Re: Fast emacs?

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

On Sun, 17 May 2009 23:39:30 +0200, Anselm Helbig <anselm.helbig+news2009@googlemail.com> wrote:
>> Note that using the emacsclient is no solution, because this requires
>> that a version of Emacs be already running, which often defeats
>> the purpose (not only do I have to wait another eternity for this
>> new Emacs session to start, but then I have to start the server in
>> the new session).
>>
>> Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated!

> - don't use `require', use autoloads:
>   http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/AutoLoad

> - for stuff that can only be configured once a library is loaded, use
>   `eval-after-load'.

> - make a new emacs image with all your favourite libraries already
>   loaded: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/DumpingEmacs

> - start emacs as part of system startup with the --daemon switch:
>   http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsAsDaemon

> - byte-compile the libraries you use; consider byte-compiling your
>   .emacs if it is huge

> - remove extensions you don't use

> - measure the progress you make: use the lisp function benchmark-run,
>   or `time' on the command line. Try adding (kill-emacs) at the end
>   of your .emacs file to get meaningful results for this.

All good points :)

I use all of (1) autoloading, (2) --daemon mode for most of my quick
editing sessions, (3) I keep trimming my configuration from stuff I have
not used for months, and (4) fire up 1-2 different instances besides the
background daemon process: one for Gnus-only stuff, and maybe another
one for IRC windows.

Another neat thing to do is install a light-weight clone like `mg' and
use that for very basic editing.  I even went so far as to import mg in
my own copy of the FreeBSD src/ tree and attach it to the normal build
process, so my laptop's custom FreeBSD version now includes:

    $ which mg
    /usr/bin/mg

This way even when my full Emacs installation is not available (i.e. in
single user mode) I can use a lean and fast editor with very familiar
key bindings.

There are packages for `mg' and other mini clones of Emacs in the
package collection of most UNIX-like systems today, so installing one of
them is another thing that may be useful to consider.