I recently installed emacs since a lot of people (yes - yc users) seem to think it is the best code editor around. I read that it has a steep learning curve, but that it would be worth the effort. I accepted that and started using it as my primary editor to get my hands dirty. After 2 weeks of use I'm still not productive in it. I can think of the following reasons for this:
- I use my mouse a lot, and it seems that emacs is made primarily for keyboard input. I don't use keyboard shortcuts much.
- A nice looking GUI and well designed intuitive interfaces matter to me. Emacs is extremely lacking in this respect.
- I simply haven't spent enough time with it - the learning curve is steeper than initially expected.
What do you think? Am I missing something obvious, should I carry on in the belief that this is a divine tool that just takes time to master, or is emacs simply not for me?
Failing that, have you read the tutorial?
Have you read Steve Yegge's "Effective Emacs"?
If none of that can help or inspire you then I probably don't have much chance. But I'll offer you some coaching anyway. Imagine Vince Lombardi reading this to you:
Stop using the mouse. If you're using emacs and you're touching the mouse, you're doing it wrong.
Stop fretting about the GUI. Why does your editor need a GUI? Emacs is a text editor, a program that is all about text. It's text all the way down. If it had more chrome, that would be wasting pixels that could be devoted to text. (Seriously: As Yegge will tell you, the true emacs user turns off the pull-down menus to make more room for text.)
Stop worrying about "intuitive". Yes, until you get to know the moves, emacs is nonintuitive, kind of like the piano. No matter how expensive and well-designed a piano I buy, I won't be able to just sit down and play some Chopin. (Well, technically you can buy player pianos that will do just that, but what would a concert pianist call such an instrument? A toy.) You're learning an open-source text editor that's quite possibly older than you. You will live with this software for months, years, or decades. You don't need features that make it easy to learn emacs in five minutes. You need the features that make it worthwhile to use emacs after thirty years.
And, yes, you haven't spent enough time. In particular, it's not just a matter of plugging away in emacs for weeks or months; it's unlike any other software you've ever used, and until you're oriented you won't find it easy to pick up things just by playing with it. You have to study it a little. Try some of the references. Try the Emacs Wiki.