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Emacs configuration

#+latex_header:\usepackage[margin=1.0in]{geometry}

Introduction

Welcome to my Emacs configuration. You may be confused by the fact it's a readable document rather than some code; this file serves as both documentation and code. Here's an example of some Emacs Lisp code:

;;; config.el --- Compiled configuration from config.org  -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-

;; Copyright (C) 2024  Aryadev Chavali

;; Author: Aryadev Chavali <aryadev@aryadevchavali.com>

;; You may distribute and modify this code under the terms of the MIT
;; license.  You should have received a copy of the MIT license with
;; this file.  If not, please write to: aryadev@aryadevchavali.com.

;;; Commentary:
;; Welcome to my Emacs configuration.  This file is considered
;; volatile i.e. any edits made to this file will be overwritten if
;; and when the configuration is compiled again.

;; To propagate edits from this file to the literate document, call
;; (org-babel-detangle).
;;; Code:

This is an Emacs Lisp code block, something you will see a LOT of throughout. All the Emacs Lisp code blocks in this document are collected, concatenated together then fed into a file (config.el). This code file is then evaluated by Emacs at boot.

This style of coding is called literate programming. Donald Knuth really liked the idea. I mainly utilise this to explain my decisions for configuring or using certain packages: Emacs is an opinionated piece of software after all.

Sections tagged WAIT are not compiled and are, hence, unused. Usually I provide some reasoning as to why. A lot of code here is essentially write and forget; nothing needs to change unless I find a more efficient way to do things.

Some sections border on blog posts justifying why I think they're good applications or giving some greater reasoning about my specific configuration of a package. That can be distracting, so tangling this file (using (org-babel-tangle)) and looking at the source code may be more helpful.

Basics

Let's setup a few things:

  • My name and mail address
  • File encoding
  • Backup files (backup-directory-alist)
  • Refreshing buffers when a change occurs (auto-revert-mode)
  • Yes or no questions being less painful (y-or-n-p)
  • Make the clipboard work seamlessly with the clipboard
(use-package emacs
  :demand t
  :init
  (setq user-full-name "Aryadev Chavali"
        user-mail-address "aryadev@aryadevchavali.com"
        buffer-file-coding-system 'utf-8-unix
        save-buffer-coding-system 'utf-8-unix
        backup-directory-alist `(("." . ,(no-littering-expand-var-file-name "saves/")))
        global-auto-revert-non-file-buffers t
        auto-revert-verbose t
        auto-revert-use-notify nil
        select-enable-clipboard t)
  :config
  (fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p)
  (global-auto-revert-mode))

Custom functionality

This is custom Lisp I've written to help me out throughout the configuration. Note that because it's setup so early

Procedure

A lambda which takes no arguments is a procedure. This macro generates procedures, with the parameters of the macro being the body of the procedure. It returns it in quoted form, as that is the most common use of this macro.

(defmacro proc (&rest BODY)
  "For a given list of forms BODY, return a quoted 0 argument
lambda."
  `(quote (lambda nil ,@BODY)))

Automatically run a command on saving

Define a macro which creates hooks into the after-save-hook. On certain conditions being met, to-run is evaluated.

(use-package simple
  :defer t
  :config
  (defmacro +oreo/create-auto-save (conditions &rest to-run)
    "Create a hook for after saves, where on CONDITIONS being met
TO-RUN is evaluated."
    `(add-hook 'after-save-hook
               (proc
                (interactive)
                (when ,conditions ,@to-run)))))

System specificity

A macro that acts as a switch case on (system-name) so a user can write code for multiple hosts. For me this is for my desktop and laptop. Though there may be an easier solution than this, this seems simple enough.

Note the check for the symbol otherwise which acts as the default case.

(defmacro +oreo/sys-name-cond (&rest pairs)
  "Switch case on result of function `system-name'.

Each pair in PAIRS is typed as: (string . (forms...)) where the
string represents the system name to test, and forms being the
consequence if true. if string is the symbol OTHERWISE, then it
is considered the default case."
  `(cond ,@(mapcar
            #'(lambda (pair)
                (cl-destructuring-bind (name . body) pair
                  (if (eq name 'otherwise)
                      `(t ,@body)
                    `((string= (system-name) ,name) ,@body))))
            pairs)))

Setting number of native jobs

In early-init.el I set the number of native-workers to 4, which isn't necessarily optimal when loading/compiling the rest of this file depending on the machine I use:

  • On my laptop (newboy) I'd prefer to have it use 2-3 threads so I can actually use the rest of the laptop while waiting for compilation
  • On my desktop (oldboy) I'd prefer to use 4-6 threads as I can afford more, so I can get a faster load up.
(use-package comp
  :init
  (+oreo/sys-name-cond
   ("newboy"
    (setq native-comp-async-jobs-number 3))
   ("oldboy"
    (setq native-comp-async-jobs-number 6))))

Clean buffer list

Clean all buffers except for those in +oreo/keep-buffers.

(defconst +oreo/keep-buffers
  (list "config.org" "*scratch*"
        "*dashboard*" "*Messages*"
        "*Warnings*" "*eshell*")
  "List of buffer names to preserve.")

(defun +oreo/clean-buffers ()
  "Kill all buffers except any with names in +oreo/keep-buffers."
  (interactive)
  (let ((should-not-kill #'(lambda (buf) (member (buffer-name buf) +oreo/keep-buffers)))
        (buffers (buffer-list)))
    (mapcar #'kill-buffer (cl-remove-if should-not-kill buffers))))

Aesthetics

General look and feel of Emacs (mostly disabling stuff I don't like).

Themes

I have both a dark and light theme for differing situations.

Dark theme

My preferred dark theme is my own "personal-primary" theme which is stored in the Emacs lisp folder (look at this file). It tries to use the primary colours for everything, which makes it quite simple to look at.

I have an older version of this theme that uses a homogeneous colour scheme (this file)

(use-package custom
  :demand t
  :init
  (setq custom-theme-directory (concat user-emacs-directory "elisp/"))
  :config
  (load-theme 'personal-primary t))

Switching between light and dark

I'm not very good at designing light themes as I don't really use them. However they are necessary in high light situations where a dark mode would strain the eyes too much. So I built a custom theme on top of the default Emacs theme, "personal-light".

2024-06-11: I now use modus-operandi for my light theme.

I don't use it by default but I may need to switch between light and dark easily, so here's a command to switch between them.

(use-package custom
  :defer t
  :commands +oreo/switch-theme
  :init
  (defvar +oreo/theme 'dark)
  :config
  (defun +oreo/switch-theme ()
    (interactive)
    (cl-case +oreo/theme
      (dark
       (mapc #'disable-theme custom-enabled-themes)
       (load-theme 'modus-operandi t)
       (setq +oreo/theme 'light))
      (light
       (mapc #'disable-theme custom-enabled-themes)
       (load-theme 'personal-primary t)
       (setq +oreo/theme 'dark)))))

Font size

Make font size bigger on my laptop and smaller on my desktop.

(use-package faces
  :defer t
  :config
  (+oreo/sys-name-cond
   ("newboy" (set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 145))
   ("oldboy" (set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 135))))

Startup screen

The default startup screen is quite bad in all honesty. While for a first time user it can be very helpful in running the tutorial and finding out more about Emacs, for someone who's already configured it there isn't much point.

The scratch buffer is an interaction buffer, made when Emacs is first started, to quickly prototype Emacs Lisp code. When startup screen is disabled, this buffer is the first thing presented on boot for Emacs. So we can use it to store some useful information.

2024-06-04: I use to load org-mode here for the scratch buffer and it literally added 2 seconds of load time, so let's just use fundamental mode and call it a day.

(use-package emacs
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq inhibit-startup-screen t
        inhibit-startup-echo-area-message user-login-name
        initial-major-mode 'fundamental-mode
        initial-scratch-message ""
        ring-bell-function 'ignore)
  :config
  (add-hook
   'emacs-startup-hook
   (proc
    (with-current-buffer "*scratch*"
      (goto-char (point-max))
      (insert
       (format
        "Emacs v%s - %s\n"
        emacs-version (emacs-init-time)))))))

Blinking cursor

Turn on blinking cursor.

2021-03-15: Turn off blinking-cursor-mode as hl-line is better. 2024-06-04: Actually a blinking cursor helps to see if Emacs is hanging, which hl-line just can't do.

(use-package frame
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq blink-cursor-delay 0.2)
  :config
  (blink-cursor-mode))

Mode line

The mode line is the little bar at the bottom of the buffer, just above the minibuffer (where you do completions). It can store quite literally anything, but generally stuff like the buffer name, file type, column and line info, etc is put there.

