Re: Hard to switch from vi

[Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr>]

On Mon, 09 Oct 2006 09:28:29 -0400, Ken Goldman <kgold@watson.ibm.com> wrote:
> Wen Weng wrote:
>> 2. Is there a repeat last command command like the dot command in vi?
>
> You want to read about keyboard macros.  IMHO, this single feature
> distinguishes emacs from any other editor.
>
> With keyboard macros, you save and then replay any key sequence, which
> can include insert and delete, but also search, edit and save,
> stepping through errors, cut and paste, etc.  It's far more powerful
> than the vi dot.

Exactly :)

Keyboard macros are truly amazing.  They are always the first feature of
Emacs that I demonstrate to people who have completed the basic keyboard
stuff of the tutorial.  Everyone who sees keyboard macros `in action'
instantly loves them!

(This is probably why VIM and other modern vi(1) implementations have
keyboard macro features too, but I am not 100% sure.)