4 ms·

Aquamacs on OSX for Ruby on Rails Development? Yep, we’re going Emacs status.

19 points by nickb 18y ago

iseff 18y ago
Hrm, interesting, but I write Ruby on emacs all the time. Except mine doesn't need a long post, just: Open Terminal, type "emacs -nw".
- retyred 18y ago
  i recommend people always use -nw, it will ensure that on the client or remote, you always use emacs the same way. now kill all the menubars and other stuff too...if you are going to use emacs, use the keyboard and the help system. that is the emacs-way
  - pmarin 18y ago
    ...or the vim way ;)
  - newt0311 18y ago
    Agreed. On my gentoo systems, I just compile emcs without X support. Makes life easy. Also, one critical skill when using emacs is learning to modify the .emacs.el file as time goes on. Over the years, the little things I accumulated in this file make using emacs a much more pleasant experience.
    - gecko 18y ago
      Rather than use .emacs, use .emacs.d/init.el. Put any extra modes or Emacs apps there, too. Then throw your whole .emacs.d under version control. Finally, stick it on http://bitbucket.org/ http://bitbucket.org/ or similar. Now you can easily lug your whole Emacs configuration around.
      - newt0311 18y ago
        my .emacs.el and .emacs.d are under VC. Its very nice.
jrockway 18y ago
As an aside, ruby-mode was recently merged into the emacs core, so that should help adoption. I know I have seen a lot of complaints on #emacs about "why doesn't ruby code have syntax highlighting!?". Now it does :) People should also try out my new eproject minor mode, which will make emacs aware of the relationships between files in the same project: http://git.jrock.us/?p=eproject.git;a=blob_plain;f=eproject.el;hb=HEAD http://git.jrock.us/?p=eproject.git;a=blob_plain;f=eproject.... I think textmate has a feature like this that people like.
davidw 18y ago
What emacs extensions do other people use for Rails? I use two-mode-mode to swap between HTML (psgml) mode and Ruby mode for the templates, as well as rhtml-minor-mode, which is mainly aimed at helping psgml-mode find the parent layout. rhtml-minor-mode could use some hacking - I wrote it in a hurry.
pavelludiq 18y ago
Ruby: "There's more than one way to do it, but most of them aren't cool enough!"
coliveira 18y ago
I think in this case the Ruby community is a trend follower instead of trend setter.. I guess Emacs (or vim) is being used by open source folks for two decades.
YuriNiyazov 18y ago
Before I get flamed out of existence - I use a Mac, and I use TextMate, and I use Emacs. With that disclaimer out of the way - This guy bought a whole different platform just so that he could run a different text editor? This feels like putting the wrong cart in front of the wrong horse.
- bdotdub 18y ago
  Agreed. It also seems like he's switching editors for similarly misled reasons. Sure, trying it out because everyone seems to be switching is fine, and if you like it better sure, stick with it. But to switch editors "just because everyone else is doing it" seems uninformed and very "me too me too!"
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
- mechanical_fish 18y ago
  This guy bought a whole different platform just so that he could run a different text editor? Well, yeah. Sure. If I saw someone running TextMate, and I didn't know enough about emacs to realize that it's a legitimate alternative, dropping everything to run TextMate would be a very smart move. Your editor is a really important tool! There's no question that I would switch platforms for emacs. Not that the issue ever comes up, because emacs is open-source, and cross-platform, and (for better and for worse) is not tightly integrated with any particular GUI library. So once you learn it you never have to stop using it for any reason other than personal preference. Which is probably one of the reasons why all of these folks are abandoning TextMate for it.
- paddy_m 18y ago
  Not unreasonable at all. Operating sysstems are nothing without the progarms that run on them . I can see how textmate would be attractive ( I used to run Vim, now I run Carbon Emacs).
bprater 18y ago
I'm willing to pay good money for a three-hour video on using Emacs for Rails.
- fendale 18y ago
  I cannot give you a video, but the 4 part series of blog posts I wrote sometime ago explain how to get it up and running along with the Emacs Code Browser - I used it successfully in a terminal window via Putty to a Linux box and in Aquamacs on OS X - http://sodonnell.wordpress.com/the-emacs-newbie-guide-for-rails/ http://sodonnell.wordpress.com/the-emacs-newbie-guide-for-ra...
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]
- nickb 18y ago
  Peepcode (http://www.peepcode.com/ http://www.peepcode.com/) is coming out with one but it will be about an hour long and will cost $9. I think that's a good deal. You can see the 5min preview here: http://getfireant.com/listings/episode?feed_item_id=2414972 http://getfireant.com/listings/episode?feed_item_id=2414972
  - cubicle67 18y ago
    Peepcode is awesome. I was lucky enough to get a discount on the Unlimited package, back when the Australian dollar was almost equal to the US dollar. Very pleased with my investment.
- 1gor 18y ago
  5 min screencast - http://emacsonrails.drozdov.net http://emacsonrails.drozdov.net
Hates_ 18y ago
Can anyone point me in the direction of a good Emacs tutorial? Or recommend a book?
- fendale 18y ago
  Open Emacs and type C-h t (ctrl and h together and then t) that will open the emacs built in tutorial. Start going through it, then download one of the many cheatsheets and print it out and stick it somewhere you can see it from your desk. Its quite a long learning curve, and I am still no expert, but its my favorite editor now. I cannot say its any better or worse than any of its rivals, but I put the time into learning it better than the others!
thomasmallen 18y ago
Like preteens...

