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Mastering Emacs
Learn Emacs from the ground up. In the Mastering Emacs ebook you will learn the answers to all the concepts that take weeks, months or even years to truly learn, all in one place.
“Emacs is such a hard editor to learn”
But why is it so hard to learn? As it turns out, it's almost always the same handful of issues that everyone faces.
If you have tried to learn Emacs you will have struggled with the same problems everyone faces, and few tutorials to see you through it.
I have dedicated the first half of the book to explaining the essence of Emacs — and in doing so, how to overcome these issues:
Memorizing Emacs’s keys: You will learn Emacs one key at a time, starting with the arrow keys. To feel productive in Emacs, it’s important you start on an equal footing — without too many new concepts and keys to memorize. Each chapter will introduce more keys and concepts so you can learn at your own pace.
Discovering new modes and features: Emacs is a self-documenting editor, and I will teach you how to use the apropos, info, and describe system to discover new modes and features, or help you find things you forgot!
Customizing Emacs: You don’t have to learn Emacs Lisp to alter a lot of Emacs’s functionality. Most changes you want to make are possible using Emacs’s Customize interface and I will show you how to use it efficiently.
Understanding the terminology: Emacs is so old it predates almost every other editor and all modern user interfaces. I have an entire chapter dedicated to the unique terminology in Emacs; how it is different from other editors, and what that means to you.
“Emacs is such a hard editor to learn”
But why is it so hard to learn? As it turns out, it's almost always the same handful of issues that everyone faces.
If you have tried to learn Emacs you will have struggled with the same problems everyone faces, and few tutorials to see you through it.
I have dedicated the first half of the book to explaining the essence of Emacs — and in doing so, how to overcome these issues:
Memorizing Emacs’s keys: You will learn Emacs one key at a time, starting with the arrow keys. To feel productive in Emacs, it’s important you start on an equal footing — without too many new concepts and keys to memorize. Each chapter will introduce more keys and concepts so you can learn at your own pace.
Discovering new modes and features: Emacs is a self-documenting editor, and I will teach you how to use the apropos, info, and describe system to discover new modes and features, or help you find things you forgot!
Customizing Emacs: You don’t have to learn Emacs Lisp to alter a lot of Emacs’s functionality. Most changes you want to make are possible using Emacs’s Customize interface and I will show you how to use it efficiently.
Understanding the terminology: Emacs is so old it predates almost every other editor and all modern user interfaces. I have an entire chapter dedicated to the unique terminology in Emacs; how it is different from other editors, and what that means to you.
314 pages, ebook
First published May 23, 2015
66 people are currently reading
326 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
February 26, 2016
Powerful Emacs read regardless of your Emacs expertise.
As an Emacs (evil user, here), I gave the book a try without the Evil mode.
I moved my ".emacs.d" away and started anew. Needless to say, I forgot how Emacs looked in the defaults.
With a "learn commands first" and then "how to move" approach, I was taken by surprise.
Default Emacs was already confusing enough and the book helped that confusion increase.
It didn't help that the first few chapters don't have particular examples to work on. It may be extremely easy or hard to come up with your own examples, but either way the book leaves it up to you do come up with good examples to practice what you learned. This adds a significant overhead to the reading time.
In the "Moving" and "Editing" chapters things become better. There are some examples for the commands usage and it's a bit more practical and easier to figure out what to do. Getting there was 74 pages of commands and introductions beforehand.
I would've liked if we skipped most of that and instantly started with movement and then the other stuff.
After reading "Moving" and "Editing", Emacs started to feel like a text editor to me.
All that was left for me, was to read what packages does the author recommend to have.... but he never did. The book goes back to how to read documentation and help yourself out inside Emacs (handy, don't get me wrong) and then basic topics like how to read log files in read only mode, edit remote files, use Dired (you would know it by know by reading the docs), shell commands, shells and that's the "Practicals of Emacs" for you. Definitely a non-practical chapter for me.
Since I don't consider myself an advanced Emacs user, I have no idea what advanced-expert Emacs users have to say. But if I were to guess, there isn't much in the book that you wouldn't know by using Emacs for a year and exploring the docs, right?
My verdict for this book is that:
* it needs more examples,
* it needs to move the movement/editing chapters earlier,
* adds a real practical chapter that discusses must-have packages
As it is, I wouldn't recommend it without hesitation. If I see someone really excited about Emacs, I would probably suggest him/her to give it a try, but that's all to it.
Was it worth the money? I can't say for certain.
As an Emacs (evil user, here), I gave the book a try without the Evil mode.
I moved my ".emacs.d" away and started anew. Needless to say, I forgot how Emacs looked in the defaults.
With a "learn commands first" and then "how to move" approach, I was taken by surprise.
Default Emacs was already confusing enough and the book helped that confusion increase.
It didn't help that the first few chapters don't have particular examples to work on. It may be extremely easy or hard to come up with your own examples, but either way the book leaves it up to you do come up with good examples to practice what you learned. This adds a significant overhead to the reading time.
In the "Moving" and "Editing" chapters things become better. There are some examples for the commands usage and it's a bit more practical and easier to figure out what to do. Getting there was 74 pages of commands and introductions beforehand.
I would've liked if we skipped most of that and instantly started with movement and then the other stuff.
After reading "Moving" and "Editing", Emacs started to feel like a text editor to me.
All that was left for me, was to read what packages does the author recommend to have.... but he never did. The book goes back to how to read documentation and help yourself out inside Emacs (handy, don't get me wrong) and then basic topics like how to read log files in read only mode, edit remote files, use Dired (you would know it by know by reading the docs), shell commands, shells and that's the "Practicals of Emacs" for you. Definitely a non-practical chapter for me.
Since I don't consider myself an advanced Emacs user, I have no idea what advanced-expert Emacs users have to say. But if I were to guess, there isn't much in the book that you wouldn't know by using Emacs for a year and exploring the docs, right?