The default mode-line is just… disgusting. It displays information in an unintelligible format and seems to smash together a bunch of information without much care for ordering. Most heartbreaking is that any mode can just insert new information onto the mode-line without any purview, which can be really annoying. It's also very overstimulating.

I've got a custom Emacs lisp package (here) which sets up the default mode line as a set of 3 segments: left, centre and right. It pads out the mode line to achieve this.

(use-package better-mode-line
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :demand t
  :init
  (setq +better-mode-line/left-segment   ;; LEFT SEGMENT
        '("%l:%c"                              ;; Line and column count
          "     "
          "%p"                                 ;; Percentage into buffer
          ("["                                 ;; Evil state
           (:eval
            (+better-mode-line/evil-state))
           "]"))
        +better-mode-line/centre-segment ;; CENTRE SEGMENT
        '("%+"                                 ;; Buffer state (changed or not)
          "%b"                                 ;; Buffer name
          ("("                                 ;; Major mode
           (:eval (format "%s" major-mode))
           ")")
          "    "
          "%I"                                 ;; Buffer size (in bytes)
          )
        +better-mode-line/right-segment  ;; RIGHT SEGMENT
        '((:eval (if (project-current)         ;; Name of current project (if any)
	                   (concat (project-name
                              (project-current))
                             vc-mode)          ;; ... with git branch
                   ""))
          (:eval                               ;; LSP information
           (with-eval-after-load "eglot"
             (if eglot--managed-mode
                 (concat "    " (eglot--mode-line-format)))))
          mode-line-misc-info                  ;; Any other information
          ))
  :config
  (+better-mode-line/setup-mode-line))

Fringes

Turning off borders in my window manager was a good idea, so turn off the borders for Emacs, so called fringes.

(use-package fringe
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :defer t
  :config
  (fringe-mode 0))

Mouse

Who uses a mouse? 🤮

This disables the use of GUI dialogues for stuff.

  (setq-default use-file-dialog nil
		use-dialog-box nil)

Scrolling

Emacs can automatically scroll the buffer depending on how many lines the cursor is away from the limits of the window. Here I set the margin to 8 (so it'll start correcting at 8) and scroll-conservatively to the same value so it'll keep the cursor centred.

(use-package emacs
  :init
  (setq scroll-conservatively 8
        scroll-margin 8))

Core packages

For my core packages, whose configuration doesn't change much anyway,

General

General provides a great solution for binding keys. It has evil and use-package support so it fits nicely into configuration. In this case, I define a "definer" for the "LEADER" keys. Leader is bound to SPC and it's functionally equivalent to the doom/spacemacs leader. Local leader is bound to SPC , and it's similar to doom/spacemacs leader but doesn't try to fully assimilate the local-leader map, instead just picking stuff I think is useful. This forces me to learn only as many bindings as I find necessary; no more, no less.

I also define prefix leaders for differing applications. These are quite self explanatory by their name and provide a nice way to visualise all bindings under a specific heading just by searching the code.

(use-package general
  :straight t
  :demand t
  :config
  ;; General which key definitions for leaders
  (general-def
    :states '(normal motion)
    "SPC"   'nil
    "\\"    '(nil :which-key "Local leader")
    "SPC a" '(nil :which-key "Applications")
    "SPC b" '(nil :which-key "Buffers")
    "SPC c" '(nil :which-key "Code")
    "SPC d" '(nil :which-key "Directories")
    "SPC f" '(nil :which-key "Files")
    "SPC i" '(nil :which-key "Insert")
    "SPC m" '(nil :which-key "Modes")
    "SPC r" '(nil :which-key "Tabs")
    "SPC s" '(nil :which-key "Search")
    "SPC t" '(nil :which-key "Shell")
    "SPC q" '(nil :which-key "Quit/Literate"))

  (general-create-definer leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC")

  (general-create-definer local-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :prefix "\\")

  (general-create-definer code-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC c")

  (general-create-definer file-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC f")

  (general-create-definer shell-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC t")

  (general-create-definer tab-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC r")

  (general-create-definer mode-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC m")

  (general-create-definer app-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC a")

  (general-create-definer search-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC s")

  (general-create-definer buffer-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC b")

  (general-create-definer quit-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC q")

  (general-create-definer insert-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC i")

  (general-create-definer dir-leader
    :states '(normal motion)
    :keymaps 'override
    :prefix "SPC d")

  (general-create-definer general-nmmap
    :states '(normal motion))

  (defalias 'nmmap #'general-nmmap)

  (general-evil-setup t))

Some binds for Emacs

Some bindings that I couldn't fit elsewhere easily.

(use-package emacs
  :after general
  :general
  ("C-x d" #'delete-frame)

  (nmmap
    "M-;" #'eval-expression
    "g="  #'align-regexp
    "C--" #'text-scale-decrease
    "C-=" #'text-scale-increase
    "C-+" #'text-scale-adjust)

  (leader
    "SPC" '(execute-extended-command :which-key "M-x")
    "p"   `(,project-prefix-map :which-key "Project")
    "'"   '(browse-url-emacs :which-key "Download URL to Emacs")
    ":"   `(,(proc (interactive) (switch-to-buffer "*scratch*"))
            :which-key "Switch to *scratch*")
    "!"   '(async-shell-command :which-key "Async shell command")
    "h"   '(help-command :which-key "Help"))

  (mode-leader
    "T" #'+oreo/switch-theme)

  (code-leader
    "F" `(,(proc (interactive) (find-file "~/Code/"))
          :which-key "Open ~/Code/"))

  (file-leader
    "f" #'find-file
    "F" #'find-file-other-window
    "t" #'find-file-other-tab
    "s" #'save-buffer)

  (buffer-leader
    "b" #'switch-to-buffer
    "d" #'kill-current-buffer
    "c" #'kill-buffer-and-window
    "K" #'kill-buffer
    "j" #'next-buffer
    "k" #'previous-buffer
    "D" '(+oreo/clean-buffers :which-key "Kill most buffers"))

  (quit-leader
    "q" #'save-buffers-kill-terminal
    "c" #'+literate/compile-config
    "C" #'+literate/clean-config
    "l" #'+literate/load-config)

  (search-leader "i" #'imenu))

Evil

My editor journey started off with Vim rather than Emacs, so my brain has imprinted on its style. Thankfully Emacs is super extensible so there exists a package (more of a supreme system) for porting Vim's modal editing style to Emacs, called Evil (Emacs Vi Layer).

However there are a lot of packages in Vim that provide greater functionality, for example 'vim-surround'. Emacs, by default, has these capabilities but there are further packages which integrate them into Evil.

Evil core

Setup the evil package, with some opinionated keybindings:

  • Switch evil-upcase and evil-downcase because I use evil-upcase more
  • Switch evil-goto-mark and evil-goto-mark-line as I'd rather have the global one closer to the home row
  • Use 'T' character as an action for "transposing objects"

    • Swapping any two textual "objects" is such a Vim thing (the verb object model) but by default it can't seem to do it. But Emacs can…
(use-package evil
  :demand t
  :straight t
  :general
  (leader
    "w"  '(evil-window-map :which-key "Window")
    "wT" #'window-swap-states
    "wd" #'evil-window-delete)

  (nmmap
    "K"   #'man
    "TAB" #'evil-jump-item
    "r"   #'evil-replace-state
    "zC"  #'hs-hide-level
    "zO"  #'hs-show-all
    "'"   #'evil-goto-mark
    "`"   #'evil-goto-mark-line)

  (general-def
    :keymaps 'override
    :states '(normal motion visual)
    "gu"  #'evil-upcase
    "gU"  #'evil-downcase
    "M-y" #'yank-pop
    "T"   nil)

  (general-def
    :keymaps 'override
    :states '(normal motion visual)
    :infix "T"
    "w" #'transpose-words
    "c" #'transpose-chars
    "s" #'transpose-sentences
    "p" #'transpose-paragraphs
    "e" #'transpose-sexps
    "l" #'transpose-lines)
  :init
  (setq evil-want-keybinding nil
        evil-split-window-below t
        evil-vsplit-window-right t
        evil-want-abbrev-expand-on-insert-exit t
        evil-undo-system #'undo-tree)
  :config
  (evil-mode))

Evil surround

Evil surround is a port for vim-surround.

(use-package evil-surround
  :after evil
  :straight t
  :config
  (global-evil-surround-mode))

Evil commentary

Allows generalised commenting of objects easily.

