[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp
From: |
Przemek Klosowski |
Subject: |
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp |
Date: |
Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:37:07 -0400 (EDT) |
> Emacs is really not that difficult to learn to use. I recommend that
> you try starting Emacs and typing Ctrl-h t to run the tutorial.
> Although it may require some effort to learn, I think you will be
> rewarded many times over in the long run.
It seems to me that The-Best-Editor-in-the-World (TM) would only be able
to make me type faster (word-completion, auto-indenting, etc.). What I
need is a piece of software that makes me _think_ faster, because that's
the real bottleneck. I spend most of my time developing algorithms
(pen-and-paper work + trial-and-error stuff at the Octave prompt) -- the
actual implementations usually only takes a fraction of my time. So, I
never bothered learning Emacs, because I'm not that sure it's the right
part of routine to improve.
You are absolutely right about that: the best editor is one that feels
completely out of the way, one that doesn't disrupt your thinking.
Emacs is a good editor, but the principal reason I stick with it is
because I have it (or its equivalent) on all the platforms that I
use---and I have a guarantee that it will work everywhere I'll need to
be in the future.
My motion memory is wired for Emacs. I don't have to think how to type
commands--my fingers know what to do. I don't have to move my hands
to the mouse, although I do it occasionally e.g. for large selections.
It helps that I can configure my Gnome environment with Emacs keyboard
shortcuts, so that basic Emacs commands work in all GTK widgets.(*)
My first editor was the Borland Turbo IDE and it was OK until I lost
it because it was not available on VMS and Linux (yes I am an old fart).
After that experience, I learned to love Emacs and stopped worrying.
This reminds me of the old joke:
"What's worse than a bad general?"
"Two good generals."
Executive summary: doesn't matter what you chose: just pick something
that exists everywhere you need to be, and run with it.
This will be my only post about editor preferences.
p
(*) The flip side of this argument is that GTK by default uses the
standard 'Windows' set of keybindings shared by all Windows applications
(Ctrl-A selects all, Ctrl-C copies Ctrl-V pasts)---so why not stick
with those? Well, that set is much less complete than Emacs, so ceter
paribus I'd rather use Emacs'.
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, (continued)
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Kaisa S, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Søren Hauberg, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Tatsuro MATSUOKA, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Bill Denney, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, John W. Eaton, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Søren Hauberg, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp,
Przemek Klosowski <=
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Tatsuro MATSUOKA, 2008/03/31
- Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Quentin Spencer, 2008/03/31
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Francesco Potorti`, 2008/03/29
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso, 2008/03/29
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Ólafur Jens Sigurðsson, 2008/03/28
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, DigitalPig, 2008/03/28
Re: Octave workshop for Octave 3.0.0 on windows Xp, Jonathan Stickel, 2008/03/28