19 points by nickb 18y ago

iseff 18y ago

Hrm, interesting, but I write Ruby on emacs all the time. Except mine doesn't need a long post, just: Open Terminal, type "emacs -nw".

retyred 18y ago
i recommend people always use -nw, it will ensure that on the client or remote, you always use emacs the same way. now kill all the menubars and other stuff too...if you are going to use emacs, use the keyboard and the help system. that is the emacs-way
- pmarin 18y ago
  ...or the vim way ;)
- newt0311 18y ago
  Agreed. On my gentoo systems, I just compile emcs without X support. Makes life easy. Also, one critical skill when using emacs is learning to modify the .emacs.el file as time goes on. Over the years, the little things I accumulated in this file make using emacs a much more pleasant experience.
  - gecko 18y ago
    Rather than use .emacs, use .emacs.d/init.el. Put any extra modes or Emacs apps there, too. Then throw your whole .emacs.d under version control. Finally, stick it on http://bitbucket.org/ http://bitbucket.org/ or similar. Now you can easily lug your whole Emacs configuration around.
    - newt0311 18y ago
      my .emacs.el and .emacs.d are under VC. Its very nice.

jrockway 18y ago

As an aside, ruby-mode was recently merged into the emacs core, so that should help adoption. I know I have seen a lot of complaints on #emacs about "why doesn't ruby code have syntax highlighting!?". Now it does :) People should also try out my new eproject minor mode, which will make emacs aware of the relationships between files in the same project: http://git.jrock.us/?p=eproject.git;a=blob_plain;f=eproject.el;hb=HEAD http://git.jrock.us/?p=eproject.git;a=blob_plain;f=eproject.... I think textmate has a feature like this that people like.

davidw 18y ago

What emacs extensions do other people use for Rails? I use two-mode-mode to swap between HTML (psgml) mode and Ruby mode for the templates, as well as rhtml-minor-mode, which is mainly aimed at helping psgml-mode find the parent layout. rhtml-minor-mode could use some hacking - I wrote it in a hurry.

pavelludiq 18y ago

Ruby: "There's more than one way to do it, but most of them aren't cool enough!"

coliveira 18y ago

I think in this case the Ruby community is a trend follower instead of trend setter.. I guess Emacs (or vim) is being used by open source folks for two decades.

YuriNiyazov 18y ago

Before I get flamed out of existence - I use a Mac, and I use TextMate, and I use Emacs. With that disclaimer out of the way - This guy bought a whole different platform just so that he could run a different text editor? This feels like putting the wrong cart in front of the wrong horse.

bdotdub 18y ago
Agreed. It also seems like he's switching editors for similarly misled reasons. Sure, trying it out because everyone seems to be switching is fine, and if you like it better sure, stick with it. But to switch editors "just because everyone else is doing it" seems uninformed and very "me too me too!"
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
mechanical_fish 18y ago
This guy bought a whole different platform just so that he could run a different text editor? Well, yeah. Sure. If I saw someone running TextMate, and I didn't know enough about emacs to realize that it's a legitimate alternative, dropping everything to run TextMate would be a very smart move. Your editor is a really important tool! There's no question that I would switch platforms for emacs. Not that the issue ever comes up, because emacs is open-source, and cross-platform, and (for better and for worse) is not tightly integrated with any particular GUI library. So once you learn it you never have to stop using it for any reason other than personal preference. Which is probably one of the reasons why all of these folks are abandoning TextMate for it.
paddy_m 18y ago
Not unreasonable at all. Operating sysstems are nothing without the progarms that run on them . I can see how textmate would be attractive ( I used to run Vim, now I run Carbon Emacs).

bprater 18y ago

I'm willing to pay good money for a three-hour video on using Emacs for Rails.

fendale 18y ago
I cannot give you a video, but the 4 part series of blog posts I wrote sometime ago explain how to get it up and running along with the Emacs Code Browser - I used it successfully in a terminal window via Putty to a Linux box and in Aquamacs on OS X - http://sodonnell.wordpress.com/the-emacs-newbie-guide-for-rails/ http://sodonnell.wordpress.com/the-emacs-newbie-guide-for-ra...
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
nickb 18y ago
Peepcode (http://www.peepcode.com/ http://www.peepcode.com/) is coming out with one but it will be about an hour long and will cost $9. I think that's a good deal. You can see the 5min preview here: http://getfireant.com/listings/episode?feed_item_id=2414972 http://getfireant.com/listings/episode?feed_item_id=2414972
- cubicle67 18y ago
  Peepcode is awesome. I was lucky enough to get a discount on the Unlimited package, back when the Australian dollar was almost equal to the US dollar. Very pleased with my investment.
1gor 18y ago
5 min screencast - http://emacsonrails.drozdov.net http://emacsonrails.drozdov.net

Hates_ 18y ago

Can anyone point me in the direction of a good Emacs tutorial? Or recommend a book?

fendale 18y ago
Open Emacs and type C-h t (ctrl and h together and then t) that will open the emacs built in tutorial. Start going through it, then download one of the many cheatsheets and print it out and stick it somewhere you can see it from your desk. Its quite a long learning curve, and I am still no expert, but its my favorite editor now. I cannot say its any better or worse than any of its rivals, but I put the time into learning it better than the others!

thomasmallen 18y ago

Like preteens...