(use-package evil-commentary
  :after evil
  :straight t
  :config
  (evil-commentary-mode))

Evil multi cursor

Setup for multi cursors in Evil mode. Don't let evil-mc setup it's own keymap because it uses 'gr' as its prefix, which I don't like.

(use-package evil-mc
  :after evil
  :straight t
  :init
  (defvar evil-mc-key-map (make-sparse-keymap))
  :general
  (nmap
    :infix "gz"
    "q" #'evil-mc-undo-all-cursors
    "d" #'evil-mc-make-and-goto-next-match
    "j" #'evil-mc-make-cursor-move-next-line
    "k" #'evil-mc-make-cursor-move-prev-line
    "j" #'evil-mc-make-cursor-move-next-line
    "m" #'evil-mc-make-all-cursors
    "z" #'evil-mc-make-cursor-here
    "r" #'evil-mc-resume-cursors
    "s" #'evil-mc-pause-cursors
    "u" #'evil-mc-undo-last-added-cursor)
  :config
  (global-evil-mc-mode))
  ;; (evil-mc-define-vars)
  ;; (evil-mc-initialize-vars)
  ;; (add-hook 'evil-mc-before-cursors-created #'evil-mc-pause-incompatible-modes)
  ;; (add-hook 'evil-mc-before-cursors-created #'evil-mc-initialize-active-state)
  ;; (add-hook 'evil-mc-after-cursors-deleted  #'evil-mc-teardown-active-state)
  ;; (add-hook 'evil-mc-after-cursors-deleted  #'evil-mc-resume-incompatible-modes)
  ;; (advice-add #'evil-mc-initialize-hooks :override #'ignore)
  ;; (advice-add #'evil-mc-teardown-hooks :override #'evil-mc-initialize-vars)
  ;; (advice-add #'evil-mc-initialize-active-state :before #'turn-on-evil-mc-mode)
  ;; (advice-add #'evil-mc-teardown-active-state :after #'turn-off-evil-mc-mode)
  ;; (add-hook 'evil-insert-state-entry-hook #'evil-mc-resume-cursors)

Evil collection

Provides a community based set of keybindings for most modes in Emacs. I don't necessarily like all my modes having these bindings though, as I may disagree with some. So I use it in a mode to mode basis.

(use-package evil-collection
  :straight t
  :after evil)

Evil number

Increment/decrement a number at point like Vim does, but use bindings that don't conflict with Emacs default.

(use-package evil-numbers
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    "+" #'evil-numbers/inc-at-pt
    "-" #'evil-numbers/dec-at-pt))

Completion

Emacs is a text based interface. Completion is its bread and butter in providing good user experience. By default Emacs provides 'completions-list' which produces a buffer of options which can be searched and selected. We can take this further though!

Ido and IComplete are packages distributed with Emacs to provide greater completion interfaces. They utilise the minibuffer to create a more interactive experience, allowing incremental searches and option selection.

Ivy and Helm provide more modern interfaces, though Helm is quite heavy. Ivy, on the other hand, provides an interface similar to Ido with less clutter and better customisation options.

Ivy

Ivy is a completion framework for Emacs, and my preferred one. It has a great set of features with little to no pain with setting up.

Ivy Core

Setup for ivy, in preparation for counsel. Turn on ivy-mode just after init.

Setup vim-like bindings for the minibuffer ("M-(j|k)" for down|up the selection list).

(use-package ivy
  :demand t
  :straight t
  :general
  (general-def
    :keymaps 'ivy-minibuffer-map
    "C-j"    #'ivy-yank-symbol
    "M-j"    #'ivy-next-line-or-history
    "M-k"    #'ivy-previous-line-or-history
    "C-SPC"  #'ivy-occur)
  (general-def
    :keymaps  'ivy-switch-buffer-map
    "M-j"     #'ivy-next-line-or-history
    "M-k"     #'ivy-previous-line-or-history)
  (nmap
    :keymaps '(ivy-occur-mode-map ivy-occur-grep-mode-map)
    "RET"    #'ivy-occur-press-and-switch
    "J"      #'ivy-occur-press
    "gr"     #'ivy-occur-revert-buffer
    "q"      #'quit-window
    "D"      #'ivy-occur-delete-candidate
    "W"      #'ivy-wgrep-change-to-wgrep-mode
    "{"      #'compilation-previous-file
    "}"      #'compilation-next-file)
  :init
  (with-eval-after-load "evil"
    (evil-set-initial-state 'ivy-occur-mode 'normal)
    (evil-set-initial-state 'ivy-occur-grep-mode 'normal))
  (setq ivy-height 8
        ivy-height-alist nil
        ivy-wrap t
        ivy-fixed-height-minibuffer t
        ivy-use-virtual-buffers nil
        ivy-virtual-abbreviate 'full
        ivy-on-del-error-function #'ignore
        ivy-use-selectable-prompt t)
  :config
  (ivy-mode 1)
  (require 'counsel nil t))
Counsel

Setup for counsel. Load after ivy and helpful.

(use-package counsel
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (search-leader
    "s" #'counsel-grep-or-swiper
    "R" #'counsel-rg)
  (file-leader
    "r" #'counsel-recentf)
  (insert-leader
    "c" #'counsel-unicode-char)
  (general-def
    [remap describe-bindings]        #'counsel-descbinds
    [remap load-theme]               #'counsel-load-theme)
  :config
  (setq ivy-initial-inputs-alist '((org-insert-link . "^"))
        counsel-describe-function-function #'helpful-callable
        counsel-describe-variable-function #'helpful-variable
        counsel-grep-swiper-limit 1500000
        ivy-re-builders-alist '((swiper . ivy--regex-plus)
                                (counsel-grep-or-swiper . ivy--regex-plus)
                                (counsel-rg . ivy--regex-plus)
                                (t . ivy--regex-ignore-order)))
  (counsel-mode 1))

Amx

Amx is a fork of Smex that works to enhance the execute-extended-command interface. It also provides support for ido or ivy (though I'm likely to use ido here) and allows you to switch between them.

It provides a lot of niceties such as presenting the key bind when looking for a command.

(use-package amx
  :straight t
  :defer 2
  :init
  (setq amx-backend 'ivy)
  :config
  (amx-mode))

Orderless

Orderless sorting method for completion, probably one of the best things ever.

(use-package orderless
  :straight t
  :after (ivy ido)
  :config
  (setf (alist-get t ivy-re-builders-alist) 'orderless-ivy-re-builder))

Completions-list

In case I ever use the completions list, some basic commands to look around.

(use-package simple
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'completion-list-mode-map
    "l"   #'next-completion
    "h"   #'previous-completion
    "ESC" #'delete-completion-window
    "q"   #'quit-window
    "RET" #'choose-completion)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil"
    (evil-set-initial-state 'completions-list-mode 'normal)))

Company

Company is the auto complete system I use. I don't like having heavy setups for company as it only makes it slower to use. In this case, just setup some evil binds for company.

(use-package company
  :defer t
  :straight t
  :hook
  (prog-mode-hook   . company-mode)
  (eshell-mode-hook . company-mode)
  :general
  (imap
    "C-SPC" #'company-complete
    "C-@" #'company-complete
    "M-j" #'company-select-next
    "M-k" #'company-select-previous))

Pretty symbols

Prettify symbols mode allows for users to declare 'symbols' that replace text within certain modes. Though this may seem like useless eye candy, it has aided my comprehension and speed of recognition (recognising symbols is easier than words).

Essentially a use-package keyword which makes declaring pretty symbols for language modes incredibly easy. Checkout my C/C++ configuration for an example.

(use-package prog-mode
  :demand t
  :init
  (setq prettify-symbols-unprettify-at-point t)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "use-package-core"
    (add-to-list 'use-package-keywords ':pretty)
    (defun use-package-normalize/:pretty (_name-symbol _keyword args)
      args)

    (defun use-package-handler/:pretty (name _keyword args rest state)
      (use-package-concat
       (use-package-process-keywords name rest state)
       (mapcar
        #'(lambda (arg)
            (let ((mode (car arg))
                  (rest (cdr arg)))
              `(add-hook
                ',mode
                #'(lambda nil
                    (setq prettify-symbols-alist ',rest)
                    (prettify-symbols-mode)))))
        args)))))

Here's a collection of keywords and possible associated symbols for any prog language of choice. Mostly for reference and copying.

