Stefan Arentz

Some people don’t understand why I still write most of my (non-Java) code in GNU Emacs. Here are seven good reasons:

• Emacs editing environment, Part 1: Learn the basics of Emacs
  Master the Emacs editor and delve into the depths of its most advanced editing commands that have made it famous. The open source Emacs editor (one of the powerhouses of UNIX(R) computing) is a large, complex application that does everything from editing text to functioning as a complete development environment. It’s rich in features and is unlike any other program you’re likely to have encountered, especially in the way you specify and input commands. This tutorial, the first in a series, gets you going by providing a concise, hands-on introduction to the most important Emacs editing concepts and features.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 2: Learn the essential modes and editing features of Emacs
  One of the powerhouses of UNIX computing, the open source Emacs editor is a large, complex application that does everything from edit text to function as a complete development environment. This tutorial, the second in a series, introduces you to some of the essential concept of modes, shows you some of the powerful text manipulation functions available, and teaches you how to use the built-in search, replace, and spell check facilities of Emacs.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 3: Advanced Emacs text operations
  This tutorial, the third in a series, builds on what you’ve learned by taking you through a tour of some of the more advanced Emacs features for text operations. You get a hands-on demonstration of advanced editing techniques, including how to perform a recursive edit, mark and use rectangles of text, and handle complex selection techniques using the kill ring and the secondary selection.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 4: Options, registers, and bookmarks
  Take charge of your editing session within Emacs and use it to your advantage. This tutorial is the fourth in a series, and shows you three areas of Emacs that control some aspect of the editing session: various command-line options, the register, and bookmark facilities for setting and saving positions and data. Knowing how and when to use these features, and what tricks are possible with them, are important topics in power editing.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 5: Shape your Emacs view
  This tutorial, the fifth in a series, shows you how to manage and manipulate the shape your Emacs session — examine how to partition the Emacs screen, create multiple X client windows for a single Emacs session, and display multiple buffers in each window, dividing the screen with horizontal and vertical divisions. You also learn about mouse window control and characteristics so that by the time you’re through, you can make your Emacs session look and work the way you want it to.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 6: Customize your Emacs world
  This tutorial, the sixth in a series, walks you through some of the useful ways you can customize and configure the Emacs environment. Learn how to change everything about the Emacs environment to your liking, from the behavior of minor modes to the default key bindings. Along the way, figure out how to set variables, make all your customizations automatic with a startup file, save and recall any window and frame customizations that you make, and use the easy customizer that comes built into Emacs.
• Emacs editing environment, Part 7: Let Emacs help you out
  Part 7 of this series shows you why Emacs is the self-documenting editor, and the many ways in which you can take advantage of the help and assistance offered in this editor. In this tutorial, learn about describing keystrokes, commands, and functions. You’ll also read, browse, and search through a complete Emacs reference manual.