Learning path for Emacs beancount mode

[Chary Chary]

Dear all,

I made numerous attempts to start learning Emacs beancount mode, but never progressed it, since my knowledge of Emacs is also 0.

Question: can somebody advice learning path for absolute Emacs beginner to be able to use productively Emacs beancount mode? 

Regards.

[James Cook]

I don't know if I'm the best example, but I think I only really use 1-2 of beancount-mode's features: tab-completion of account names, and sometimes auto-alignment of postings (sometimes I don't bother to align).

So, if you just want to get where I am, follow any emacs tutorial (that's the hard part) and then learn that pressing tab completes account names.

Are there any features I'm missing that would speed things up?

(I also sometimes edit beancount files with other editors without beancount support and it's fine. Personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. But I'm happy to be contradicted if others on the list are able to use beancount-mode to be especially productive.)

James

[Martin Blais]

Set a modest goal: to replace your current editor, no extra new functionality.

1. Make a list of all the functions / special keystrokes you use in your current editor

2. Take some time to find the Emacs equivalents and make up a cheatsheet (on paper, next to your keyboard).

Get used to that for a while.

You might struggle to configure things a bit using elisp at first, but get over that hump, just enough to get be able to do the things you did in your previous environment from within Emacs.

Ok, so now you're a Emacs user, but probably not using any of its real power.

So from that point on... start picking up new features... one by one.

From the manual, from tips online, by introspection, etc.

Grow grow grow... over many years.

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[Oon-Ee Ng]

If you're coming from vim, the evil-mode really helps. spacemacs is one option for that (emacs has crazy customization possibilities, it can be easier to start from a fixed base).

This is diametrically opposed to starting from vanilla emacs, but for vim-familiar users its probably less jarring.

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[TRS-80]

> On 2020-10-22 11:07, Chary Chary wrote:
>
> Question: can somebody advice learning path for absolute Emacs
> beginner to be able to use productively Emacs beancount mode?
>

The built-in tutorial is actually very good (C-h t). In the
first few pages, it covers most of the things people new to Emacs
usually find "weird" (mainly, basic navigation, concept of
buffers, etc.).

But Emacs is an extremely powerful tool. And, like any such
tool, requires an investment in learning it. You can get up to
speed on the basics (navigation, where to find more help (C-h ?))
fairly quickly, but to really get the most out of it will require
a longer term investment of time and concentration.

Whether that is an investment you are willing or desire to make,
only you can know. I can tell you, that even though my desire
was great, it still took me a few attempts, over a period of a
couple years, to really get off the ground finally (but maybe you
are smarter than me?). :D

The payoff, is that Emacs is literally the editor of a lifetime.
Although it's more like an entire computing environment, than an
editor, really. Think of it as your own personal Lisp machine,
because that is essentially what it is. All the memes are true.
Because once you become familiar in that environment, you start
to want to do more and more in it. There are real advantages to
a consistent environment and keybindings, in a way that can be
hard to appreciate at first when coming from the usual
inconsistent, widely varying (and ever changing) tools.

Do you need/want all of that that? Only you can answer that for
yourself.

If you just want to do the most basic Beancount stuff, you can
use arrow keys and tab. And view the mode-specific help (C-h m)
which will give you an overview of the rest of the keybindings.
Doing the first bit of the tutorial will also pay large
dividends, quickly.

Beyond that, it's up to you. If you fall in love, eventually
later on you will probably want to do the (also built in) Emacs
Lisp tutorial, which will be the next big leap forward in your
grokking of Emacs. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Good luck!

TRS-80

[TRS-80]

> On 2020-10-22 22:25, Oon-Ee Ng wrote:
> If you're coming from vim, the evil-mode really helps. spacemacs is
> one option for that (emacs has crazy customization possibilities, it
> can be easier to start from a fixed base).
>
> This is diametrically opposed to starting from vanilla emacs, but for
> vim-familiar users its probably less jarring.
>

Evil-mode aside, there are two schools of thought here. There
are several "distributions" of Emacs, the idea of which is to
give you a more "batteries included" experience, right out of the
box. Of course, you are counting on the judgement of whoever is
making that "distribution" to have made the right decisions (much
less ones that will suit you, personally). Going by their
popularity, many people take such an approach. If you are in a
hurry, or just want to get up to speed / productive as quickly as
possible, maybe try this way.

In the interest of equal time, I will lay out the "opposing"
perspective. I was not coming from vim, nor any other editor, so
I chose to go the "vanilla Emacs" way (after doing quite a lot of
research).

In my view, the whole point of Emacs is to bend it to your will,
and extend it in ways that are suitable /to yourself/. Yes, this
takes more time and effort than the other way. However, if you
go about it the right way, you will end up with a much fuller
understanding of how Emacs actually works. Which (IMO) is much
more valuable in the end.

Another point, is that even "vanilla" Emacs is a quite
complicated beast. And adding additional layers of complication
on top of that makes diagnosing problems even more difficult (and
especially, for a newcomer).

Neither approach is right or wrong, and some people do various
attempts at each, before finally going one way or the other.
It's realy more a question of which approach works /for you/.

Good luck! Let us know how you get on...

TRS-80

[Chary Chary]

Thanks everybody for your advices. I will try to follow them