today; I don't particularly care for IDE-like features, and I don't use a lot of packages. And I'm still quite productive with it because the base stuff Emacs is good at is already pretty darned good!

damontal 9y ago

If you try it, swap your caps lock and CTRL keys. It will make it much easier to use. Also have a look at this blog post. https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/effective-emacs https://sites.google.com/site/steveyegge2/effective-emacs

suprfnk 9y ago
If you don't try it, consider swapping control and caps lock too. Most people use control way more, but caps lock has the superior position on the keyboard. That is, the home row, where your pinky is naturally while resting your index fingers on F and J.

neutronicus 9y ago

If you're willing to try a vim-y emacs, Spacemacs is a very discoverable emacs distribution.

rekado 9y ago

Mastering Emacs by Mickey Petersen is excellent: https://www.masteringemacs.org/ https://www.masteringemacs.org/