Re: An article about Emacs for TUGboat

[phillip.lord@russet.org.uk (Phillip Lord)]

You might also be interested in adding some more geeky stuff such as the
Rweave support in ESS, polymode or my own lentic which allows advanced
literate programming.

Phil


Marcin Borkowski <mbork@mbork.pl> writes:

> Hi all,
>
> I was asked by one of the editors of TUGboat (the journal of the TeX
> Users' Group) to write an article about using Emacs for TeX.  I am now
> in the process of writing this paper.  My idea is to first explain the
> basic concepts of Emacs, and then proceed to AUCTeX and various ways of
> customizing Emacs.  I would be very glad if some more experienced Emacs
> (and TeX) user could read my paper and suggest any enhancements.
>
> For the record, I want to explain Emacs using four main concepts:
>
> 1. Buffers.  Like in Unix "everything is a file", in Emacs "everything
> is a buffer".  What in other editors is implemented using various things
> (dialog windows, text input boxes, non-editable text areas, file
> selection widgets, tree-like outlines etc.) is all buffers in Emacs.
>
> 2. Commands.  Commands are pieces of Lisp which perform various tasks,
> from inserting a character in a buffer to playing tetris.  By writing
> commands, the user can extend Emacs, or in fact build their own editor
> (or other application, like an email client!) on top of it.
>
> 3. Keybindings.  In Emacs, every key can be bound to a command.
>
> 4. Modes.  This is how Emacs knows which key is bound to which command
> in which buffer, thus making the previous three work well together and
> enabling a smooth user experience.
>
> I understand this is an oversimplification - it must be in a 5-10-page
> paper - but I think this more or less catches the spirit of Emacs.  Does
> anyone think I should add (or subtract;-)) something?
>
> Also, are there any volunteers to proofread the first draft of my paper?
> (It should be ready in about a week, and I have to submit it in about
> a month.)
>
> TIA,
>
> --
> Marcin Borkowski