("null"   . "Ø")
("list"   . "")
("string" . "𝕊")
("true"   . "")
("false"  . "⊥")
("char"   . "")
("int"    . "")
("float"  . "")
("!"      . "¬")
("&&"     . "∧")
("||"      . "")
("for"    . "∀")
("return" . "⟼")
("print"  . "")
("lambda" . "λ")

Window management

Emacs' default window management is quite bad, eating other windows on a whim and not particularly caring for the current window setup. Thankfully you can change this via the display-buffer-alist which matches buffer names with how the window for the buffer should be displayed. I add a use-package keyword to make display-buffer-alist records within a use-package call.

I have no idea whether it's optimal AT ALL, but it works for me.

2024-04-23: Found this option switch-to-buffer-obey-display-actions which makes manual buffer switches obey the same constraints via display-buffer-alist as creating the buffer automatically.

(use-package window
  :demand t
  :general
  :init
  (setq switch-to-buffer-obey-display-actions t)
  (with-eval-after-load "use-package-core"
    (add-to-list 'use-package-keywords ':display)
    (defun use-package-normalize/:display (_name-symbol _keyword args)
      args)

    (defun use-package-handler/:display (name _keyword args rest state)
      (use-package-concat
       (use-package-process-keywords name rest state)
       (mapcar
        #'(lambda (arg)
            `(add-to-list 'display-buffer-alist
                          ',arg))
        args)))))

Some display records

Using the :display keyword, setup up some display-buffer-alist records. This is mostly for packages that aren't really configured (like woman) or packages that were configured before (like Ivy).

(use-package window
  :defer t
  :display
  ("\\*Process List\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))

  ("\\*\\(Ido \\)?Completions\\*"
   (display-buffer-in-side-window)
   (window-height . 0.25)
   (side . bottom))

  ("\\*ivy-occur.*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))

  ("\\*Async Shell Command\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25)))

Tabs

Tabs in vscode are just like buffers in Emacs but way slower and harder to use. Tabs in Emacs are essentially window layouts, similar to instances in Tmux. With this setup I can use tabs quite effectively.

(use-package tab-bar
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq tab-bar-show 1)
  :config
  (tab-bar-mode)
  :general
  (tab-leader
    "R" #'tab-rename
    "c" #'tab-close
    "d" #'tab-close
    "f" #'tab-detach
    "h" #'tab-move-to
    "j" #'tab-next
    "k" #'tab-previous
    "l" #'tab-move
    "n" #'tab-new
    "r" #'tab-switch
    "w" #'tab-window-detach)
  (mode-leader
    "t" #'toggle-tab-bar-mode-from-frame))

Auto typing

Snippets are a pretty nice way of automatically inserting code. Emacs provides a ton of packages by default to do this, but there are great packages to install as well.

Abbrevs and skeletons make up a popular solution within Emacs default. Abbrevs are for simple expressions wherein the only input is the key, and the output is some Elisp function. They provide a lot of inbuilt functionality and are quite useful. Skeletons, on the other hand, are for higher level insertions

The popular external solution is Yasnippet. Yasnippet is a great package for snippets, which I use heavily in programming and org-mode. I setup here the global mode for yasnippet and a collection of snippets for ease of use.

Abbrevs

Just define a few abbrevs for various date-time operations. Also define a macro that will assume a function for the expansion, helping with abstracting a few things away.

(use-package abbrev
  :defer t
  :hook
  (prog-mode-hook . abbrev-mode)
  (text-mode-hook . abbrev-mode)
  :init
  (defmacro +abbrev/define-abbrevs (abbrev-table &rest abbrevs)
    `(progn
       ,@(mapcar #'(lambda (abbrev)
                `(define-abbrev
                   ,abbrev-table
                   ,(car abbrev)
                   ""
                   (proc (insert ,(cadr abbrev)))))
            abbrevs)))
  (setq save-abbrevs nil)
  :config
  (+abbrev/define-abbrevs
   global-abbrev-table
   ("sdate"
    (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d" (current-time)))
   ("stime"
    (format-time-string "%H:%M:%S" (current-time)))
   ("sday"
    (format-time-string "%A" (current-time)))
   ("smon"
    (format-time-string "%B" (current-time)))))

Auto insert

Allows inserting text immediately upon creating a new buffer with a given name. Supports skeletons for inserting text. To make it easier for later systems to define their own auto inserts, I define a use-package keyword auto-insert which allows one to define an entry for auto-insert-alist.

(use-package autoinsert
  :demand t
  :hook (emacs-startup-hook . auto-insert-mode)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "use-package-core"
    (add-to-list 'use-package-keywords ':auto-insert)
    (defun use-package-normalize/:auto-insert (_name-symbol _keyword args)
      args)
    (defun use-package-handler/:auto-insert (name _keyword args rest state)
      (use-package-concat
       (use-package-process-keywords name rest state)
       (mapcar
        #'(lambda (arg)
            `(add-to-list
              'auto-insert-alist
              ',arg))
        args)))))

Yasnippet

Look at the snippets folder for all snippets I've got.

(use-package yasnippet
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook
  (prog-mode-hook . yas-minor-mode)
  (text-mode-hook . yas-minor-mode)
  :general
  (insert-leader
    "i" #'yas-insert-snippet)
  :config
  (yas-load-directory (no-littering-expand-etc-file-name "yasnippet/snippets")))

Hydra

Hydra is a great package by abo-abo (yes the same guy who made ivy and swiper) and I hope to use it later on in the config. There are two use-package declarations here: one for hydra itself, and the other for use-package-hydra which provides the keyword :hydra in use-package declarations.

(use-package hydra
  :straight t)

(use-package use-package-hydra
  :straight t)

(use-package hydra
  :hydra
  (hydra-window-resize
   nil "Resize the current window effectively"
   (">" #'evil-window-increase-width)
   ("<" #'evil-window-decrease-width)
   ("-" #'evil-window-decrease-height)
   ("+" #'evil-window-increase-height)
   ("=" #'balance-windows))
  :general
  (leader
    "wr" #'hydra-window-resize/body))

Small packages

Info

Info is GNU's attempt at better man pages. Most Emacs packages have info pages so I'd like nice navigation options.

(use-package info
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'Info-mode-map
    "h" #'evil-backward-char
    "k" #'evil-previous-line
    "l" #'evil-forward-char
    "H" #'Info-history-back
    "L" #'Info-history-forward
    "RET" #'Info-follow-nearest-node))

Display line numbers

I don't really like line numbers, I find them similar to fringes (useless space), but at least it provides some information. Sometimes it can help with doing repeated commands so a toggle option is necessary.

(use-package display-line-numbers
  :defer t
  :commands display-line-numbers-mode
  :general
  (mode-leader
    "l" #'display-line-numbers-mode)
  :init
  (setq-default display-line-numbers-type 'relative))

WAIT esup

I used to be able to just use profile-dotemacs.el, when my Emacs config was smaller, but now it tells me very little information about where my setup is inefficient due to the literate config. Just found this esup thing and it works perfectly, exactly how I would prefer getting this kind of information. It runs an external Emacs instance and collects information from it, so it doesn't require restarting Emacs to profile, and I can compile my configuration in my current instance to test it immediately.

2023-10-16: Unless I'm doing some optimisations or tests, I don't really need this in my config at all times. Enable when needed.

(use-package esup
  :straight t
  :defer t)

Hl-line

Highlights the current line.

(use-package hl-line
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook (text-mode-hook . hl-line-mode)
  :hook (prog-mode-hook . hl-line-mode))

Recentf

Recentf provides a method of keeping track of recently opened files.

(use-package recentf
  :defer t
  :hook (emacs-startup-hook . recentf-mode))

Avy

Setup avy with leader. As I use avy-goto-char-timer a lot, use the C-s bind which replaces isearch. Switch isearch to M-s in case I need to use it.

(use-package avy
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'override
    "C-s" #'avy-goto-char-timer
    "M-s" #'isearch-forward
    "gp"  #'avy-copy-region
    "gP"  #'avy-move-region
    "gl"  #'avy-goto-line
    "gw"  #'avy-goto-word-1))

Ace window

Though evil provides a great many features in terms of window management, ace window can provide some nicer chords for higher management of windows (closing, switching, etc).

(use-package ace-window
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :custom
  (aw-keys '(?a ?s ?d ?f ?g ?h ?j ?k ?l))
  :general
  (nmmap
    [remap evil-window-next] #'ace-window))

Ace link

Avy-style link following!

(use-package ace-link
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'override
    "gL" #'ace-link))

Helpful

Helpful provides a modernised interface for some common help commands. I replace describe-function, describe-variable and describe-key by their helpful counterparts.

