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Converting from Sublime Text to Emacs

Elsa Gonsiorowski on December 09, 2017

Motivation Prerequisites The Basics The Best from Sublime Text Things That Never Really Worked in ST Org-mode Conclusion ...
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Luke Inglis

I'm always dancing between Emacs and Sublime (with a Vim layer in either). I love Sublime in a lot of ways but I always come back to Org-Mode. Right now I'm using Sublime for all coding/dev work and Emacs for any writing/documenting/organizing tasks.

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Elsa Gonsiorowski

Org-mode is a definite draw. Have you tried EVIL mode? Someday I want to attempt to learn Vi keybindings... but can’t give up org.

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Luke Inglis

I have tried Evil and mostly loved it. I used Vim/NeoVim for years then about a year and a half ago switched to Emacs and set up Evil immediately and never looked back.

I switched to Sublime for my coding work when I started a new job with a very large code base. I've found that Sublime works better for me in that context than Emacs. Perhaps I'll revisit Emacs again soon and try to make it smarter about big code bases with multiple repos.

I would definitely suggest at least giving Vi bindings a try at some point. I find modal editing and being able to (mostly) keep my hands on the keys a big plus. Evil is the way to go for Emacs and I would also suggest adding General.el in for managing keybindings. It's a general purpose (durr ;)) key binding package that is Evil-friendly out of the box but not limited to creating Evil bindings.

If you do find yourself back in Sublime the Neo​Vintageous package is the best Vim emulation available in my experience.

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Bob Nadler

Lots of helpful tips. Thanks!

Back in the old days, I lived in Emacs. I still use it regularly for routine text editing but have become dependent on modern IDE magic for most programming work.

I know that org-mode is very powerful and enjoys a loyal following. For tasks I use one of the popular cloud-based tools that make syncing between computers, calendars, and mobile devices very simple. Because of this I think org-mode has a difficult time competing in the task management arena.

I recently ran across emacs-which-key, which as a casual user I've found very useful.