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Writing GNU Emacs Extensions: Editor Customizations and Creations with Lisp
Yes, it is possible to be all things to all people, if you're talking about the Emacs editor. As a user, you can make any kind of customization you want, from choosing the keystrokes that invoke your favorite commands to creating a whole new work environment that looks like nothing ever developed before. It's all in Emacs Lisp -- and in this short but fast-paced book.GNU Emacs is more than an editor; it's a programming environment, a communications package, and many other things. To provide such a broad range of functions, it offers a full version of the Lisp programming language -- something much more powerful than the little macro languages provided in other editors (including older versions of Emacs). GNU Emacs is a framework in which you can create whole new kinds of editors or just alter aspects of the many functions it already provides.In this book, Bob Glickstein delves deep into the features that permit far-reaching Emacs customizations. He teaches you the Lisp language and discusses Emacs topics (such as syntax tables and macro templates) in easy-to-digest portions. Examples progress in complexity from simple customizations to extensive major modes.You will learn how to write interactive commands, use hooks and advice, perform error recovery, manipulate windows, buffers, and keymaps, exploit and alter Emacs's main loop, and more. Each topic is explored through realistic examples and a series of successive refinements that illustrate not only the Emacs Lisp language, but the development process as well, making learning pleasant and natural.
- GenresProgrammingComputers
240 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 7, 2017
Dated, and surprisingly lacks the polish of your typical O' Reilly book. There's something inside for people new to Elisp though.
October 21, 2023
Being severely dated takes a lot away from this book on introductory Emacs Lisp. Given the lack of relevant learning resources on the topic, however, I still find this a decent starter. Anything Emacs related is well documented somewhere, but it is still tedious to find them. This book eased that pain for me. I wish that someone would update it or write a new book in the same philosophy.
November 6, 2013
The first book that really got me 'into' EMACS and I've never looked back since now using emacs for everything from todo lists to outlines to GTD. Well worth working through this book actually coding as you go along. You'll also develop an appreciation for LISP which is making a comeback by way of modern functional programming languages as well as getting a good leg-up on developing extensions for GIMP and AutoCAD.
August 6, 2008
A book that you're unlikely to read one day, but a perfect example of what a technical book should be like, imho. Plus, it features a giraffe. One could have told it was a book for me.
July 29, 2015
good introduction, but tremendously dated. This book is significantly behind the current development methods and application trends in the emacs environment.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews