Name: GNU Emacs
Rating: 8 (11 reviews)
Author: Open Source

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### Code Editing
Reviewers consistently praise GNU Emacs for its robust code editing capabilities, particularly when working on remote Linux machines. Users appreciate the ease of making quick code changes and running code in the background using Emacs. The color coding and styling for Python code, along with the efficient shortcuts, are highlighted as valuable features by users. Despite some acknowledging a learning curve, many find Emacs to be a reliable tool for efficient code editing tasks.

### Software Development
Some users praise GNU Emacs for its versatility in software development tasks, highlighting its adaptability to various coding needs and the convenience of using familiar key bindings across different applications. On the other hand, some users find the learning curve steep and express limitations in integrating with modern development systems. Despite differing opinions, many users appreciate the extensive functionalities Emacs offers for software development, such as debugging tools and code formatting options. The mixed sentiments suggest that while GNU Emacs may not be the most straightforward tool for all developers, its capabilities in software development remain a point of interest and discussion among its users.

### Operating Systems Compatibility
Users appreciate GNU Emacs for its smooth integration with Linux-based operating systems, making it a preferred choice for editing files on remote Linux machines. The ease of installation on Linux machines and the convenience of using it in a command-line Terminal when logged into a remote server are highlighted as key advantages. Despite some users mentioning compatibility with different PC operating systems, the consensus leans towards GNU Emacs excelling in its compatibility with Linux environments.

### Remote Access and Server Management
Users generally appreciate GNU Emacs for its efficiency in editing files on remote Linux machines and its ease of use in managing configuration files on Linux servers. The consensus among reviewers is that GNU Emacs simplifies the process of accessing and managing files on remote servers, making it a valuable tool for system administrators and developers working in command-line environments. While some users acknowledge a learning curve associated with Emacs, they highlight its reliability and versatility in remote server management tasks. Additionally, the availability of Emacs on most Linux distributions further enhances its appeal for remote access and server management purposes.

### File Management and Formats
Users appreciate GNU Emacs for its robust file management capabilities, allowing them to efficiently handle a variety of file formats, especially when working on remote Linux machines. The consensus among reviewers is that GNU Emacs excels in simplifying the editing and maintenance of configuration files, enhancing overall productivity and workflow efficiency. While some users may find the learning curve steep, the benefits of GNU Emacs in managing files and formats are widely acknowledged within the Linux community.

Based on user reviews, there are several recommendations for Emacs. Users highly recommend spending time on the built-in tutorial to learn how to use Emacs effectively. They also suggest exploring available plugins and packages, such as Lisp, to enhance functionality and customization. Additionally, users advise considering alternative editors like Vim, Atom, Sublime Text, and Brackets before choosing Emacs. Overall, users emphasize the importance of investing time in learning and exploring Emacs due to its highly functional and customizable nature.

Simple and easy-to-use interface: Many users have praised Emacs for its simplicity and ease of use, especially in Linux-based operating systems. It has a user-friendly interface that allows for intuitive navigation and convenient keyboard shortcuts, enhancing productivity.

Versatile with extensive functionalities: Emacs offers a wide range of functionalities and shortcuts through its extensive library and rich macros. This versatility allows users to efficiently perform various tasks such as programming, shell access, and organization using extensions like Org Mode.

Highly customizable: The extensibility and flexibility of Emacs are highly regarded by users. They appreciate the ability to customize the editor to suit their needs, work in different languages, and adhere to specific coding standards. This customization power enables users to tailor Emacs according to their preferences, making it their own unique text editing experience.

Steep Learning Curve: Users have found that Emacs has a steep learning curve, requiring a significant amount of time and effort to become proficient. Some users mention the initial high learning curve, especially for those coming from an IDE-like environment.

Complexity and Size: The complexity and large size of Emacs are common concerns among users. Some users find it challenging to learn and remember the shortcuts for Emacs, while others mention that Emacs can be clunky and not as polished as modern editors.

Default Configuration: Some users mention that the default configuration of Emacs is not appealing and may require customization for a better user experience. This requires additional time and effort on the part of the user to configure it according to their preferences.

Users rely on GNU Emacs as a versatile text editor for editing and maintaining configuration files on Linux servers. It is widely used for various text editing tasks, including reformatting and cleaning up tabular data using macros and rectangular selections. One of the key use cases of GNU Emacs is its ability to edit files on remote Linux machines, providing an efficient way to make changes to deployed infrastructure. Users also appreciate Emacs for tasks like fixing small code changes, running code in the background, and creating to-do lists and quick notes for future reference. Additionally, many users utilize Emacs' org-mode for note-taking, managing to-do lists, and organizing agenda files. It serves as an invaluable development tool for multiple programming languages such as Python, NSIS scripts, and C++. Emacs solves the problem of coding on remote servers by providing a seamless development environment. Its consistency across different tasks, including software development and administration work, along with the productivity benefits of using Org Mode, make it an integral part of users' workflow. The familiarity and ease of use provided by Emacs make it a preferred choice for many users, who find it difficult to switch to other editors that may not meet their needs as effectively.

GNU Emacs is described as a free extensible and customizable text editor for the Lisp programming language.

Cursor is a code editor built for programming with AI. Cursor includes an autocomplete that predicts the next edit. Once enabled, it is always on and will suggest edits to code across multiple lines, taking into account any recent changes.

