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What parts did you find difficult? When I first started, I found the keybindings odd, but now I love them since the core set of shortcuts—C-a, C-e, C-f, etc.—w

What parts did you find difficult? When I first started, I found the keybindings odd, but now I love them since the core set of shortcuts—C-a, C-e, C-f, etc.—work "everywhere" from the terminal, to GNU readline-based programs, to even native macOS text boxes. If you don't like the default keybindings, you can change them or use the Evil package [0] for Vim bindings. If you want to get up and running quickly, I'd check out Doom Emacs [1] which is easier to configure and takes care of a lot of configuration for you. I personally use a reasonably-minimal config I wrote myself [2]. If you like to tinker, I'd recommend writing your own config, as it will also teach you a lot about Emacs. If you have any questions feel free to reach out—contact info in my profile. [0] https://github.com/emacs-evil/evil https://github.com/emacs-evil/evil [1] https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs [2] https://github.com/jonpalmisc/.emacs.d/blob/master/init.el https://github.com/jonpalmisc/.emacs.d/blob/master/init.el

bko 5y ago
Do you use it as an IDE? That's the part I had trouble with (react/typescript and python). I could get it almost there, but essentially what I would need is a VS Code mode. A side panel with the collapsible directories, double click into them, global search, linting, syntax, etc.
- patrick451 5y ago
  This interesting to me. The sidebar in IDEs is one of the features I dislike most about them. I vastly prefer the C-x C-f helm menu with it's fuzzy search to IDE approach of aimlessly clicking around a directory tree like a philistine. For the rest (linting, syntax, autocomplete), lsp and a language mode make me pretty happy.
- gpderetta 5y ago
  I use emacs as an IDE with a large C++ (and python) codebase. I use emacs-lsp + clangd for completion/jump to definition/syntax error highlighting etc, but for whole tree searches, I find clangd unreliable, so sometimes I fall back to emacs-ag (I assume that emacs-ripgrep would be even better) for brute force searches. I never found a side panel of any use (many are available), but I use projectile for quick jump to file all the time. My python setup is less refined than C++ (I haven't bothered yet to enable LSP), but I use elpy which is works fine for lisp-style programming with a persistent REPL.
- BeetleB 5y ago
  As a heavy Emacs user for over a decade: I still use IDEs instead of Emacs for programming. Emacs has plenty of uses outside of SW development. Only recently did I manage to set up my Emacs to have IDE-like capabilities for my Python work. But if I switched to a C++ job, I'll use an IDE. And maybe, over the course of a year or two, I'll bother setting up LSP for Emacs. It's totally fine to use IDEs if they make your life easier. In my last C++ job, I would edit code with Emacs, but keep Visual Studio open for the IDE conveniences.
  - trey-jones 5y ago
    You may have investigated this already (or discovered it setting Emacs up for python), but lsp-mode just about works out of the box (for most languages). Extremely minimal setup required. Maybe a few configs for lsp-ui to suit your own taste.
- jonpalmisc 5y ago
  I use it at my current job in which I work in a large C++ codebase. I formerly used CLion. Whether Emacs is an IDE or not depends how you define IDE. I use Eglot [0] for LSP integration; this gives me IDE-like features like "jump-to-definition", syntax error highlights, warnings, etc. and integrates with company-mode [1] for code completion. This handles most of my needs for writing code. As for other things like a file tree, I've found that the built in `project-find-file` command combined with `vertico` [2] and `orderless` [3] makes finding files and navigating around projects easier; that pair behaves similarly to CMD+P in Sublime Text or VS Code. There are file tree packages out there, but I've found that I don't really need a file tree in practice and that I prefer navigating around projects with fuzzy file search and grep. [0] https://github.com/joaotavora/eglot https://github.com/joaotavora/eglot [1] https://github.com/company-mode/company-mode https://github.com/company-mode/company-mode [2] https://github.com/minad/vertico https://github.com/minad/vertico [3] https://github.com/oantolin/orderless https://github.com/oantolin/orderless
- Hedepig 5y ago
  Have you tried Doom Emacs?
  - bko 5y ago
    I (try to) use spacemacs. I heard they're similar. Is Doom Emacs better for an IDE type experience compared to spacemacs? I'm mostly on Ubuntu if that matters
    - Hedepig 5y ago
      Doom tries to be closer to the metal. IMO it's a good comprimise between an authentic Emacs experience, but keeping sane
- green7ea 5y ago
  Give tide a try. I use it daily with typescript and it's great :-)
karencarits 5y ago
Thanks for sharing your experience! I guess my problem was to remember all the shortcuts and keybindings and how to do things, and having to look them up all the time was tiresome - but I guess the steep learning curve has some fruits in the end

bko 5y ago

Do you use it as an IDE? That's the part I had trouble with (react/typescript and python). I could get it almost there, but essentially what I would need is a VS Code mode. A side panel with the collapsible directories, double click into them, global search, linting, syntax, etc.

patrick451 5y ago
This interesting to me. The sidebar in IDEs is one of the features I dislike most about them. I vastly prefer the C-x C-f helm menu with it's fuzzy search to IDE approach of aimlessly clicking around a directory tree like a philistine. For the rest (linting, syntax, autocomplete), lsp and a language mode make me pretty happy.
gpderetta 5y ago
I use emacs as an IDE with a large C++ (and python) codebase. I use emacs-lsp + clangd for completion/jump to definition/syntax error highlighting etc, but for whole tree searches, I find clangd unreliable, so sometimes I fall back to emacs-ag (I assume that emacs-ripgrep would be even better) for brute force searches. I never found a side panel of any use (many are available), but I use projectile for quick jump to file all the time. My python setup is less refined than C++ (I haven't bothered yet to enable LSP), but I use elpy which is works fine for lisp-style programming with a persistent REPL.
BeetleB 5y ago
As a heavy Emacs user for over a decade: I still use IDEs instead of Emacs for programming. Emacs has plenty of uses outside of SW development. Only recently did I manage to set up my Emacs to have IDE-like capabilities for my Python work. But if I switched to a C++ job, I'll use an IDE. And maybe, over the course of a year or two, I'll bother setting up LSP for Emacs. It's totally fine to use IDEs if they make your life easier. In my last C++ job, I would edit code with Emacs, but keep Visual Studio open for the IDE conveniences.
- trey-jones 5y ago
  You may have investigated this already (or discovered it setting Emacs up for python), but lsp-mode just about works out of the box (for most languages). Extremely minimal setup required. Maybe a few configs for lsp-ui to suit your own taste.
jonpalmisc 5y ago
I use it at my current job in which I work in a large C++ codebase. I formerly used CLion. Whether Emacs is an IDE or not depends how you define IDE. I use Eglot [0] for LSP integration; this gives me IDE-like features like "jump-to-definition", syntax error highlights, warnings, etc. and integrates with company-mode [1] for code completion. This handles most of my needs for writing code. As for other things like a file tree, I've found that the built in `project-find-file` command combined with `vertico` [2] and `orderless` [3] makes finding files and navigating around projects easier; that pair behaves similarly to CMD+P in Sublime Text or VS Code. There are file tree packages out there, but I've found that I don't really need a file tree in practice and that I prefer navigating around projects with fuzzy file search and grep. [0] https://github.com/joaotavora/eglot https://github.com/joaotavora/eglot [1] https://github.com/company-mode/company-mode https://github.com/company-mode/company-mode [2] https://github.com/minad/vertico https://github.com/minad/vertico [3] https://github.com/oantolin/orderless https://github.com/oantolin/orderless
Hedepig 5y ago
Have you tried Doom Emacs?
- bko 5y ago
  I (try to) use spacemacs. I heard they're similar. Is Doom Emacs better for an IDE type experience compared to spacemacs? I'm mostly on Ubuntu if that matters
  - Hedepig 5y ago
    Doom tries to be closer to the metal. IMO it's a good comprimise between an authentic Emacs experience, but keeping sane
green7ea 5y ago
Give tide a try. I use it daily with typescript and it's great :-)

karencarits 5y ago

Thanks for sharing your experience! I guess my problem was to remember all the shortcuts and keybindings and how to do things, and having to look them up all the time was tiresome - but I guess the steep learning curve has some fruits in the end