Re: [emacs-wiki-discuss] Complexity of computing w/ Emacs

[Chris Parsons]

On 07/07/2005 04:19, Allen Halsey wrote:
> From your response and from others, it seems it is common to have a
> single emacs frame, or at most two (a separate dedicated frame for
> gnus). And then just get efficient with the commands for switching
> buffers, perhaps with the aid of iswitchdb, ido, or ibuffer.

Yeah, I use just the one frame, with a couple of windows if I'm typing
some code whilst referring to others.

> I guess one just must be diligent in seeking out and evaluating new ways
> to become efficient and adding them to your setup as you find keepers.

You've already done the best thing, which is to join the community.
That's the way I picked up most of my stuff - via osmosis... If you can,
hang out at #emacs on irc.freenode.net also - I picked up quite a bit
from there.

> It's a formidable task though. In some areas of functionality, say
> switching buffers, there is no clear consensus in the emacs community on
> what is the best way. So I feel I must evaluate each one. In this sense,
> the journey to becoming an effective emacs user requires that one must
> put oneself into the role of being a sophisticated software interaction
> designer, evaluating different competing approaches and writing your own
> customizations.

I wouldn't quite put it like that :) To be an interaction designer you
have to evaluate an approach on behalf of everyone; As an emacs user you
simply have to evaluate it for you.

For a package to work for me, it must 'feel right' and take less time
than the next one to configure and operate, after I've got used to it.
That means that some packages that works for me won't work for you, and
vice versa.

ECB is a good example - I liked the idea of it and some people love it,
but it just slowed me down and hung on remote file editing half the time
(I debugged a little but ran out of time), so I don't personally use it.
It's a really good package though - check it out if you edit a lot of
local code.

Chris

-- 
Chris Parsons
address@hidden

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