RE: indentation, setting variables, commands, and M-x

["Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

    Hi, I've just started to learn emacs, and would like to try
    using it as my primary editor/IDE, but first need to get a few
    things set up. For one thing, the indentation issue.

Emacs Wiki is a great source for information, but another source, which is
generally more complete, more official, and more accessible is the Emacs
manual. Just use `C-h i' (Control-h i) in Emacs, click "Emacs" (for the
Emacs manual), and then search for what you want.

The manual is in Info mode. To get information on the current mode (whatever
it is) at any time in Emacs, use `C-h m' (all Emacs help commands start with
`C-h', and `C-h ?' gives you the list).

In this case, you want to search the manual for "indent" or "indentation".
Looking through the explanation of Info mode (from `C-h m'), you'll see that
`i' looks up a topic in the index, and `s' searches the manual for a term.
Using either `i indentation' or `s indentation' will soon get you to the
part of the manual that answers most of your questions (`i indentation' will
take you there directly, because there is an "indentation" index entry).

Emacs is a self-documenting system - perhaps the first such and still
probably the best. Spend some time learning the help commands first (`C-h
?'), then explore the manual a bit. You'll soon be hooked.