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GNU Emacs 2020-01-16 12:04:57

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Easy learning curve

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Emacs is utilized as one of the primary text editors available for global use across our remote build servers. This allows engineers to modify files on a system with a familiar interface that they can access on their own local computer. Emacs is adept at language recognition and highlights syntax in a meaningful way. It also allows users to set their own custom configurations for their user profile and is expandable via installation packages.

Shortcuts are not standard.
Sometimes certain key combinations puts it into an unfamiliar state.

Emacs is free to use.
Most firmware and electrical engineers are familiar with Emacs making it easy to set up new employees to immediately start working.

As far as I know, I'm the only user of Gnu Emacs at Lendio. I use it daily in my work as a DevOps engineering team lead and individual contributor. Emacs is an editor, but also more than just an editor. It is a way of life. You can do pretty much anything in Emacs. I use it for editing files, both in my local filesystem and on remote systems using the Tramp subsystem. Emacs is well integrated with tools such as ssh and sudo, and allows me to edit files on remote systems in a privileged manner. I also routinely use Emacs's integrations with our source code management system (we use Git). The Ediff function is extremely useful when comparing between versions of a given file. As for the business problems that it helps with, Emacs provides IDE functionality in an extensible fashion at zero cost. It is a great tool!

Emacs is exceptionally good at editing files. The various modes available allow customization of things like indentation, color schemes, etc. when editing different types of files.
Tramp mode in Emacs allows transparent editing of files on remote systems, including using sudo for access to secured files. As far as I know, no other tool does this as well.
Emacs's integration with Git is very useful when it comes to determining what changed and when. Git plugs into Emacs's generic SCM functionality, which means you get a ton of features for free, including Ediff for change management (so you can see what changed between two revisions of a file).
Integration with my web browser through the Edit with Emacs Chrome extension allows me to use a full editor when composing a post on a web page. This allows me to run various tools (such as spell checker, etc.) when composing on a web page in a text area.

Emacs is old, so it's a little crufty and not too easy to pick up and start using. There is a community package called Spacemacs that simplifies a lot of things that you do with Emacs. It is probably better suited to beginners.
Sometimes, the choices that were made to integrate certain functionality change the basic models for that functionality. This is seen primarily in the version control system support, where multiple version control systems are supported and "unified" to a standard Emacs-y way of doing things. This can be confusing to the new user not familiar with the Emacs way.
Emacs has, as its foundation, a lisp interpreter. This means that the extension language for Emacs is emacs-lisp. Some people find lisp hard to understand and have difficulties writing Emacs extension code, or understanding existing code.

Overall, the ROI of Emacs has stemmed around its nature as a free, open source product. Usability is high, so when you use it you are more productive, but if you are unfamiliar with it, you will be less productive to start.
Emacs is more than just an IDE. It includes IDE-like functionality, but it is really much more than an IDE.
Emacs makes it easy for me to work in my environment, in a fashion to which I have become accustomed over the last 30+ years. It is more suited to the professional who has used it before.

Eclipse, Vim, IntelliJ IDEA, Visual Studio IDE and PyCharm

I use GNU Emacs as my primary text editor, as well as an organization tool for project tracking and to-dos as well as scheduling and planning. It is also used for taking notes and recording bits of information for easy retrieval later. I also use it for searching and parsing multiple large log files for troubleshooting.

GNU Emacs is a text editor that can do almost anything that you want to do with it. It is fairly easy to extend the functionality using Emacs Lisp with a large library available.
It can be easily customized using themes as well as custom code to change the look and feel as well as how everything works.

There is a bit of a learning curve for Emacs. In order to use it most efficiently, it takes a little time to learn the Emacs way, as well as learning the keyboard commands for everything. Many things can be done from the menu, but the keyboard is really most efficient.
Customizing and extending Emacs is done with Emacs Lisp. While very flexible, Lisp is a bit different programming language than many people are used to.

Emacs is free software, there is no cost at all.
It has helped tremendously in situations where many, or large, log files need to be searched.

Emacs isn't used universally at my place of work, though it's one of the better options for editors readily available to us. Certain teams use it depending on their needs, and some use others for theirs. There are no restrictions or requirements as to what editor we use. The business problem it solves is just having a good editor that can be counted on for large and small scale use.

Readily available: Emacs is available on almost all operating systems. You can use it for free, and even use it for remote editing. It has a nice desktop application that anyone can use, even the ordinary user.
Lightweight application: Although it hasn't always been, Emacs is now a very lightweight, efficient editor that isn't going to demand much CPU power. This can be crucial for large-scale applications.
Easy learning curve: for complex editors, Emacs is one of the easier to get a handle on. There's good documentation, and an easy layout that makes figuring out how it works much easier than others.

Initial startup time: not that it matters greatly, but Emacs can take a while on initial startup. But since it only happens once, it's not a huge deal.
Discovery of features: there are a lot of features to Emacs! But finding what all Emacs can do can take you some time. You'll still find new features on occasion even as a seasoned user.

Organization: Emacs makes it easy to keep our projects organized, which is always important. It helps you have cleaner, more efficient code.
Efficiency: Since Emacs is so customizable and programmable, we've found it helps increase our efficiency by utilizing macros or programmed features!
Productivity: Because of the high efficiency of using Emacs, our productivity has boosted. I'd expect to find the same after beginning use of Emacs elsewhere

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GNU Emacs

Overview

What is GNU Emacs?