(use-package helpful
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :commands (helpful-callable helpful-variable)
  :general
  (general-def
    [remap describe-function] #'helpful-callable
    [remap describe-variable] #'helpful-variable
    [remap describe-key]      #'helpful-key)
  :display
  ("\\*helpful.*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (inhibit-duplicate-buffer . t)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :config
  (evil-define-key 'normal helpful-mode-map "q" #'quit-window))

Which-key

Which key uses the minibuffer when performing a keybind to provide possible options for the next key.

(use-package which-key
  :straight t
  :after general
  :config
  (which-key-mode))

(Rip)grep

Grep is a great piece of software, a necessary tool in any Linux user's inventory. By default Emacs has a family of functions to use grep, presenting results in a compilation style. grep searches files, rgrep searches in a directory using the find program and zgrep searches archives. This is a great solution for a general computer environment; essentially all Linux installs will have grep and find installed.

Ripgrep is a Rust program that attempts to perform better than grep, and it actually does. This is because of a set of optimisations, such as checking the .gitignore to exclude certain files from being searched. The ripgrep package provides utilities to ripgrep projects and files for strings. Though ivy comes with counsel-rg, it uses Ivy's completion framework rather than the compilation style buffers, which sometimes proves very useful.

Of course, this requires installing the rg binary which is available in most repositories nowadays.

Grep

I have no use for standard 'grep'; counsel-swiper does the same thing faster and within Emacs lisp. rgrep is useful though.

(use-package grep
  :defer t
  :display
  ("^\\*grep.*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom display-buffer-reuse-window)
   (window-height . 0.35)
   (reusable-frames . t))
  :general
  (search-leader
    "d" #'rgrep)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'grep-mode-map
    "0" #'evil-beginning-of-line
    "q" #'quit-window
    "i" #'wgrep-change-to-wgrep-mode
    "c" #'recompile)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'wgrep-mode-map
    "q"  #'evil-record-macro
    "ZZ" #'wgrep-finish-edit
    "ZQ" #'wgrep-abort-changes)
  :config
  ;; Without this wgrep doesn't work properly
  (evil-set-initial-state 'grep-mode 'normal))

rg

(use-package rg
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :display
  ("^\\*\\*ripgrep\\*\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom display-buffer-reuse-window)
   (window-height . 0.35)
   (reusable-frames . t))
  :general
  (search-leader
    "r" #'rg)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'rg-mode-map
    "c"  #'rg-recompile
    "C"  #'rg-rerun-toggle-case
    "]]" #'rg-next-file
    "[[" #'rg-prev-file
    "q"  #'quit-window
    "i"  #'wgrep-change-to-wgrep-mode)
  :init
  (setq rg-group-result t
        rg-hide-command t
        rg-show-columns nil
        rg-show-header t
        rg-custom-type-aliases nil
        rg-default-alias-fallback "all"
        rg-buffer-name "*ripgrep*")
  :config
  (evil-set-initial-state 'rg-mode 'normal))

Olivetti

Olivetti provides a focus mode for Emacs, which makes it look a bit nicer. It uses margins by default and centres using fill-column. I actually really like olivetti mode particularly with my [[*Mode line][centred mode-line]], so I also define a global minor mode which enables it in all but the minibuffer.

(use-package olivetti
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (mode-leader
    "o" #'olivetti-global-mode)
  :init
  (setq-default olivetti-body-width nil)
  (setq-default olivetti-minimum-body-width 100)
  (setq olivetti-style nil)
  :config
  (define-globalized-minor-mode olivetti-global-mode olivetti-mode
    (lambda nil (unless (minibufferp)
           (olivetti-mode 1)))))

All the Icons

Nice set of icons with a great user interface to manage them.

(use-package all-the-icons
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :commands (all-the-icons-insert)
  :general
  (insert-leader
    "e" #'all-the-icons-insert))

Hide mode line

Custom minor mode to toggle the mode line. Check it out at elisp/hide-mode-line.el.

(use-package hide-mode-line
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :defer t
  :general
  (mode-leader
    "m" #'hide-mode-line-mode))

Save place

Saves current place in a buffer permanently, so on revisiting the file (even in a different Emacs instance) you go back to the place you were at last.

(use-package saveplace
  :defer t
  :config
  (save-place-mode))

Licensing

Loads license.el for inserting licenses. Licenses are important for distribution and attribution to be defined clearly.

(use-package license
  :demand t
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :general
  (insert-leader
    "l" #'+license/insert-copyright-notice
    "L" #'+license/insert-complete-license))

Memory-report

New feature of Emacs-29, gives a rough report of memory usage with some details. Useful to know on a long Emacs instance what could be eating up memory.

(use-package memory-report
  :defer t
  :general
  (leader
    "qm" #'memory-report))

Save minibuffer history

(use-package savehist
  :defer t
  :config
  (savehist-mode t))

Drag Stuff

(use-package drag-stuff
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    "C-M-h" #'drag-stuff-left
    "C-M-j" #'drag-stuff-down
    "C-M-k" #'drag-stuff-up
    "C-M-l" #'drag-stuff-right))

Searching git directories efficiently

Using search.el I can search a set of directories particularly efficiently.

(use-package search
  :defer t
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :general
  (file-leader
    "p" #'+search/find-file
    "S" #'+search/search-all))

Separedit

Edit anything anywhere all at once!

(use-package separedit
  :defer t
  :straight t
  :general
  (leader "e" #'separedit)
  :init
  (setq separedit-default-mode 'org-mode
        separedit-remove-trailing-spaces-in-comment t))

lorem ipsum

Sometimes you need placeholder text for some UI or document. Pretty easy to guess what text I'd use.

(use-package lorem-ipsum
  :straight t
  :general
  (insert-leader
    "p" #'lorem-ipsum-insert-paragraphs))

Applications

Emacs is basically an operating system whose primary datatype is text. Applications are interfaces/environments which serve a variety of purposes, but provide a lot of capability.

EWW

Emacs Web Wowser is the inbuilt text based web browser for Emacs. It can render images and basic CSS styles but doesn't have a JavaScript engine, which makes sense as it's primarily a text interface.

(use-package eww
  :defer t
  :general
  (app-leader
    "w" #'eww)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'eww-mode-map
    "w" #'evil-forward-word-begin
    "Y" #'eww-copy-page-url)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-eww-setup)))

Calendar

Calendar is a simple inbuilt application that helps with date functionalities. I add functionality to copy dates from the calendar to the kill ring and bind it to "Y".

(use-package calendar
  :defer t
  :commands (+calendar/copy-date +calendar/toggle-calendar)
  :display
  ("\\*Calendar\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (inhibit-duplicate-buffer . t)
   (window-height . 0.17))
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'calendar-mode-map
    "Y" #'+calendar/copy-date)
  (app-leader
    "d" #'calendar)
  :config
  (defun +calendar/copy-date ()
    "Copy date under cursor into kill ring."
    (interactive)
    (if (use-region-p)
        (call-interactively #'kill-ring-save)
      (let ((date (calendar-cursor-to-date)))
        (when date
          (setq date (encode-time 0 0 0 (nth 1 date) (nth 0 date) (nth 2 date)))
          (kill-new (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d" date)))))))

Mail

Mail is a funny thing; most people use it just for business or advertising and it's come out of use in terms of personal communication in the west for the most part (largely due to "social" media applications). However, this isn't true for the open source and free software movement who heavily use mail for communication.

Integrating mail into Emacs helps as I can send source code and integrate it into my workflow just a bit better.

