Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 445 pages
• Published by: Sams April 23, 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0672315947
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0672315947
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1.9 pounds

Product Review
In a perfect world, all text editing programs would be as easy to use as the lean, stripped down, and efficient GNU Emacs. Even with all its simplicity and numerous keyboard shortcuts, Emacs neophytes and longtime users will find a wealth of information and instruction on everything from creating a file to writing a macro in Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours.

Anyone who has ever used Emacs knows that, unless you are using XEmacs, this particular text editor avoids a clunky graphical user interface to display command and program options in favor of placing the complete functionality at the user's fingertips. Chapter 4 provides a thorough list of Emacs's control and meta or Esc key commands that allow you to move about your file and make structural changes like moving paragraphs and deleting entire lines of text.

Later chapters in the book address the usage of higher-level commands like Emacs's search and replace tool as well as writing macros, compact programs that automate common processes by recording sequences of keystrokes. Like the program it describes and tutors you on, Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours is easy to use and efficient in its approach to learning. --Ryan Kuykendall

Book Description
Emacs is one of the most powerful text editors available, yet it is not the easiest to navigate, in part because it covers so much. Sams Teach Yourself Emacs in 24 Hours helps simplify the program by organizing Emacs by function and platform. Included is a full-color tear-out card with key combinations. More than a guide to using GNU Emacs, the book also teaches the basics of other forms of Emacs such as XEmacs. You will get the most out of the editing and programming environment and gain a solid working knowledge of Emacs' features. Also includes a section on using Emacs with Windows.

• Learn Emacs, the editor of choice for UNIX system users
• Simplifies Emacs by teaching functions, customization, and programming in a step-by-step, tutorial format
• Also teaches the basics of related subjects, such as XEmacs, and helps those using Emacs with Windows

Reader Reviews
This is good beginner book for anyone who is un-initiated to the world of Emacs. Since this book is in a tutorial format like other Sams Teach Yourself books, one can read through this book pretty fast and get up and running using the power of Emacs very quickly. The author does a good job of introducing the reader to many of the powerful functions of emacs and also contantly mentions ways to customize the various functions. One of the sources of irritation while reading the book is that the author refers too many times to the libraries on the CD rather than the generic functions available in Emacs itself. However, this does get the reader accustomed to the idea of customizing Emacs, which is what makes Emacs such a powerful editor. There is also a introductory chapter on Lisp, which should suffice most beginners.