My verdict for this book is that:
* it needs more examples,
* it needs to move the movement/editing chapters earlier,
* adds a real practical chapter that discusses must-have packages
As it is, I wouldn't recommend it without hesitation. If I see someone really excited about Emacs, I would probably suggest him/her to give it a try, but that's all to it.
Was it worth the money? I can't say for certain.
October 6, 2017
If you work with all sorts of text files, be it programming language source code, documentation, to do lists, planning documents, or writing a novel, you'll either use various specialized tools, or you'll stick to a programmable text editor, and master it, with its various add-ons to handle the text related tasks. For some people, Emacs is one such tool, a text editor with a lot of built-in capabilities, and thousands of 'packages' that are add-ons to enhance the editor to suit many different task.
This book is a solid introduction to the venerable GNU Emacs text editor software. This piece of software is being developed for more than 30 years, and today it has a lot of powerful features. It comes with an extensive set of cross-linked documentation and a tutorial, but as far as the technical documentation goes, their primary objective is technical accuracy, and not pedagogy. There are also tons of on-line material, blog posts, videos, etc. but if you prefer a coherent book written by an expert Emacs user who takes into account the beginner's mind, then you don't have much of a choice.
As an Emacs user for more than a decade, I also learned a thing or two from this nice book. What I really liked is the author's focus on 'discoverability': He not only tells the reader fundamental and powerful features of Emacs, but also shows how you can find more information. This is very important because it's impossible to describe every feature of this software, especially with new add-ons created daily.
In short, I recommend this book to people who want a gentle and smart introduction to GNU Emacs text editor. It might also be useful for experienced users to learn a few productivity tips, and refresh their memory.
This book is a solid introduction to the venerable GNU Emacs text editor software. This piece of software is being developed for more than 30 years, and today it has a lot of powerful features. It comes with an extensive set of cross-linked documentation and a tutorial, but as far as the technical documentation goes, their primary objective is technical accuracy, and not pedagogy. There are also tons of on-line material, blog posts, videos, etc. but if you prefer a coherent book written by an expert Emacs user who takes into account the beginner's mind, then you don't have much of a choice.
As an Emacs user for more than a decade, I also learned a thing or two from this nice book. What I really liked is the author's focus on 'discoverability': He not only tells the reader fundamental and powerful features of Emacs, but also shows how you can find more information. This is very important because it's impossible to describe every feature of this software, especially with new add-ons created daily.
In short, I recommend this book to people who want a gentle and smart introduction to GNU Emacs text editor. It might also be useful for experienced users to learn a few productivity tips, and refresh their memory.
January 1, 2018
A fantastic introduction into Emacs, and the sheer power contained within.
It isn't so much the "tricks" learned that make the book great, but rather that it teaches you to find those "tricks" on your own. Emacs is a self-containing, self-documenting, hacker's dream, and after reading Petersen's book, I have the passport needed to blow past Emacs' border control. And that's without relying on my sidekick Google. And let me tell you something, I've fallen in love with the country of Emacs, and have slowly begun expatriating from my standard set of developer tools.
I've been an org-mode user for a while before this book, but this book has made that relationship much stronger. In particular, synergizing org-mode together with Emacs as a full window manager to show my agendas side-by-side, together with all of my other buffers. This has now become my single source of truth for daily life, tasks, and work.
I strongly recommend this to anyone with the smallest interest in Emacs.
It isn't so much the "tricks" learned that make the book great, but rather that it teaches you to find those "tricks" on your own. Emacs is a self-containing, self-documenting, hacker's dream, and after reading Petersen's book, I have the passport needed to blow past Emacs' border control. And that's without relying on my sidekick Google. And let me tell you something, I've fallen in love with the country of Emacs, and have slowly begun expatriating from my standard set of developer tools.
I've been an org-mode user for a while before this book, but this book has made that relationship much stronger. In particular, synergizing org-mode together with Emacs as a full window manager to show my agendas side-by-side, together with all of my other buffers. This has now become my single source of truth for daily life, tasks, and work.
I strongly recommend this to anyone with the smallest interest in Emacs.
May 2, 2020
Do a google search for 'emacs' and you get close to 22,000,000 results. Where to start? With this book. Note I said: START. This book would be a good beginning for any user of EMACS who will inevitably, eventually graduate to power user then guru status. Welcome grasshopper!
I've been an EMACS user since version 15.34 released in 1985 so I think I know a bit about this editor. Uh -- operating system, uh -- program that uses Linux as it's underlying framework, Uh -- day planner, todo lister, calendar, agenda, appointments manager, project planner, spreadsheet, C++ coding tool, Python IDE, AI tool using LIDP, Python editor and inegrated iPython console a la SPYDER ... ... ...
The list goes on and on and Mickey Peterson get's you in at the front door but without patronizing hand-holding and boring lists of 'key chords'. So the book is fast-paced while not throwing the reader 'into the weeds' but taking one to the edge of the bog, pointing and saying - 'One does not simply walk into Mordor'
I've been an EMACS user since version 15.34 released in 1985 so I think I know a bit about this editor. Uh -- operating system, uh -- program that uses Linux as it's underlying framework, Uh -- day planner, todo lister, calendar, agenda, appointments manager, project planner, spreadsheet, C++ coding tool, Python IDE, AI tool using LIDP, Python editor and inegrated iPython console a la SPYDER ... ... ...
The list goes on and on and Mickey Peterson get's you in at the front door but without patronizing hand-holding and boring lists of 'key chords'. So the book is fast-paced while not throwing the reader 'into the weeds' but taking one to the edge of the bog, pointing and saying - 'One does not simply walk into Mordor'
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August 17, 2020The book contains a lot of useful information!
The hidden takeaway from the book is to learn how to ask Emacs questions rather than always looking on the web. Another takeaway is that if you want to be an Emacs master you've got to learn Emacs Lisp. (The book doesn't touch that topic)
Even though the title of the book is "Mastering Emacs", this book won't make anyone a master (In my opinion). It's intended audience are people who are new to emacs.