Notmuch

(use-package notmuch
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :commands (notmuch +mail/flag-thread)
  :general
  (app-leader "m" #'notmuch)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'notmuch-search-mode-map
    "f" #'+mail/flag-thread)
  :init
  (defconst +mail/local-dir (no-littering-expand-var-file-name "mail/"))
  (setq notmuch-show-logo nil
        notmuch-search-oldest-first nil
        notmuch-hello-sections '(notmuch-hello-insert-saved-searches
                                 notmuch-hello-insert-alltags
                                 notmuch-hello-insert-recent-searches)
        notmuch-archive-tags '("-inbox" "-unread" "+archive")
        message-auto-save-directory +mail/local-dir
        message-directory +mail/local-dir)
  :config
  (defun +mail/flag-thread (&optional unflag beg end)
    (interactive (cons current-prefix-arg (notmuch-interactive-region)))
    (notmuch-search-tag
     (notmuch-tag-change-list '("-inbox" "+flagged") unflag) beg end)
    (when (eq beg end)
      (notmuch-search-next-thread)))
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-notmuch-setup)))

Smtpmail

(use-package smtpmail
  :defer t
  :commands mail-send
  :init
  (setq-default
   smtpmail-smtp-server "mail.aryadevchavali.com"
   smtpmail-smtp-user "aryadev"
   smtpmail-smtp-service 587
   smtpmail-stream-type 'starttls
   send-mail-function #'smtpmail-send-it
   message-send-mail-function #'smtpmail-send-it))

Mail signature using fortune

(use-package fortune
  :init
  (setq fortune-dir "/usr/share/fortune"
        fortune-file "/usr/share/fortune/cookie")
  :config
  (defvar +mail/signature "---------------\nAryadev Chavali\n---------------\n%s")
  (defun +mail/make-signature ()
    (interactive)
    (format +mail/signature
            (with-temp-buffer
              (let ((fortune-buffer-name (current-buffer)))
                (fortune-in-buffer t)
                (if (bolp) (delete-char -1))
                (buffer-string)))))
  (add-hook 'message-setup-hook
            (lambda nil (setq message-signature (+mail/make-signature)))))

Dired

Dired: Directory editor for Emacs. An incredibly nifty piece of software which deeply integrates with Emacs as a whole. Probably the best file manager overall and for large scale file system tasks I can't think of a better tool than this.

Here I setup dired with a few niceties

  • Hide details by default (no extra stuff from ls)
  • Omit dot files by default (using dired-omit-mode)
  • If I have two dired windows open, moving or copying files in one dired instance will automatically target the other dired window (dired-dwim)
  • If opening an application on a PDF file, suggest zathura
  • Examine all the subdirectories within the same buffer (+dired/insert-all-subdirectories)
(use-package dired
  :demand t
  :commands (dired find-dired)
  :hook
  (dired-mode-hook . auto-revert-mode)
  (dired-mode-hook . dired-hide-details-mode)
  (dired-mode-hook . dired-omit-mode)
  :init
  (setq-default dired-listing-switches "-AFBlu --group-directories-first"
                dired-omit-files "^\\." ; dotfiles
                dired-omit-verbose nil
                dired-dwim-target t
                dired-kill-when-opening-new-dired-buffer t)
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-dired-setup))
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'dired-mode-map
    "SPC"   nil
    "SPC ," nil
    "("     #'dired-hide-details-mode
    ")"     #'dired-omit-mode
    "T"     #'dired-create-empty-file
    "H"     #'dired-up-directory
    "L"     #'dired-find-file)
  (dir-leader
    "f" #'find-dired
    "d" #'dired
    "D" #'dired-other-window
    "i" #'image-dired
    "p" `(,(proc (interactive)
                 (dired "~/Text/PDFs/"))
          :which-key "Open PDFs"))
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'dired-mode-map
    "i" #'dired-maybe-insert-subdir
    "I" #'+dired/insert-all-subdirectories
    "o" #'dired-omit-mode
    "k" #'dired-prev-subdir
    "j" #'dired-next-subdir
    "K" #'dired-kill-subdir
    "m" #'dired-mark-files-regexp
    "u" #'dired-undo)
  :config
  (add-to-list 'dired-guess-shell-alist-user '("\\.pdf\\'" "zathura"))
  (defun +dired/insert-all-subdirectories ()
    "Insert all subdirectories currently viewable."
    (interactive)
    (dired-mark-directories nil)
    (mapc #'dired-insert-subdir (dired-get-marked-files))
    (dired-unmark-all-marks)))

image-dired

Image dired is a little cherry on top for Dired: the ability to look through swathes of images in a centralised fashion while still being able to do all the usual dired stuff as well is really cool.

(use-package dired
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq image-dired-external-viewer "nsxiv")
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'image-dired-thumbnail-mode-map
    "h"   #'image-dired-backward-image
    "l"   #'image-dired-forward-image
    "j"   #'image-dired-next-line
    "k"   #'image-dired-previous-line
    "H"   #'image-dired-display-previous
    "L"   #'image-dired-display-next
    "RET" #'image-dired-display-this
    "m"   #'image-dired-mark-thumb-original-file
    "q"   #'quit-window))

fd-dired

Uses fd for finding file results in a directory: find-dired -> fd-dired.

(use-package fd-dired
  :straight t
  :after dired
  :general
  (dir-leader
    "g" #'fd-dired))

wdired

Similar to wgrep wdired provides the ability to use Emacs motions and editing on file names. This makes stuff like mass renaming and other file management tasks way easier than even using the mark based system.

(use-package wdired
  :straight t
  :after dired
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'dired-mode-map
    "W" #'wdired-change-to-wdired-mode)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'wdired-mode-map
    "ZZ" #'wdired-finish-edit
    "ZQ" #'wdired-abort-changes))

Eshell

Why Eshell?

Eshell is an integrated shell environment for Emacs, written in Emacs Lisp. I argue henceforth that it is the best shell/command interpreter to use in Emacs.

Eshell is unlike the other alternatives in Emacs as it's a shell first, not a terminal emulator, with the ability to spoof some aspects of a terminal emulator (through the shell parser).

The killer benefits of eshell (which would appeal particularly to an Emacs user) are a direct result of eshell being written in Emacs Lisp:

  • incredible integration with Emacs utilities (such as dired, find-file, any read functions, etc)
  • very extensible, easy to write new commands which leverage Emacs commands as well as external utilities
  • agnostic of platform: "eshell/cd" will call the underlying change directory function for you, so commands will (usually) mean the same thing regardless of platform

    • this means as long as Emacs can run on an operating system, one may run eshell

However, my favourite feature of eshell is the set of evaluators that run on command input. Some of the benefits listed above come as a result of this powerful feature. These evaluators are described below.

Lisp evaluator: works on braced expressions, evaluating them as Lisp expressions (e.g. (message "Hello, World!\n")). Any returned objects are printed. This makes eshell a LISP REPL!

External evaluator: works within curly braces, evaluating them via some external shell process (like sh) (e.g. {echo "Hello, world!\n"}). This makes eshell a (kinda dumb) terminal emulator!

The alias evaluator is the top level evaluator. It is the main evaluator for each expression given to eshell. When given an expression it tries to evaluate it by testing against these conditions:

  • it's an alias defined by the user or in the eshell/ namespace of functions (simplest evaluator)
  • it's some form of lisp expression (lisp evaluator)
  • it's an external command (bash evaluator)

Essentially, you get the best of both Emacs and external shell programs ALL WITHIN Emacs for free.

Eshell keymaps, display and variables

Bind some evil-like movements for easy shell usage, a display record so when you call eshell it kinda looks like VSCode's terminal popup.

NOTE: This mode doesn't allow you to set maps the normal way; you need to set keybindings on eshell-mode-hook, otherwise it'll just overwrite them.

(use-package eshell
  :defer t
  :display
  ("\\*.*eshell\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.33))
  :init
  (setq eshell-cmpl-ignore-case t
        eshell-cd-on-directory t
        eshell-highlight-prompt nil)
  (add-hook
   'eshell-mode-hook
   (proc
    (interactive)
    (nmap
      :keymaps 'eshell-mode-map
      "0" #'eshell-bol)
    (general-def
      :states '(normal insert)
      :keymaps 'eshell-mode-map
      "C-j" #'eshell-next-matching-input-from-input
      "C-k" #'eshell-previous-matching-input-from-input)
    (local-leader
      :keymaps 'eshell-mode-map
      "c" (proc (interactive) (eshell/clear)
                (recenter))
      "k" #'eshell-kill-process))))

Eshell prompt

Here I use my external library eshell-prompt, which provides a more dynamic prompt for Eshell. Current features include:

  • Git (with difference from remote and number of modified files)
  • Current date and time
  • A coloured prompt which changes colour based on the exit status of the previous command

NOTE: I don't defer this package because it doesn't use any eshell internals, just standard old Emacs packages.

(use-package eshell-prompt
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :config
  (defun +eshell/banner-message ()
    (concat (shell-command-to-string "cowfortune") "\n"))
  (setq eshell-prompt-regexp (format "^%s" +eshell-prompt/user-prompt)
        eshell-prompt-function #'+eshell-prompt/make-prompt
        eshell-banner-message '(+eshell/banner-message)))

Eshell additions

Using my external library eshell-additions, I get a few new eshell internal commands and a surface command to open eshell at the current working directory.

NOTE: I don't defer this package because it autoloads any eshell internals that it uses so I'm only loading what I need to. Any eshell/* functions need to be known by eshell before launching, so if I loaded this :after eshell then the first instance has no knowledge of the new additions.

