Emacs a Bite at a Time
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Welcome!
Welcome to this introduction to Emacs for neophytes. Emacs is an extremely powerful text editor but, because of it’s power, can be challenging to learn. When I first began learning (I’m still learning!) Emacs I was overwhelmed by all of the options and the almost complete absence of a coherent learning path. Now that I’ve got a little bit of experience under my belt I want to share with other new users what I’ve learned in a way that, I hope, is more helpful.
Assumptions:
I make several assumptions:
- I assume that you are on a Unix-like device (Linux, MacOs, BSD). Emacs works great on Windows from all I’ve read, but since I don’t use Windows, I don’t want to provide guidance that may not be relevant.
- I assume that you are already somewhat familiar with Emacs. By this I simply mean that you know what it is and want to learn how to use it.
- I assume that you know how to install the program on your system as I won’t be walking you through that process.
- You are starting with vanilla Emacs. That is the base version, not Doom, Spacemacs, or other variations. This is important because many of those variations alter some of the basic keybindings. Once you’re familiar with how the basic version works you can more easily adapt to those more complex, altered versions.
Tips for Learning
- Take your time! One of my biggest stumbling blocks was trying to learn too much, too quickly. I wanted to know it all and I wanted to know it now! That simply doesn’t work. Taking a measured approach, taking information in small amounts, actually helps you learn more quickly.
- Practice! And when you’re done, practice some more. You will not learn by simply reading. You need to follow the guidance and then practice every chance you get. There are dozens (hundreds, actually, but I don’t want to overwhelm you) of keybindings to learn. In truth, none of them are that hard to learn, but they do take time and practice for them to become second nature.
- Believe you will learn. As you work through this material you will become frustrated and want to give up. Don’t. Hang in there and you’ll soon realize that Emacs makes you a more productive writer with minimal effort. It lets you focus on your message, not on its presentation.
My Approach:
In each lesson I’m going to focus on just a few things.This helps manage the frustration and feelings of being overwhelmed.