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I like emacs for its flexibility and its ability to be a platform for people to build just about any extension. So for this you'd need a solid scripting languag

by keyle 2y ago

I like emacs for its flexibility and its ability to be a platform for people to build just about any extension. So for this you'd need a solid scripting language. I was never sold on Lisp but it's fine. I'd prefer to see lua; it just makes more sense. The repo-reference stuff works pretty well all things considered. If it were python it would be hell. Crazy side of me would like to see it fully written in a safe(r) language like rust, swift or zig. Basically your config would be a recompiled subsystem, loaded at runtime, or you'd recompile the whole editor. It wouldn't hurt if the config had a bit more structure. Forcing people to set fonts etc. BEFORE loading other things; essentially enforcing an order in which things get loaded. It can get hairy after years of working in emacs. I love that it's keyboard driven and I'd keep that for sure. The config should automatically be a git repository and any change should generate a meaningful commit (thinking out loud). Better key handling and none c-x nonsense. Switching between keyboard combos and straight up shortcut should be a defined choice not overwritten by x. Every 'plugins' should expose their shortcuts override clearly. Have sane defaults that aren't 30 years of cruft. This means you'd have to consider running on mac just as well as windows, and in and out of the terminal makes this extremely tricky. Better plugin system and discovery. Often the best and only way to find how to solve a problem in emacs was by finding some random gray-beard post on some forum by sheer luck.

inkyoto 2y ago
> Crazy side of me would like to see it fully written in a safe(r) language like rust, swift or zig. Emacs Lisp is a very safe language. Even though the Emacs core is written in C, that is immaterial and impalpable to Emacs users as they only interact with Emacs Lisp. What benefits would Rust / Swift / Zig bring to an average Emacs user? > Basically your config would be a recompiled subsystem, loaded at runtime, or you'd recompile the whole editor. elisp -> bytecode compilation in Emacs… predates humanity? https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Byte-Compilation.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/By... The entire stash of Emacs packages compiles into the byte code at the package installation time, anyway. Personally, I even byte-compile-file my ~/.emacs to eke out an imperceptible speed improvement at the startup time, which is slightless less than entirely useless but it warms my heart that I can do it. Recent versions of Emacs can also compile Elisp into the native code: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Native-Compilation.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Na... > Better key handling and none c-x nonsense. Perhaps you do not need Emacs then.
- binary132 2y ago
  The pseudo-JIT provided by gccjit is really quite good. I’ve been using emacs for a pretty long time and it is definitely the most noticeable improvement they’ve added so far (and it even works seamlessly out of the box on windows!)
  - inkyoto 2y ago
    It is exceptionally good, indeed. Emacs now starts up in an instant (< than 1 sec) from the cold to a fully working state, which includes loading a hefty .emacs
- kazinator 2y ago
  > elisp -> bytecode compilation in Emacs… predates humanity? Actually, I believe it was developed by HackerNews hater Jamie Zawinsky.
  - inkyoto 2y ago
    jwz also predates humanity.
iLemming 2y ago
> I'd prefer to see lua; it just makes more sense. To you. To me it wouldn't. If it was Lua, I'd still use Fennel. If it was Javascript, I'd do it in Clojurescript; If it was in C, I'd probably find a way to use Common Lisp or Jannet; If it was Python I'd probably use Hylang or something; if it for whatever reason used JVM (like IntelliJ) or .Net CLR, I'd do it in Clojure. You see, once you actually grok Lisp, at some point you do become a true "polyglot programmer" - for me switching between different runtimes - JVM, Node, Browser, Native, Lua, etc., is as simple as picking up a different Lisp dialect. Even switching between JS and TS for most programmers is not as simple as for me jumping between different Lisp dialects. I'm not some indentured servant of one particular programming language, your favorite bits of syntactic sugar and "design patterns" made for one particular PL don't amaze me, don't annoy me, don't make me feel bad or good, I simply don't care. I just want to build shit, and I want it to work. I'm sure if there's an actual God, and he had to explain the universe in written form, it would be in homoiconic scripture - anything, yes, just about anything can be explained in functions, neatly wrapped between parentheses, anything beyond that is fluff made by human pride, simplicity requires less not more.
iLemming 2y ago
> The config should automatically be a git repository and any change should generate a meaningful commit (thinking out loud). git-auto-commit-mode exists, try it.

by keyle 2y ago

inkyoto 2y ago

> Crazy side of me would like to see it fully written in a safe(r) language like rust, swift or zig. Emacs Lisp is a very safe language. Even though the Emacs core is written in C, that is immaterial and impalpable to Emacs users as they only interact with Emacs Lisp. What benefits would Rust / Swift / Zig bring to an average Emacs user? > Basically your config would be a recompiled subsystem, loaded at runtime, or you'd recompile the whole editor. elisp -> bytecode compilation in Emacs… predates humanity? https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Byte-Compilation.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/By... The entire stash of Emacs packages compiles into the byte code at the package installation time, anyway. Personally, I even byte-compile-file my ~/.emacs to eke out an imperceptible speed improvement at the startup time, which is slightless less than entirely useless but it warms my heart that I can do it. Recent versions of Emacs can also compile Elisp into the native code: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Native-Compilation.html https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Na... > Better key handling and none c-x nonsense. Perhaps you do not need Emacs then.

binary132 2y ago
The pseudo-JIT provided by gccjit is really quite good. I’ve been using emacs for a pretty long time and it is definitely the most noticeable improvement they’ve added so far (and it even works seamlessly out of the box on windows!)
- inkyoto 2y ago
  It is exceptionally good, indeed. Emacs now starts up in an instant (< than 1 sec) from the cold to a fully working state, which includes loading a hefty .emacs
kazinator 2y ago
> elisp -> bytecode compilation in Emacs… predates humanity? Actually, I believe it was developed by HackerNews hater Jamie Zawinsky.
- inkyoto 2y ago
  jwz also predates humanity.

iLemming 2y ago

> I'd prefer to see lua; it just makes more sense. To you. To me it wouldn't. If it was Lua, I'd still use Fennel. If it was Javascript, I'd do it in Clojurescript; If it was in C, I'd probably find a way to use Common Lisp or Jannet; If it was Python I'd probably use Hylang or something; if it for whatever reason used JVM (like IntelliJ) or .Net CLR, I'd do it in Clojure. You see, once you actually grok Lisp, at some point you do become a true "polyglot programmer" - for me switching between different runtimes - JVM, Node, Browser, Native, Lua, etc., is as simple as picking up a different Lisp dialect. Even switching between JS and TS for most programmers is not as simple as for me jumping between different Lisp dialects. I'm not some indentured servant of one particular programming language, your favorite bits of syntactic sugar and "design patterns" made for one particular PL don't amaze me, don't annoy me, don't make me feel bad or good, I simply don't care. I just want to build shit, and I want it to work. I'm sure if there's an actual God, and he had to explain the universe in written form, it would be in homoiconic scripture - anything, yes, just about anything can be explained in functions, neatly wrapped between parentheses, anything beyond that is fluff made by human pride, simplicity requires less not more.

iLemming 2y ago

> The config should automatically be a git repository and any change should generate a meaningful commit (thinking out loud). git-auto-commit-mode exists, try it.