(use-package eshell-additions
  :defer t
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :general
  (shell-leader
    "t" #'+eshell/open)
  (leader
    "T" #'+eshell/at-cwd))

Eshell syntax highlighting

This package external package adds syntax highlighting to eshell (disabling it for remote work). Doesn't require a lot of config thankfully.

(use-package eshell-syntax-highlighting
  :straight t
  :after eshell
  :hook (eshell-mode-hook . eshell-syntax-highlighting-mode))

WAIT Elfeed

Elfeed is the perfect RSS feed reader, integrated into Emacs perfectly. I've got a set of feeds that I use for a large variety of stuff, mostly media and entertainment. I've also bound "<leader> ar" to elfeed for loading the system.

(use-package elfeed
  :straight t
  :general
  (app-leader "r" #'elfeed)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'elfeed-search-mode-map
    "gr"       #'elfeed-update
    "s"        #'elfeed-search-live-filter
    "<return>" #'elfeed-search-show-entry)
  :init
  (setq elfeed-db-directory (no-littering-expand-var-file-name "elfeed/"))

  (setq +rss/feed-urls
        '(("Arch Linux"
           "https://www.archlinux.org/feeds/news/"
           News Technology)
          ("The Onion"
           "https://www.theonion.com/rss"
           Social)
          ("Protesilaos Stavrou"
           "https://www.youtube.com/@protesilaos"
           YouTube Technology)
          ("Tsoding Daily"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCrqM0Ym_NbK1fqeQG2VIohg"
           YouTube Technology)
          ("Tsoding"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCrqM0Ym_NbK1fqeQG2VIohg"
           YouTube Technology)
          ("Nexpo"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCpFFItkfZz1qz5PpHpqzYBw"
           YouTube Stories)
          ("3B1B"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCYO_jab_esuFRV4b17AJtAw"
           YouTube)
          ("Fredrik Knusden"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCbWcXB0PoqOsAvAdfzWMf0w"
           YouTube Stories)
          ("Barely Sociable"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UC9PIn6-XuRKZ5HmYeu46AIw"
           YouTube Stories)
          ("Atrocity Guide"
           "https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCn8OYopT9e8tng-CGEWzfmw"
           YouTube Stories)
          ("Hacker News"
           "https://news.ycombinator.com/rss"
           Social News Technology)
          ("Hacker Factor"
           "https://www.hackerfactor.com/blog/index.php?/feeds/index.rss2"
           Social)))
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-elfeed-setup))

  (setq elfeed-feeds (cl-map 'list #'(lambda (item)
                                       (append (list (nth 1 item)) (cdr (cdr item))))
                             +rss/feed-urls))

  (advice-add  'elfeed-search-show-entry :after #'+elfeed/dispatch-entry)

  (defun +elfeed/dispatch-entry (entry)
    "Process each type of entry differently.
  e.g., you may want to open HN entries in eww."
    (let ((url (elfeed-entry-link entry)))
      (pcase url
        ((pred (string-match-p "https\\:\\/\\/www.youtube.com\\/watch"))
         (mpv-play-url url))
        (_ (eww url))))))

Magit

Magit is the git porcelain for Emacs, which perfectly encapsulates the git CLI. It's so good that some people use Emacs just to use it. It's difficult to describe well without using it, in my opinion, and it integrates so well with Emacs that there is very little need to use the git CLI ever.

In this case I just need to setup the bindings for it. As magit will definitely load after evil (as it must be run by a binding, and evil will load after init), I can use evil-collection freely. Also, define an auto insert for commit messages so that I don't need to write everything myself.

(use-package magit
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :display
  ("magit:.*"
   (display-buffer-same-window)
   (inhibit-duplicate-buffer . t))
  ("magit-diff:.*"
   (display-buffer-below-selected))
  ("magit-log:.*"
   (display-buffer-same-window))
  :general
  (leader
    "g" '(magit-dispatch :which-key "Magit"))
  (code-leader
    "b" #'magit-blame)
  :auto-insert
  (("COMMIT_EDITMSG" . "Commit skeleton")
   ""
   "(" (read-string "Enter feature/module: ") ")"
   (read-string "Enter simple description: ") "\n\n")
  :init
  (setq vc-follow-symlinks t
        magit-blame-echo-style 'lines
        magit-copy-revision-abbreviated t)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil"
    (evil-set-initial-state 'magit-status-mode 'motion))
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-magit-setup)))

IBuffer

IBuffer is the dired of buffers: providing the ability to mark buffers, mass rename/delete and just observe stuff.

(use-package ibuffer
  :defer t
  :general
  (buffer-leader
    "i" #'ibuffer)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-ibuffer-setup)))

Proced

Emacs has two systems for process management:

  • proced: a general 'top' like interface which allows general management of linux processes
  • list-processes: a specific Emacs based system that lists processes spawned by Emacs (similar to a top for Emacs specifically)

Core proced config, just a few bindings and evil collection setup.

(use-package proced
  :defer t
  :general
  (app-leader
    "p" #'proced)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'proced-mode-map
    "za" #'proced-toggle-auto-update)
  :display
  ("\\*Proced\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :init
  (setq proced-auto-update-interval 0.5)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-proced-setup)))

Calculator

Surprise, surprise Emacs comes with a calculator.

calc-mode is a calculator system within Emacs that provides a diverse array of mathematical operations. It uses reverse polish notation, but there is a standard infix algebraic notation mode so don't be too shocked. It can do a surprising amount of stuff, such as:

  • finding derivatives/integrals of generic equations
  • matrix operations
  • finding solutions for equations, such as for finite degree multi variable polynomials

It also has this thing called embedded mode. This allows one to perform computation within a non calc-mode buffer. Surround any equation with dollar signs (such as 2^20, for example) and call (calc-embedded) with your cursor on it to compute it. It'll replace the equation with the result it computed.

Say I want to find the 4th power of 2 cos I'm writing some bit manipulation code and I need to set the 4th bit of some variable to 1. Instead of computing it outside of my editor then copying the result back in, I can just do it within Emacs. Pretty nifty, right?

(use-package calc
  :defer t
  :display
  ("*Calculator*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.18))
  :general
  (app-leader
    "c" #'calc-dispatch)
  :init
  (setq calc-algebraic-mode t)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-calc-setup)))

Zone

Of course Emacs has a cool screensaver software.

(use-package zone-matrix
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :commands (zone)
  :general
  (leader
    "z" #'zone)
  :init
  (setq zone-programs
        [zone-pgm-drip
         zone-pgm-drip-fretfully
         zone-pgm-martini-swan-dive
         zone-pgm-stress
         zone-pgm-random-life]))

(Wo)man

Man pages are the user manuals for most software on Linux. Really useful when writing code for Un*x systems, though they can be very verbose.

2023-08-17: `Man-notify-method' is the reason the `:display' record doesn't work here. I think it's to do with how Man pages are rendered or something, but very annoying as it's a break from standards!

(use-package man
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq Man-notify-method 'pushy)
  :display
  ("^\\*Man.*"
   (display-buffer-reuse-mode-window display-buffer-same-window))
  :general
  (file-leader
    "m" #'man) ;; kinda like "find man page"
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'Man-mode-map
    "RET" #'man-follow))

WAIT gif-screencast

Little application that uses gifsicle to make essentially videos of Emacs. Useful for demonstrating features.

(use-package gif-screencast
  :straight t
  :general
  (app-leader
    "x" #'gif-screencast-start-or-stop)
  :init
  (setq gif-screencast-output-directory (expand-file-name "~/Media/emacs/")))

Image-mode

Image mode, for viewing images. Supports tons of formats, easy to use and integrates slickly into image-dired. Of course,

(use-package image-mode
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'image-mode-map
    "+" #'image-increase-size
    "-" #'image-decrease-size
    "p" #'image-animate
    "P" #'image-animate-set-speed
    "h" #'image-backward-hscroll
    "j" #'image-next-line
    "k" #'image-previous-line
    "l" #'image-forward-hscroll))

WAIT ERC

(use-package erc
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq erc-server "irc.libera.chat"
        erc-nick "oreodave"
        erc-buffer-display "current"))

Text modes

Standard packages and configurations for text-mode and its derived modes.

Flyspell

Flyspell allows me to quickly spell check text documents. I use flyspell primarily in org mode, as that is my preferred prose writing software, but I also need it in commit messages and so on. So flyspell-mode should be hooked to text-mode.