The hidden takeaway from the book is to learn how to ask Emacs questions rather than always looking on the web. Another takeaway is that if you want to be an Emacs master you've got to learn Emacs Lisp. (The book doesn't touch that topic)
Even though the title of the book is "Mastering Emacs", this book won't make anyone a master (In my opinion). It's intended audience are people who are new to emacs.
December 28, 2020
I've been using Emacs for decades and still found valuable tips and tools in here I didn't know about.
January 7, 2024
I've been using Emacs for a few years, and this book has been a valuable resource in expanding my knowledge. I particularly appreciate the emphasis on apropos and discover features, which, had I known earlier, could have accelerated my learning. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in discovering the enduring relevance and power of ideas that have shaped Emacs over the past 30 years.
May 9, 2018
هل سمعتَ بمحررات لينكس التقليدية، إيماكس وڤيم؟
وفقًا لأحدث استطلاعات ستاك أوفر فلو (2018) فإن ثلث المطورين تقريبًا لا يزالون يستخدمون محررات لينكس التقليدية (26% لڤيم، 4% ايماكس) كبيئة عمل.
لماذا لا تزال هذه المحررات تلقى شعبية ليست بالقليلة؟ جزء من الإجابة يرجع لكون هذه المحررات تُمكّن مستخدميها من التخلي عن استخدام الفأرة والاعتماد كليةً على لوحة المفاتيح ما يزيد الانتاجية بشكل ملحوظ، بالإضافة إلى القدرة الكبيرة على برمجتها وتخصيصها لاستخدامها في تنفيذ مهام مختلفة. أيضًا فإن ڤيم يأتي افتراضيًا مع جميع توزيعات لينكس، ويتوفر ايماكس في المستودعات الرسمية فيها.
بعد تثبيت ايماكس لأول مرة على جهازي قمت بقراءة دليل الاستخدام السريع (فقط اضغط على C-h t)، وهو دليل يغطي النقاط الرئيسية بشكل مختصر، بعدها وجدتُ صعوبة في الإبحار بدليل الاستخدام المُفصّل، كما أن أفضل المصادر المتوفرة على الشبكة هي عبارة عن موسوعات شاملة لا تتبع بالضرورة ترتيبًا ممنهجا للقادمين الجدد، لذا وقع اختياري على شراء هذا الكتاب وقرائته، وكان اختيارًا موفقًا.
الأقسام الأولى بدت مملة قليلًا لكن اختلف الايقاع بعد ذلك واستمتعت حقًا بقراءة الكتاب على بطء، بما يتيح لي تطبيق المعلومات الجديدة وترسيخها مع الاستخدام، فاستغرق اكماله ستة أشهر، مع ضغوط العمل والجامعة.
إن كنتَ قد انتقلتَ إلى استخدام لينكس كبيئة عمل ورأيت أن ذلك كان خطوة إيجابية على صعيد انتاجيتك، أو إن كنت ممن يفضل استخدام لوحة المفاتيح للوصول لكل ما تريده على جهازك، فأنصحك بشدّة أن تتعلم واحدًا من محررات لينكس التقليدية، لأنها خطوة مماثلة للانتقال من ويندوز إلى لينكس!
الكتاب ممنهج، لغته يسيرة، ويركّز على شرح فانيلا ايماكس قدر المستطاع (أي استخدام المزايا والخصائص التي يأتي بها المحرر بدلًا من تثبيت حزم من طرف ثالث).
إيماكس أو ڤيم إذن؟ جرب الاثنين واختر ما يناسبك
وفقًا لأحدث استطلاعات ستاك أوفر فلو (2018) فإن ثلث المطورين تقريبًا لا يزالون يستخدمون محررات لينكس التقليدية (26% لڤيم، 4% ايماكس) كبيئة عمل.
لماذا لا تزال هذه المحررات تلقى شعبية ليست بالقليلة؟ جزء من الإجابة يرجع لكون هذه المحررات تُمكّن مستخدميها من التخلي عن استخدام الفأرة والاعتماد كليةً على لوحة المفاتيح ما يزيد الانتاجية بشكل ملحوظ، بالإضافة إلى القدرة الكبيرة على برمجتها وتخصيصها لاستخدامها في تنفيذ مهام مختلفة. أيضًا فإن ڤيم يأتي افتراضيًا مع جميع توزيعات لينكس، ويتوفر ايماكس في المستودعات الرسمية فيها.
بعد تثبيت ايماكس لأول مرة على جهازي قمت بقراءة دليل الاستخدام السريع (فقط اضغط على C-h t)، وهو دليل يغطي النقاط الرئيسية بشكل مختصر، بعدها وجدتُ صعوبة في الإبحار بدليل الاستخدام المُفصّل، كما أن أفضل المصادر المتوفرة على الشبكة هي عبارة عن موسوعات شاملة لا تتبع بالضرورة ترتيبًا ممنهجا للقادمين الجدد، لذا وقع اختياري على شراء هذا الكتاب وقرائته، وكان اختيارًا موفقًا.
الأقسام الأولى بدت مملة قليلًا لكن اختلف الايقاع بعد ذلك واستمتعت حقًا بقراءة الكتاب على بطء، بما يتيح لي تطبيق المعلومات الجديدة وترسيخها مع الاستخدام، فاستغرق اكماله ستة أشهر، مع ضغوط العمل والجامعة.
إن كنتَ قد انتقلتَ إلى استخدام لينكس كبيئة عمل ورأيت أن ذلك كان خطوة إيجابية على صعيد انتاجيتك، أو إن كنت ممن يفضل استخدام لوحة المفاتيح للوصول لكل ما تريده على جهازك، فأنصحك بشدّة أن تتعلم واحدًا من محررات لينكس التقليدية، لأنها خطوة مماثلة للانتقال من ويندوز إلى لينكس!
