Re: "is ada dead?" A challenge for all of us?

["Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net>]

Marin David Condic wrote:
> 
> I've got some version of EMACS here that I use on occasion when I'm on the
> Sun side of things. I don't know what inspires such loyalty. It looks
> basically like a thousand other editors I've seen except that it has more of
> a VI flavor to it. I don't see any wonderful, spiffy features jumping up at
> me that make me say "Hey! This is different!"
> 
> In fairness, I don't use it extensively and I've not studied whatever help
> is available for it in any detail. I also do not have an "Ada Mode" for it,
> so I don't know if this suddenly changes things dramatically. AFAIK, it
> doesn't do many of the things I regularly see with CodeWright or the MSVC++
> environment. It looks basically like an editor - and that's it. If all I am
> getting is an editor - I'd rather have TPU - maybe LSE (but I found it
> painful when it was trying to "help" me.) or TPU in EDT mode.
> 
> I suppose I'm asking to be told "RTFM" and "You're not doing it right!" but
> if all the gold lies burried that deep, I'd blame the tool for that - not
> me. If what it has is so spiffy, howcum it isn't immediately visible?

Yes, the gold is buried that deep, it isn't immediately visible, and
it's the tool's fault.

In other words, your perception is not without merit :-)

As you've heard, Emacs is magnificently full-featured, it's just a
matter of  getting over the learning curve and becoming comfortable with
a keyboard-oriented editing style.  (I hate having to go back and forth
from keyboard to mouse, so I generally detest GUI-oriented editors.)

One day at work a few years ago I resolved to become comfortable with
Emacs and commit to it as my primary editor.  After three or four weeks
(yes, _weeks_!) I had ceased to struggle with remembering command
sequences, and after another month I was fairly proficient and therefore
could gradually become more familiar with its myriad capabilities and
put them to use as needed.

But as Chris said, it's largely a matter of personal preference.

Marc