Why do you use emacs?

Why do you use emacs?

[Artur Hefczyc]

Hello,

I am currently working on emacs guide designed for
Java developers but not only. I would like to put one
section somewhere with title
"Why to use Emacs?"
My idea is to include there opinions from real emacs users.

So my question is: Could you please send me the most
important reason for you why you use emacs instead of
other modern IDEs?
If you send your comments with your name I will include your
sentences as citation with it's author name

I can receive your comments from my e-mail box:
.kobit@users.sourceforge.net
or from this group.

The test version of this guide is here:
http://wttools.sourceforge.net/emacs-stuff/emacsandjdee.html

regards
Artur Hefczyc
--
Artur Hefczyc                                kobit@users.sourceforge.net
Open Source Developer
http://geotools.sourceforge.net/
http://wttools.sourceforge.net/

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Roodwriter]

Artur Hefczyc wrote:

> Hello,
> 
> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for
> Java developers but not only. I would like to put one
> section somewhere with title
> "Why to use Emacs?"
> My idea is to include there opinions from real emacs users.
> 
> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of
> other modern IDEs?
> If you send your comments with your name I will include your
> sentences as citation with it's author name
> 
> I can receive your comments from my e-mail box:
> .kobit@users.sourceforge.net
> or from this group.
> 
> The test version of this guide is here:
> http://wttools.sourceforge.net/emacs-stuff/emacsandjdee.html
> 
> regards
> Artur Hefczyc
> --
> Artur Hefczyc                                kobit@users.sourceforge.net
> Open Source Developer
> http://geotools.sourceforge.net/
> http://wttools.sourceforge.net/


I don't know if my being a writer is pertinent to your topic.

I use Emacs as a writer because of its enormous number of editing commands. 
Since most writing is rewriting, having a more powerful set of editing 
tools is quite useful.

--Rod

-- 
Author of "Linux for Non-Geeks--Clear-eyed Answers for Practical Consumers" 
and "Boring Stories from Uncle Rod." Both are available at 
http://www.rodwriterpublishing.com/index.html

To reply by e-mail, take the extra "o" out of my e-mail address. It's to 
confuse spambots, of course.

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Pascal Bourguignon]

"Artur Hefczyc" <wislaj23@wp.pl> writes:

> Hello,
> 
> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for
> Java developers but not only. I would like to put one
> section somewhere with title
> "Why to use Emacs?"
> My idea is to include there opinions from real emacs users.
> 
> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of
> other modern IDEs?

Perhaps the best  to understand _why_ I use emacs is  to tell _what_ I
do with it (including what features I've programmed into it):

    - of course, editing code, compiling, debugging, 

    - but also composing email (and reading email),

    - composing newsgroup articles (and reading email),

      (and there already you get the advantage to have only one set of
      editing commands for various applications)

    - browsing the  web when Java and  pictures are not  needed or are
      undesirable, or when HTML filtering  is needed: I've got quite a
      HTML  filter  hook  in   w3-parse-hooks,  if  only  Mozilla  had
      something similar,  alowing you  to modify on  the fly  the HTML
      received before displaying it...

    - chatting with Kiwi (IRC),

    - managing my  bank accounts (I've  got functions to get  the data
      from the web and format it like I want for my records),

    - managing my portfolio (retrieving quotes from the web, keeping a
      database of shares, etc),

    - computing a graph of CVS releases,

    - devise conversion (euro = frf =  esp = dem = ...) with automatic
      update of the quotes from the web...

    - generating invoices,

    - encrypting / decrypting my emails and private files,

    - keeping track of the time I spend of the various projects I work
      on,

    - writting documentations and drawing ascii-art diagrams,

    - using  it's shell  mode to  cover  rustic programs  with a  nice
      readline library and other editing functions.

and in  general, Lisp programming and prototyping,  and automatic code
generation including menial tasks  such as administrative comments and
automatic time stamps.

-- 
__Pascal_Bourguignon__                   http://www.informatimago.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Do not adjust your mind, there is a fault in reality.

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: "Artur Hefczyc" <wislaj23@wp.pl>
> Newsgroups: gnu.emacs.help
> Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 19:41:12 +0200
> 
> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of
> other modern IDEs?

The single most important reason is that Emacs is available on every
imaginable platform out there, so it is the last IDE you will ever
need to learn.

And then, of course, there are all that enormous amount of features
and packages that let you do almost anything in the same familiar
environment.

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Phillip Lord]

>>>>> "Artur" == Artur Hefczyc <wislaj23@wp.pl> writes:

  Artur> Hello,

  Artur> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for Java
  Artur> developers but not only. I would like to put one section
  Artur> somewhere with title "Why to use Emacs?"  My idea is to
  Artur> include there opinions from real emacs users.

  Artur> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
  Artur> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of other
  Artur> modern IDEs?  If you send your comments with your name I will
  Artur> include your sentences as citation with it's author name


It runs on every platform that exists. It has modes for most
languages, and even when it doesn't it's such a powerful editor that
you can still do a lot with it. 