الكتاب ممنهج، لغته يسيرة، ويركّز على شرح فانيلا ايماكس قدر المستطاع (أي استخدام المزايا والخصائص التي يأتي بها المحرر بدلًا من تثبيت حزم من طرف ثالث).
إيماكس أو ڤيم إذن؟ جرب الاثنين واختر ما يناسبك
December 4, 2015
I did so many attempts at learning emacs and fail miserably, mostly because there's a lot of documentation out in the internets and figured that's how I go about most techy stuff. Wrong! Emacs at least for me is such a different beast. Then one day a fellow Clojurian tweeted about Mickey Petersen book's being one of the best out there. Since lots of Clojurian people are avid emac users I gave it a shot.
The book starts with some good points about how emacs works, its philosophy and what not. This puts you on ease that there's a journey ahead but you could succeed. Then you get to install emacs and from then on, it takes you each step by the hand. One important thing is that you need to start using emacs as much as you can, not until I forced myself to use it for almost all my tasks is that I started getting the real value of emacs.
By the third part of the book I could solve almost all my troubles and now the internets became a truly friend, before that I probably was getting the right answers but I wasn't even wrong so didn't understand anything. Not anymore.
I've been able to install plugins for my environments (clojure, scala), navigate through files easily, projects, log files, remote files, search-replace. There are thing I still look forward like building my own stuff or speeding stuff, but it's not something that prevents me from using emacs. I used VI for at least a decade (poorly I must admit) and I was nowhere near the level I posses now using emacs.
Best investment in a book this year.
The book starts with some good points about how emacs works, its philosophy and what not. This puts you on ease that there's a journey ahead but you could succeed. Then you get to install emacs and from then on, it takes you each step by the hand. One important thing is that you need to start using emacs as much as you can, not until I forced myself to use it for almost all my tasks is that I started getting the real value of emacs.
By the third part of the book I could solve almost all my troubles and now the internets became a truly friend, before that I probably was getting the right answers but I wasn't even wrong so didn't understand anything. Not anymore.
I've been able to install plugins for my environments (clojure, scala), navigate through files easily, projects, log files, remote files, search-replace. There are thing I still look forward like building my own stuff or speeding stuff, but it's not something that prevents me from using emacs. I used VI for at least a decade (poorly I must admit) and I was nowhere near the level I posses now using emacs.
Best investment in a book this year.
December 28, 2022
Very glad I read this book. I think the most important thing is that it gives you a _mental model_ for how to think in emacs, demystifying a lot of what is going on, how to think in terms of buffers and various structures and units emacs commands think in, how to go about looking for help or info within emacs itself.
I'm sure it didn't teach me all there is to know about emacs but it gave me places to anchor onto and habits to hone before I go off and free-form everything. It also gave me a great comparison of a lot of seemingly either/or choices ... eshell/term/shell? ido vs helm/ivy? that turn out to complement each other far more than I thought, but also suggested the strengths and appropriate times for each.
I knew how to work my way around emacs but in a hodgepodge fashion ... the thing I most value about this book is that it provides me with a framework, every time I reach beyond my comfort zone, into thinking how I can best improve my general emacs craftship as I figure out what I'm trying to do.
I'm sure it didn't teach me all there is to know about emacs but it gave me places to anchor onto and habits to hone before I go off and free-form everything. It also gave me a great comparison of a lot of seemingly either/or choices ... eshell/term/shell? ido vs helm/ivy? that turn out to complement each other far more than I thought, but also suggested the strengths and appropriate times for each.
I knew how to work my way around emacs but in a hodgepodge fashion ... the thing I most value about this book is that it provides me with a framework, every time I reach beyond my comfort zone, into thinking how I can best improve my general emacs craftship as I figure out what I'm trying to do.
September 27, 2016
A great way to learn emacs - even for experienced users.
I've been using emacs for 18 years or so. In that time emacs has changed a lot, so I bought this book to learn the new ways of doing things in emacs.
However I learnt a whole lot more from this book than just a few new keyboard shortcuts. This book does a really good job of trying to get you into the emacs way of doing things.
The best thing I learnt was moving by S-Expressions. Stuff I'd seen in the manual before but never really appreciated how powerful it was and that works with other languages other than lisp.
A great book - recommended if you want to learn emacs, or more emacs!
I've been using emacs for 18 years or so. In that time emacs has changed a lot, so I bought this book to learn the new ways of doing things in emacs.
However I learnt a whole lot more from this book than just a few new keyboard shortcuts. This book does a really good job of trying to get you into the emacs way of doing things.
The best thing I learnt was moving by S-Expressions. Stuff I'd seen in the manual before but never really appreciated how powerful it was and that works with other languages other than lisp.
A great book - recommended if you want to learn emacs, or more emacs!
January 7, 2021
Quite a good introduction which teaches you where and how to find information when you need it.
May 13, 2022
A good introduction to Emacs.
I'm not sure if the title should be "Mastering" as its content is mostly introductory.
I'm not sure if the title should be "Mastering" as its content is mostly introductory.
November 18, 2019
Why is an avid VIM user -- to the point that I usually do some gatekeeping in which is the true editor for real programmers[1] -- reading a book about Emacs?
Well, for one, I wanted to learn how to use Org-Mode better, but with my usual EVIL bindings, its keybinds feel alien and did not make a lot of sense.
And, thus, I decided to read a book about Emacs, to gear me up for using Emacs without EVIL and make a more smooth passage to Org-Mode.
In that, I guess I can say that the book helped me, although I'm pretty confident that I'm going to use VIM/EVIL bindings from time to time -- muscle memory is not that easy to change.
One thing that stuck with me after reading the book is the concept of "flow", in which you start a sequence of commands all with the same modifiers (or, at least, with a bigger set and then with a reduced set). For example, how you can keep Ctrl+Alt pressed and execute a bunch of changes without ever removing your hand from Ctrl+Alt, or maybe just dropping one of those two keys, but you keep the modifiers up all the time through the transformation. And while this sounds awesome, it also shows that some Emacs commands do not follow the flow and make a big mess of "Ctrl+Alt+key, key, Alt+key" in sequence -- thus, removing you from the "flow".
Even with that, I feel not everything was perfect:
- There is a push towards using the configuration buffer/tool inside Emacs, instead of showing the elisp command for that. I do understand that this makes the book lighter and removes a lot of redundant information (why describe how to set things up twice?) but with some things not being able to configure through the configuration tool and some not, it just looks... weird. And, to be honest, I'd prefer to see the elisp changes, 'cause one could expand it into "let me show you some changes you can make on your init.el to make this work" and, from there, you could expand to everything, including package management.
- Speaking of package management, I already have experience with use-package, which would download and enable packages, but there is no mention of it (maybe it is a recent addition?)
- Sometimes, there is the same mistake VIM books do: explaining some topic and going through it in a way to never come back. Although it does make sense sometimes, sometimes it does not: You can be talking about movement and, instead of explaining every single movement, you go to how to modify your code and then come back to movement to explain more complex things, 'cause they make more sense with text modification, making it easier to grasp the movement concepts than explaining it along several others (and, again, that's a mistake several VIM books do).
- As pointed, sometimes it shows how the flow can be broken, which would be better moved out of the way and kept at the very end of the book, which could be taken as being an example of the above point.
I could point that I'd like to have an EVIL topic, but the book starts saying that it wouldn't touch that, so far point -- although I'd still prefer to have some chapter about EVIL.
Also, I'd like to have a chapter about Org-Mode, but we can argue if that makes sense to put along a "Mastering Emacs" topic or it should belong to some other "Advanced" Emacs concepts.
In general, it's a good book about Emacs, specially pushing the concept of the flow.
[1] Again, this is me playing with gatekeeping, a real programmer uses whatever editor fits their workflow better -- and that includes editors which do not fit my workflow.
Well, for one, I wanted to learn how to use Org-Mode better, but with my usual EVIL bindings, its keybinds feel alien and did not make a lot of sense.
And, thus, I decided to read a book about Emacs, to gear me up for using Emacs without EVIL and make a more smooth passage to Org-Mode.
In that, I guess I can say that the book helped me, although I'm pretty confident that I'm going to use VIM/EVIL bindings from time to time -- muscle memory is not that easy to change.
One thing that stuck with me after reading the book is the concept of "flow", in which you start a sequence of commands all with the same modifiers (or, at least, with a bigger set and then with a reduced set). For example, how you can keep Ctrl+Alt pressed and execute a bunch of changes without ever removing your hand from Ctrl+Alt, or maybe just dropping one of those two keys, but you keep the modifiers up all the time through the transformation. And while this sounds awesome, it also shows that some Emacs commands do not follow the flow and make a big mess of "Ctrl+Alt+key, key, Alt+key" in sequence -- thus, removing you from the "flow".
Even with that, I feel not everything was perfect:
- There is a push towards using the configuration buffer/tool inside Emacs, instead of showing the elisp command for that. I do understand that this makes the book lighter and removes a lot of redundant information (why describe how to set things up twice?) but with some things not being able to configure through the configuration tool and some not, it just looks... weird. And, to be honest, I'd prefer to see the elisp changes, 'cause one could expand it into "let me show you some changes you can make on your init.el to make this work" and, from there, you could expand to everything, including package management.
- Speaking of package management, I already have experience with use-package, which would download and enable packages, but there is no mention of it (maybe it is a recent addition?)
- Sometimes, there is the same mistake VIM books do: explaining some topic and going through it in a way to never come back. Although it does make sense sometimes, sometimes it does not: You can be talking about movement and, instead of explaining every single movement, you go to how to modify your code and then come back to movement to explain more complex things, 'cause they make more sense with text modification, making it easier to grasp the movement concepts than explaining it along several others (and, again, that's a mistake several VIM books do).
- As pointed, sometimes it shows how the flow can be broken, which would be better moved out of the way and kept at the very end of the book, which could be taken as being an example of the above point.
I could point that I'd like to have an EVIL topic, but the book starts saying that it wouldn't touch that, so far point -- although I'd still prefer to have some chapter about EVIL.
Also, I'd like to have a chapter about Org-Mode, but we can argue if that makes sense to put along a "Mastering Emacs" topic or it should belong to some other "Advanced" Emacs concepts.
In general, it's a good book about Emacs, specially pushing the concept of the flow.
[1] Again, this is me playing with gatekeeping, a real programmer uses whatever editor fits their workflow better -- and that includes editors which do not fit my workflow.
January 3, 2021
Emacs has become a relatively arcane but still a very useful editor. Its learning curve is well-known due not to the lack of information but to the overabundance of piecemeal information. Emacs is way too customizable in fundamental fashions which makes it rather difficult to define the common baseline for new users. Many books on Emacs have become dated by now to the extent that you need to be comfortable with Emacs already to make the proper judgment as to which information is still relevant to your settings.
The Mastering Emacs fills that niche for the beginners very well. It is clearly written by a very skilled Emacs user and the suggestions, while often opinionated, are well-curated for those at the stage where guided learning is more useful before bringing their skills to the next level by self-learning. The author emphasizes the importance of "asking Emacs" to take advantage of its self-documenting nature which is sound advice.
The downside is the price; $39.99 USD is rather steep for a technical ebook geared toward beginners. At that price point, I would expect coverage of more advanced topics for the value as a reference. That said, the content is compelling enough that I would heartily recommend this book to any learner who seriously wishes to invest in the legendary editor today.
The Mastering Emacs fills that niche for the beginners very well. It is clearly written by a very skilled Emacs user and the suggestions, while often opinionated, are well-curated for those at the stage where guided learning is more useful before bringing their skills to the next level by self-learning. The author emphasizes the importance of "asking Emacs" to take advantage of its self-documenting nature which is sound advice.
