Emacs
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of Emacs, a powerful and highly customizable text editor. Whether you're a beginner or experienced user, you'll find valuable information here.
Getting Started with Emacs
Emacs offers both GUI and terminal modes. Choose the mode that best suits your needs:
# Running emacs
GUI mode $ emacs
Terminal mode $ emacs -nw
Basic Emacs Commands
Here are some fundamental commands to get you started:
# Basic usage
Indent Select text then press TAB
Cut C-w
Copy M-w
Paste ("yank") C-y
Begin selection C-SPACE
Search/Find C-s
Replace M-% (M-SHIFT-5)
Save C-x C-s
Save as C-x C-w
Load/Open C-x C-f
Undo C-x u
Highlight all text C-x h
Directory listing C-x d
Cancel a command C-g
Font size bigger C-x C-+
Font size smaller C-x C--
Emacs Buffer Management
Efficiently manage multiple buffers with these commands:
# Buffers
Split screen vertically C-x 2
Split screen vertically with 5 row height C-u 5 C-x 2
Split screen horizontally C-x 3
Split screen horizontally with 24 column width C-u 24 C-x 3
Revert to single screen C-x 1
Hide the current screen C-x 0
Move to the next screen C-x o
Kill the current buffer C-x k
Select a buffer C-x b
Run command in the scratch buffer C-x C-e
Efficient Navigation in Emacs
Navigate your documents with precision using these commands:
# Navigation ( backward / forward )
Character-wise C-b , C-f
Word-wise M-b , M-f
Line-wise C-p , C-n
Sentence-wise M-a , M-e
Paragraph-wise M-{ , M-}
Function-wise C-M-a , C-M-e
Line beginning / end C-a , C-e
Advanced Emacs Features
Explore these advanced features to enhance your workflow:
# Other stuff
Open a shell M-x eshell
Goto a line number M-x goto-line
Word wrap M-x toggle-word-wrap
Spell checking M-x flyspell-mode
Line numbers M-x linum-mode
Toggle line wrap M-x visual-line-mode
Compile some code M-x compile
List packages M-x package-list-packages
Enabling Line Numbers
To add line numbers and enable moving to a specific line using C-l:
(global-set-key "\C-l" 'goto-line)
(add-hook 'find-file-hook (lambda () (linum-mode 1)))