If I were a "java developer" then I might not use Emacs, but one of
the IDE's out there. In particular the lack of a good debugger for
Java Emacs is a problem. But I am a research scientist. So I do use a
lot of platforms, I do use a lot of languages. Sometimes I use
languages for which no one has written an IDE yet. Indeed when I
started writing Java, this was the case. 

I don't think that there is any reason to be doctrinare about this. If
Java is all you do there probably are better alternatives. But tell me
another IDE anywhere nears as functional as Emacs with JDE, which also
allows me to write and debug perl, and read my email. 

Cheers

Phil

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Colin Marquardt]

"Artur Hefczyc" <wislaj23@wp.pl> writes:

> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for
> Java developers but not only. I would like to put one
> section somewhere with title
> "Why to use Emacs?"
> My idea is to include there opinions from real emacs users.

http://www.messengers-of-messiah.org/~csebold/emacs/why.phtml
might be an interesting read then.

HTH,
  Colin

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Jason Dufair]

"Artur Hefczyc" <wislaj23@wp.pl> writes:

I use it because I don't want a GUI (mice are too inefficient) and I
don't want a CLI (I need more room than one line).  Emacs gives me a
KUI.

> Hello,
>
> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for
> Java developers but not only. I would like to put one
> section somewhere with title
> "Why to use Emacs?"
> My idea is to include there opinions from real emacs users.
>
> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of
> other modern IDEs?
> If you send your comments with your name I will include your
> sentences as citation with it's author name
>
> I can receive your comments from my e-mail box:
> .kobit@users.sourceforge.net
> or from this group.
>
> The test version of this guide is here:
> http://wttools.sourceforge.net/emacs-stuff/emacsandjdee.html
>
> regards
> Artur Hefczyc
> --
> Artur Hefczyc                                kobit@users.sourceforge.net
> Open Source Developer
> http://geotools.sourceforge.net/
> http://wttools.sourceforge.net/
>
>
>

-- 
Jason Dufair - jase@dufair.org
http://www.dufair.org/
"You wear sandals in the snow
and a smile that won't wash away
Can you look out the window
without your shadow getting in the way?"
-- Sarah McLachlan

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Bruce Ingalls]

Artur Hefczyc wrote:
...
> The test version of this guide is here:
> http://wttools.sourceforge.net/emacs-stuff/emacsandjdee.html

I'd say the same thing as most other comments.
In addition, *free* means that Emacs provides the means, and I have the
right to configure/adapt Emacs to my needs.

For example, there was no market for an editor to highlight Y2K dates in
source code, so I adapted Emacs to do this.
I could not have afforded a consultant to do this, but Christian Egli, 
an experienced Elisp developer helped me get started, and we released 
our work to the community.
Only a tool written for programmers and by programmers can be this helpful.

The final reason that I use Emacs, is that (enough of) the community 
does not insult you, when you (politely) ask for help.

I appreciate your JDEE installer.
Perhaps you can co-ordinate your effort with (my) EMacro project, at
<url: http://emacro.sf.net/ >

Re: Why do you use emacs?

[A. L. Meyers]

What I really like about emacs is that it really has its own "look and
feel".  Once you get used to it, you discover that the emacs L&F makes
great good sense as well.  Another mental perk of emacs is that it
subtly (and, if you like, not so subtly) makes you aware of the
abstraction layers underpinning computing.  Again, you may or may not
like this but it is rather unique.

Enjoy emacs!

Lucien
-- 
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Re: Why do you use emacs?

[Artur Hefczyc]

> I appreciate your JDEE installer.
> Perhaps you can co-ordinate your effort with (my) EMacro project, at
> <url: http://emacro.sf.net/ >
Well, I am amazed of your emacro project!!
I wish to know about it few years earlier...

Your offer sounds very interesting, I consider it a great honour
to see your proposition. But I don't know how could I be helpful.
I am not elisp programmer yet - a few simple functions.

Mostly, my spare time I spend on http://geotools.sf.net/ project.
I have been creating some part of developers guide for few
last weeks. And now I would like to prepare something
like practical emacs guide for developers.
I mean detailed info about using main developer tools under emacs
like CVS, coding SGML, java coding with use of JDEE and
something else I will find useful.

Let me know how do you imagine our co-ordination.

Artur
--
Artur Hefczyc                                artur.hefczyc@plusnet.pl
Open Source Developer
http://geotools.sourceforge.net/
http://wttools.sourceforge.net/

why do you use emacs?

[Kevin Dziulko]

It's free.

> Hello,

> I am currently working on emacs guide designed for Java
> developers but not only. I would like to put one section
> somewhere with title "Why to use Emacs?"  My idea is to
> include there opinions from real emacs users.

> So my question is: Could you please send me the most
> important reason for you why you use emacs instead of other
> modern IDEs?  If you send your comments with your name I will
> include your sentences as citation with it's author name