The downside is the price; $39.99 USD is rather steep for a technical ebook geared toward beginners. At that price point, I would expect coverage of more advanced topics for the value as a reference. That said, the content is compelling enough that I would heartily recommend this book to any learner who seriously wishes to invest in the legendary editor today.
January 22, 2024
(Note: this review refers to the Emacs 28 version of this book, which, amazingly and thankfully, Mickey keeps updating for every major release!)
Emacs is unlike any other software in existance. YOUR Emacs (and, after a while, your Emacs is truly your own unique, individualized piece of software) is a thing that develops organically over time with you as you use and modify it. You build your Emacs, and Emacs shapes how you work. If you love tinkering, control, optimizing, and simply playing with technology for the heck of it (Yak Shaving in Emacs parlance), Emacs is for you. You can make it into whatever you want, and behave however you want. I don't know any other software that's remotely like it. Comparisons to text editors like Vim or VSCode or Word or whatever entirely miss the point of what Emacs is.
Emacs itself has killer apps that are better than any alternative. Org Mode is superior to any other note taking system I've used (and I've used Evernote, OneNote, Obsidian, Roam...). TRAMP is superior to any other way to edit files on a remote machine; there isn't a close 2nd place. To name just two reasons / uses to get into it.
Because Emacs is so unique and weird, it is frankly hard to really get into. It takes time. This book dramatically helps.
I wish I had this book 25 years ago. Anyone who wants to truly "get" Emacs should read it -- really read it; it's a commitment, and if you give up after a few chapters you will not get the benefit.
(My only minor criticism is the structure of the book isn't great for pure beginners; I'll get to that at the end and propose a chapter order for new users.)
First, and in brief: my own Emacs journey began in the 90s. Emacs was my primary text editor in the late 90s and in the 2000s. And I really used it as "just" a text editor; I was not remotely living in Emacs, didn't know Elisp, had minimal configuration, etc. To illustrate, I also used vim, depending the task. I took more than a decade off from Emacs and, in 2020, I decided to return, having read a little about Org Mode as a potential alternative to Evernote, Obsidian, etc.
This time around I decided to "get serious" about actually learning Emacs. As Mickey says in the conclusion:
Exactly! I had heard people speak of this, but never hit that point myself. So I committed to getting there. To get there, I knew I'd have to invest the time. Because Emacs is so unique, and because ultimately I'd be crafting my own Emacs, there isn't a shortcut. A craftsman must spend time with his/her tools.
And so I endeavored to read every word in this book. I played with nearly everything mentioned. I kept hacking at my own Emacs, reading articles Mickey wrote on his website (also Mastering Emacs) and blog posts by other Emacs hackers linked to from Reddit.
At some point, it clicked. I'm not sure it would have without this book, or at least it would have taken a lot longer.
And even after that point, I kept reading, taking notes, creating a plan on where to go.
OK, to my criticism.
If I were to recommend this book to a beginner, I'd have them start with Chapters 4 and 5.
Here's how Mickey organized the book. In the conclusion Mickey writes:
I think this does readers new to Emacs a disservice. It starts with so much theory, including vocabulary (it's a "frame" not a "window", a "window" is something else, etc.), concepts like extensibility and Major Modes, etc. It goes into asking for help.
It's not until Chapter 4 that you get into Movement. That is, jumping around a document. Asking readers to read 84 pages before DOING anything is a big ask! Emacs has a steep-enough learning curve.
I would start with something like opening a file and moving around it and editing it. Movement in Emacs is pure joy; 25 years ago when I knew nothing other than "Emacs is a cool text editor" the movement aspects are what kept me going back. Once you've moved around in Emacs, you simply cannot use Word without feeling like you're in a traffic jam. Same with basic editing; pure joy.
If someone can open a file, move around, edit it, and have fun, then you've got them hooked. Then you can explain modes.
I get why he did it his way. Ultimately, as you turn Emacs into your own, personal Emacs, the commands, keys, workflows, etc. will diverge from the default. At this point, if you want documentation on your own, personal Emacs, you have to ask your Emacs.
This is very true. But it's advanced. People do not need to grok it at first. Hook them with basic competency first, then build to this. That's my advice.
I use emacs, which might be thought of as a thermonuclear word processor.
-Neal Stephenson
Emacs is unlike any other software in existance. YOUR Emacs (and, after a while, your Emacs is truly your own unique, individualized piece of software) is a thing that develops organically over time with you as you use and modify it. You build your Emacs, and Emacs shapes how you work. If you love tinkering, control, optimizing, and simply playing with technology for the heck of it (Yak Shaving in Emacs parlance), Emacs is for you. You can make it into whatever you want, and behave however you want. I don't know any other software that's remotely like it. Comparisons to text editors like Vim or VSCode or Word or whatever entirely miss the point of what Emacs is.
Emacs itself has killer apps that are better than any alternative. Org Mode is superior to any other note taking system I've used (and I've used Evernote, OneNote, Obsidian, Roam...). TRAMP is superior to any other way to edit files on a remote machine; there isn't a close 2nd place. To name just two reasons / uses to get into it.
Because Emacs is so unique and weird, it is frankly hard to really get into. It takes time. This book dramatically helps.
I wish I had this book 25 years ago. Anyone who wants to truly "get" Emacs should read it -- really read it; it's a commitment, and if you give up after a few chapters you will not get the benefit.
(My only minor criticism is the structure of the book isn't great for pure beginners; I'll get to that at the end and propose a chapter order for new users.)
First, and in brief: my own Emacs journey began in the 90s. Emacs was my primary text editor in the late 90s and in the 2000s. And I really used it as "just" a text editor; I was not remotely living in Emacs, didn't know Elisp, had minimal configuration, etc. To illustrate, I also used vim, depending the task. I took more than a decade off from Emacs and, in 2020, I decided to return, having read a little about Org Mode as a potential alternative to Evernote, Obsidian, etc.
