Have you ever wished for a tool that adapts perfectly to your workflow, whether you’re coding, writing, or managing complex projects? Emacs isn’t just a text editor—it’s a powerhouse that evolves with your needs. From its customizable interface to its vast array of features, Emacs has become the go-to choice for developers, writers, and power users.
In this blog post—written entirely in Emacs—I’ll introduce its major features.
To follow along, install Emacs from the official website.
Emacs becomes powerful when you configure it to your liking. If you're used to Vim keybindings, enable Evil Mode—a minor mode for Vim emulation.
I use Evil Mode myself. You can use my configuration: github.com/johannes-el/emacs-dotfiles.
#!/usr/bin/bash
git clone https://github.com/johannes-el/emacs-dotfiles --depth=1
if [ -d "$HOME/.emacs.d" ]; then
rm -rf "$HOME/.emacs.d"
fi
mv emacs-dotfiles "$HOME/.emacs.d"
For more advanced setups, consider Doom Emacs or Spacemacs.
Emacs is self-documenting. You can discover built-in functions and packages from within the editor.
Magit is a Git interface in Emacs. It provides an intuitive UI for Git workflows and makes version control pleasant and efficient.
Org-mode is a powerful major mode for note-taking, task management, and exporting to various formats (HTML, PDF, LaTeX, etc.). It supports inline code execution and agendas.
Org-roam enables Zettelkasten-style note linking. With org-roam-ui, you can visualize your notes graphically.
The Emacs Multimedia System (EMMS) lets you play music from players like mpv inside Emacs.
ERC is an IRC client in Emacs. Great for community chat, including Emacs user groups.
Projectile is a project management library. It organizes your files into projects and adds commands like projectile-grep.
Notmuch integrates email into Emacs, especially when combined with tools like mbsync.
Emacs is open-source software. You can inspect, modify, and share your own configuration.
Emacs offers much more than what’s covered here. For me, it’s the most complete and enjoyable computing experience. I hope I convinced you to give it a try!