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I enjoyed reading the O'Reilly "Writing Emacs Extensions" book years ago. I just never got into the mode of using Elisp on a daily basis and it's faded from mem

by xrd 5y ago

I enjoyed reading the O'Reilly "Writing Emacs Extensions" book years ago. I just never got into the mode of using Elisp on a daily basis and it's faded from memory. I'm excited about this book. And, I really wish there was a book that showed how a developer using a more modern language like JavaScript could use it to customize Emacs. This is why VSCode is winning, because it embraces modern languages in a really powerful way. When I install a new Emacs into a new debian machine, i still struggle to get package installation working. But I'm getting really worried about the direction Microsoft is taking with VSCode and wish I could be as productive in Emacs. Opening up that environment to modern developers who could tweak their own tools would be amazing and revolutionary.

grogenaut 5y ago
Try neovim to see what this approach might look like, yes it's vi not emacs, but they allow python and rust plugins and have a plugin framework now. It's killed sublime for me. And I used to use emacs over vi. Personally I'd like emacs a lot more if it's plugins system just worked like vscodes does and as you said let me use languages I'm familiar with.
- fayten 5y ago
  Unfortunately it looks like it's a dead project, but https://github.com/kiwanami/emacs-epc https://github.com/kiwanami/emacs-epc builds out an RPC framework for emacs. This would theoretically allow you to use any language you want. The repo shows node.js, python, and ruby integration.
PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
> This is why VSCode is winning, because it embraces modern languages in a really powerful way. This notion that Javascript is superior to (e.g. elisp) because JS is new and elisp is "old" is really irritating. The reasons JS exists has absolutely zero to do with any issues with elisp or lisp or C or haskell or any other programming language. The fact that you know it and do not know elisp is a real thing, but it says nothing about the qualities and properties of either language.
- JoelMcCracken 5y ago
  its such an absurd idea. look at the top contributors for VSCode, and how many of them are employed at Microsoft: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/graphs/contributors https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/graphs/contributors How can you possible separate vscode "winning because of javascript" and "it has development budget X times the budget of Emacs"
- edgyquant 5y ago
  No one said it was superior, but more people know it.
  - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
    The claim was the VSCode is "winning" because it "embraces modern languages". To me that implies at least some kind of superiority.
    - edgyquant 5y ago
      No, it doesn’t, it implies that it uses a language which is widespread and most everyone knows. Languages themselves being superior tends to be an opinion.
      - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
        > "Most everyone knows". Pardon my age or something. but if you're a software developer who doesn't work on web-dev, you probably do not know JS, certainly not enough to code much in it. Maybe "most everyone" leaves enough room to describe all the people who do embedded and native development - I don't know the actual numbers. But the sentence didn't say: "VSCode is winning because its extension language widespread and most everyone knows it". It said "modern languages". Haskell is a modern language. Rust is a modern language. Lua is a modern language. If VSCode (somehow) used them as its extension language, would it still be winning? Clearly, no.
        5y ago

by xrd 5y ago

grogenaut 5y ago

Try neovim to see what this approach might look like, yes it's vi not emacs, but they allow python and rust plugins and have a plugin framework now. It's killed sublime for me. And I used to use emacs over vi. Personally I'd like emacs a lot more if it's plugins system just worked like vscodes does and as you said let me use languages I'm familiar with.

fayten 5y ago
Unfortunately it looks like it's a dead project, but https://github.com/kiwanami/emacs-epc https://github.com/kiwanami/emacs-epc builds out an RPC framework for emacs. This would theoretically allow you to use any language you want. The repo shows node.js, python, and ruby integration.

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago

> This is why VSCode is winning, because it embraces modern languages in a really powerful way. This notion that Javascript is superior to (e.g. elisp) because JS is new and elisp is "old" is really irritating. The reasons JS exists has absolutely zero to do with any issues with elisp or lisp or C or haskell or any other programming language. The fact that you know it and do not know elisp is a real thing, but it says nothing about the qualities and properties of either language.

JoelMcCracken 5y ago
its such an absurd idea. look at the top contributors for VSCode, and how many of them are employed at Microsoft: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/graphs/contributors https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/graphs/contributors How can you possible separate vscode "winning because of javascript" and "it has development budget X times the budget of Emacs"
edgyquant 5y ago
No one said it was superior, but more people know it.
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  The claim was the VSCode is "winning" because it "embraces modern languages". To me that implies at least some kind of superiority.
  - edgyquant 5y ago
    No, it doesn’t, it implies that it uses a language which is widespread and most everyone knows. Languages themselves being superior tends to be an opinion.
    - PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
      > "Most everyone knows". Pardon my age or something. but if you're a software developer who doesn't work on web-dev, you probably do not know JS, certainly not enough to code much in it. Maybe "most everyone" leaves enough room to describe all the people who do embedded and native development - I don't know the actual numbers. But the sentence didn't say: "VSCode is winning because its extension language widespread and most everyone knows it". It said "modern languages". Haskell is a modern language. Rust is a modern language. Lua is a modern language. If VSCode (somehow) used them as its extension language, would it still be winning? Clearly, no.
      - 5y ago