This time around I decided to "get serious" about actually learning Emacs. As Mickey says in the conclusion:
Use Emacs long enough -- and those of you who have reached this point already will probably agree with me -- and one day it just clicks. And when it does, it's not because you have managed to memorize a thousand key bindings. It's because Emacs is no longer an opaque box but a very open and transparent one that you can peer into, modify and observe the result of those changes.
Exactly! I had heard people speak of this, but never hit that point myself. So I committed to getting there. To get there, I knew I'd have to invest the time. Because Emacs is so unique, and because ultimately I'd be crafting my own Emacs, there isn't a shortcut. A craftsman must spend time with his/her tools.
And so I endeavored to read every word in this book. I played with nearly everything mentioned. I kept hacking at my own Emacs, reading articles Mickey wrote on his website (also Mastering Emacs) and blog posts by other Emacs hackers linked to from Reddit.
At some point, it clicked. I'm not sure it would have without this book, or at least it would have taken a lot longer.
And even after that point, I kept reading, taking notes, creating a plan on where to go.
OK, to my criticism.
If I were to recommend this book to a beginner, I'd have them start with Chapters 4 and 5.
Here's how Mickey organized the book. In the conclusion Mickey writes:
The reading order of this book is presented in the same way that I would teach someone Emacs if they sat next to me. Understanding the terminology is important as it lays a foundation; next is the most basic of keys and commands so you can use Emacs; and then comes the movement and editing commands, followed by some practical examples to help reinforce what you have learned and to give you some ideas on where to go from there.
I think this does readers new to Emacs a disservice. It starts with so much theory, including vocabulary (it's a "frame" not a "window", a "window" is something else, etc.), concepts like extensibility and Major Modes, etc. It goes into asking for help.
It's not until Chapter 4 that you get into Movement. That is, jumping around a document. Asking readers to read 84 pages before DOING anything is a big ask! Emacs has a steep-enough learning curve.
I would start with something like opening a file and moving around it and editing it. Movement in Emacs is pure joy; 25 years ago when I knew nothing other than "Emacs is a cool text editor" the movement aspects are what kept me going back. Once you've moved around in Emacs, you simply cannot use Word without feeling like you're in a traffic jam. Same with basic editing; pure joy.
If someone can open a file, move around, edit it, and have fun, then you've got them hooked. Then you can explain modes.
I get why he did it his way. Ultimately, as you turn Emacs into your own, personal Emacs, the commands, keys, workflows, etc. will diverge from the default. At this point, if you want documentation on your own, personal Emacs, you have to ask your Emacs.
Throughout this book, I have written about features and functions and my own personal views on what is worth focusing on and what isn’t. That is the truly practical, overarching aspect to this book. The deeper lesson – and what was ultimately the linchpin moment for me when I first started learning Emacs – is understanding how to ask Emacs questions.
This is very true. But it's advanced. People do not need to grok it at first. Hook them with basic competency first, then build to this. That's my advice.
September 5, 2016
If you've never taken part in the editor wars, or if you're a Vim user (traitor! jk!) who is willing to look around for alternatives, or maybe you just want to understand what's the fuss about Emacs, look no further, this the perfect mix of philosophy and actual usage of the most flexible editor ever written. I know I sound as though I'm biased, but take my word for it, once you get bit by the Emacs bug, it's pretty much impossible to let it go. You'll crave the freedom (remember Uncle Ben!).
In all seriousness though, this is a good technical book about an 30 year old editor that somehow is still being heavily used today. It might not convince you to switch to Emacs altogether, after all, old habits die hard, but it will give you a taste of what those elisp hackers experiment day-in-day-out.
In all seriousness though, this is a good technical book about an 30 year old editor that somehow is still being heavily used today. It might not convince you to switch to Emacs altogether, after all, old habits die hard, but it will give you a taste of what those elisp hackers experiment day-in-day-out.
May 30, 2019
This is... okay. It would probably be a 4 star book if expectations where set better.
I picked this book up hoping it would help me do what it said on the tin, master Emacs. In reality this is more of an extremely thorough introduction. And it's a good introduction, one that would set someone off on the right foot, but that's also not mastery.
I already knew most of what was in the book at a functional level, day-to-day use level. I gained better insight on the "why" behind some parts of Emacs, some good tips & tricks. But I didn't finish this book substantially better at using Emacs than when I started.
If you're new to Emacs and want to learn it, this book will help. It cuts through a lot of dated documentation and explains Emacs from a modern perspective. Past that, your returns will diminish in proportion to how confident you already are in your knowledge.
I picked this book up hoping it would help me do what it said on the tin, master Emacs. In reality this is more of an extremely thorough introduction. And it's a good introduction, one that would set someone off on the right foot, but that's also not mastery.
I already knew most of what was in the book at a functional level, day-to-day use level. I gained better insight on the "why" behind some parts of Emacs, some good tips & tricks. But I didn't finish this book substantially better at using Emacs than when I started.
If you're new to Emacs and want to learn it, this book will help. It cuts through a lot of dated documentation and explains Emacs from a modern perspective. Past that, your returns will diminish in proportion to how confident you already are in your knowledge.
January 19, 2019
It's certainly one of the best introductions to Emacs for a beginner. However, as someone who has already used Emacs for some time and is relatively comfortable with it, I found very little new information in this book. I was hoping that this book would deepen my knowledge by explaining core concepts diving a little bit under the hood because it's absolutely essential to "master" anything, in my opinion. However, the book rather turned out to be a bunch of recipes and basic keybindings. Moreover, if you're migrating from Vim and intending to keep using vi-style bindings, the book is not for you. Nonetheless, I think the book is perfect for someone who is willing to give Emacs a try for the first time. It's short, well written and has everything essential to get going.
August 24, 2015
I'm user of emacs for 2 years now. But before reading this book I couldn't find enough time to master some essential parts of emacs. While reading, i kept asking myself "How could i live without it before? It's so simple and yet so useful". Mickey packed essential parts of emacs in such a great way, for the first time i could manage to read a technical book from cover to cover in 10 days. Many reviewers gave it 4 stars, and i can't find any good reason why. This was so simple and delightful i can't find a reason not to recommend it to every new user struggling in his path through steep learning curve. 5/5.
October 8, 2022
This book is so well written from the art of writing point of view. I don't treat it like a reference book I treat it like fun read. Mickey takes you on a journey builds skills & is rich with content. There are no shortage of opinions in Emacs land. The only things Mickey strongly pushes is the discovery process & the richness of core Emacs (you don't need a package in every case to make Emacs better). On the second point I want to trim down my couple hundred packages over time.
My belief is that this book will force beginners and experts to learn something. It is not a "Quick! I need to learn Emacs tonight book". Its a journey, but a very enjoyable one.
My belief is that this book will force beginners and experts to learn something. It is not a "Quick! I need to learn Emacs tonight book". Its a journey, but a very enjoyable one.
December 14, 2017
I should have read this book before. I should have read this book before. I should have read this book before.
This book is excellent. At first I thought it was "meh"… and then it blew my mind. I'm already going back to this book almost every week to re-learn and practice all that it taught me.
Definitely I should have read this book before.
This book is excellent. At first I thought it was "meh"… and then it blew my mind. I'm already going back to this book almost every week to re-learn and practice all that it taught me.
Definitely I should have read this book before.
October 6, 2016
A good book about Emacs.
The information in it is definitely worth it for two reasons:
a) It managed to convince me that navigation in Emacs is not really lacking in comparison to vim
b) It really hammered in some very good features of Emacs that would have taken me a long time to figure out by myself
The information in it is definitely worth it for two reasons:
a) It managed to convince me that navigation in Emacs is not really lacking in comparison to vim
b) It really hammered in some very good features of Emacs that would have taken me a long time to figure out by myself
February 24, 2019
I enjoyed the book! The author surely loves his editor and it shows. I spent around 4 hours over the course of a week reading this book and playing with emacs. I used GNU Emacs with Prelude[1] distribution.
After reading the book, I realized I had invested zero time in learning the editor(s) which I used frequently.
[1] https://github.com/bbatsov/prelude
After reading the book, I realized I had invested zero time in learning the editor(s) which I used frequently.
[1] https://github.com/bbatsov/prelude
December 24, 2015
Nice didactic, it teaches you the emacs way: how real Emacsens use emacs and how to ask yourself if you're doing it right.
September 11, 2024
This is a good book, and a thorough introduction to using emacs. Surprisingly, it’s very light on elisp. There’s some code included but much less than you might imagine. Considering that emacs is largely configured by elisp, it almost stands out as a weakness. But this book is targeting a general user, and it doesn’t shy away from showing off advanced or obscure features. It‘s more about teaching you the hot keys that even the greybeards don’t know than it is about helping you fill out your config file.
For a thorough introduction to using emacs, you can’t go far wrong with this book. If you’re looking to configure emacs, then I’m not sure there’s a definitive book for that yet. The Systems Crafters Emacs From Scratch video series is probably the closest you’re going to get (although it’s sadly not in book-form).
For a thorough introduction to using emacs, you can’t go far wrong with this book. If you’re looking to configure emacs, then I’m not sure there’s a definitive book for that yet. The Systems Crafters Emacs From Scratch video series is probably the closest you’re going to get (although it’s sadly not in book-form).
February 28, 2024
A passable next step to learning Emacs after exiting the tutorial. The main advantage of a guide like this over the reference manual is the editorialization. "Look at this this and this, skip that". And it sure beats the stinking pile of listicles at the top of the web search results.
That said...where is the razzle-dazzle, the "oohs" and "aahs"?! Groups of related commands are listed and summarily explained. Interesting applications are mentioned but never illustrated. The most exciting features like keyboard macros are passed over with no examples. So boring!!! Contrast that with Practical Vim, which from page 1 entices you with relevant editing scenarios first, and then dazzlingly clever solutions. Truly a missed opportunity.
That said...where is the razzle-dazzle, the "oohs" and "aahs"?! Groups of related commands are listed and summarily explained. Interesting applications are mentioned but never illustrated. The most exciting features like keyboard macros are passed over with no examples. So boring!!! Contrast that with Practical Vim, which from page 1 entices you with relevant editing scenarios first, and then dazzlingly clever solutions. Truly a missed opportunity.
September 14, 2017
Initially, I wanted to give it 3 stars, but I reconsidered. "Mastering Emacs" is a great reference for many Emacs features, both widely known and quite obscure. As for the book part (especially, a book for beginners) - not so much. Sometimes it gets incoherent describing different customizations, pointing at caveats that are not relevant at the novice level. All in all, it's a solid book to read when you already have plenty experience with Emacs.
June 6, 2019
I found a lot small things that I don't know even they are very basic.
For example:
0. Emacs has a dedicated comment function which is bond to C-x C-;
1. C-h after press the pre-fix command
2. undo-try
3. M-m, go back to beg of a paragraph
4. subword mode
5. down and up a list
6. moving other windows while editing in a window
7. M-@ to mark a word
8. imenu
9. swapping two lines
...
I've a lot of tiny things.
For example:
0. Emacs has a dedicated comment function which is bond to C-x C-;
1. C-h after press the pre-fix command
2. undo-try
3. M-m, go back to beg of a paragraph
4. subword mode
5. down and up a list
6. moving other windows while editing in a window
7. M-@ to mark a word
8. imenu
9. swapping two lines
...
I've a lot of tiny things.
November 30, 2020
A book on emacs isn't for everyone, but if you know someone who has talked about emacs and doesn't already have a copy, this is the book for you. I was given a copy several years ago, and every time the software updates the author has sent me an email offering to update my digital copy to the latest edition. How good is that? Seriously, if you are only going to buy one emacs book, this is the one.
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