(use-package flyspell
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook (text-mode-hook . flyspell-mode)
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'text-mode-map
    (kbd "M-C") #'flyspell-correct-word-before-point
    (kbd "M-c") #'flyspell-auto-correct-word)
  (mode-leader
    "s" #'flyspell-mode))

Undo tree

Undo tree sits on top of the incredible Emacs undo capabilities. Provides a nice visual for edits and a great way to produce branches of edits. Also allows saving of undo trees, which makes Emacs a quasi version control system in and of itself! The only extra necessary would be describing changes…

(use-package undo-tree
  :demand t
  :straight t
  :general
  (leader
    "u" #'undo-tree-visualize)
  :init
  (setq undo-tree-auto-save-history t
        undo-tree-history-directory-alist backup-directory-alist)
  :config
  (global-undo-tree-mode))

Whitespace

Deleting whitespace, highlighting when going beyond the 80th character limit, all good stuff. I don't want to highlight whitespace for general mode categories (Lisp shouldn't really have an 80 character limit), so set it for specific modes need the help.

(use-package whitespace
  :defer t
  :general
  (nmmap
    "M--"   #'whitespace-cleanup)
  (mode-leader
    "w" #'whitespace-mode)
  :hook
  (before-save-hook  . whitespace-cleanup)
  ((c-mode-hook c++-mode-hook haskell-mode-hook python-mode-hook org-mode-hook text-mode-hook)
   . whitespace-mode)
  :init
  (setq whitespace-line-column nil
        whitespace-style '(face empty spaces tabs newline trailing lines-char
                                tab-mark)))

Filling and displaying fills

The fill-column is the number of characters that should be in a single line of text before doing a hard wrap. The default case is 80 characters for that l33t Unix hard terminal character limit. I like different fill-columns for different modes: text modes should really use 70 fill columns while code should stick to 80.

(use-package emacs
  :init
  (setq-default fill-column 80)
  (add-hook 'text-mode-hook  (proc (setq-local fill-column 70)))
  :hook
  (text-mode-hook . auto-fill-mode)
  ((c-mode-hook c++-mode-hook haskell-mode-hook python-mode-hook
                org-mode-hook text-mode-hook)
   . display-fill-column-indicator-mode))

Show-paren-mode

Show parenthesis for Emacs

(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook #'show-paren-mode)

Smartparens

Smartparens is a smarter electric-parens, it's much more aware of context and easier to use.

(use-package smartparens
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook
  (prog-mode-hook . smartparens-mode)
  (text-mode-hook . smartparens-mode)
  :config
  (setq sp-highlight-pair-overlay nil
        sp-highlight-wrap-overlay t
        sp-highlight-wrap-tag-overlay t)

  (let ((unless-list '(sp-point-before-word-p
                       sp-point-after-word-p
                       sp-point-before-same-p)))
    (sp-pair "'"  nil :unless unless-list)
    (sp-pair "\"" nil :unless unless-list))
  (sp-local-pair sp-lisp-modes "(" ")" :unless '(:rem sp-point-before-same-p))
  (require 'smartparens-config))

Thesaurus

le-thesaurus is a great extension for quickly searching up words for synonyms or antonyms. I may need it anywhere so I bind it to all keymaps. Same with dictionary searching.

(use-package le-thesaurus
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :display
  ("\\*Dictionary\\*"
   (display-buffer-reuse-window display-buffer-same-window)
   (reusable-frames . t))
  :init
  (setq dictionary-server "dict.org")
  :general
  (search-leader
    :infix "w"
    "s" #'le-thesaurus-get-synonyms
    "a" #'le-thesaurus-get-antonyms
    "d" #'dictionary-search))

Programming packages

Packages that help with programming in general, providing IDE like capabilities.

Eldoc

Eldoc presents documentation to the user upon placing ones cursor upon any symbol. This is very useful when programming as it:

  • presents the arguments of functions while writing calls for them
  • presents typing and documentation of variables

Eldoc box makes the help buffer a hovering box instead of printing it in the minibuffer. A lot cleaner.

2024-05-31: Eldoc box is a bit useless now that I'm not using frames. I prefer the use of the minibuffer for printing documentation now.

(use-package eldoc
  :defer t
  :hook (prog-mode-hook . eldoc-mode)
  :init
  (global-eldoc-mode 1)
  :general
  (leader
    "h>" #'eldoc-doc-buffer))

Flycheck

Flycheck is the checking system for Emacs. I don't necessarily like having all my code checked all the time, so I haven't added a hook to prog-mode as it would be better for me to decide when I want checking and when I don't.

I've added it to C/C++ mode because I use them regularly and flycheck has very little overhead to work there.

(use-package flycheck
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :commands (flycheck-mode flycheck-list-errors)
  :hook
  (c-mode-hook   . flycheck-mode)
  (c++-mode-hook . flycheck-mode)
  :general
  (mode-leader
    "f" #'flycheck-mode)
  (code-leader
    "x" #'flycheck-list-errors
    "j" #'flycheck-next-error
    "k" #'flycheck-previous-error)
  :display
  ("\\*Flycheck.*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :init
  (setq-default flycheck-check-syntax-automatically '(save idle-change new-line mode-enabled))
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "evil-collection"
    (evil-collection-flycheck-setup)))

Eglot

Eglot is package to communicate with LSP servers for better programming capabilities. Interactions with a server provide results to the client, done through JSON.

NOTE: Emacs 28.1 comes with better JSON parsing, which makes Eglot much faster.

2023-03-26: I've found Eglot to be useful sometimes, but many of the projects I work on don't require a heavy server setup to efficiently edit and check for errors; Emacs provides a lot of functionality. So by default I've disabled it, using M-x eglot to startup the LSP server when I need it.

2024-06-27: In projects where I do use eglot and I know I will need it regardless of file choice, I prefer setting it at the dir-local level via an eval form. So I add to the safe values for the eval variable to be set.

(use-package eglot
  :defer t
  :general
  (code-leader
    :keymaps 'eglot-mode-map
    "f" #'eglot-format
    "a" #'eglot-code-actions
    "r" #'eglot-rename
    "R" #'eglot-reconnect)
  :init
  (setq eglot-stay-out-of '(flymake)
        eglot-ignored-server-capabilities '(:documentHighlightProvider
                                            :documentOnTypeFormattingProvider
                                            :inlayHintProvider))
  (add-to-list 'safe-local-variable-values '(eval eglot-ensure))
  :config
  (add-to-list 'eglot-server-programs '((c++-mode c-mode) "clangd")))

Flycheck-Eglot

By default Eglot uses the integrated flymake package for error reporting. I don't mind flymake, and I think an integrated solution which doesn't rely on external packages is always a great idea. However, I just personally prefer flycheck and it's become part of my mental model when programming. So here's a package which will integrate flycheck into Eglot's error reporting.

(Funny but also kind of depressing is this issue in Eglot where someone requested this integration, which caused a bit of a flame war. People are stupid. no opinion on flymake)

(use-package flycheck-eglot
  :straight t
  :after (flycheck eglot)
  :hook (eglot-managed-mode-hook . flycheck-eglot-mode))

Indentation

By default, turn off tabs and set the tab width to two.

(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil
              tab-width 2)

However, if necessary later, define a function that may activate tabs locally.

(defun +oreo/use-tabs ()
  (interactive)
  (setq-local indent-tabs-mode t))

Highlight todo items

TODO items are highlighted in org-mode, but not necessarily in every mode. This minor mode highlights all TODO like items via a list of strings to match. It also configures faces to use when highlighting. I hook it to prog-mode.

(use-package hl-todo
  :straight t
  :after prog-mode
  :hook (prog-mode-hook . hl-todo-mode)
  :init
  (setq hl-todo-keyword-faces
        '(("TODO"  . "#E50000")
          ("WIP"   . "#ffa500")
          ("NOTE"  . "#00CC00")
          ("FIXME" . "#d02090"))))

Hide-show mode

Turn on hs-minor-mode for all prog-mode. This provides folds for free.

(use-package hideshow
  :defer t
  :hook (prog-mode-hook . hs-minor-mode))

Aggressive indenting

Essentially my dream editing experience: when I type stuff in, try and indent it for me on the fly. Just checkout the page, any description I give won't do it justice.

(use-package aggressive-indent
  :straight t
  :demand t
  :config
  (add-to-list 'aggressive-indent-excluded-modes
               'c-mode)
  (add-to-list 'aggressive-indent-excluded-modes
               'c++-mode)
  (add-to-list 'aggressive-indent-excluded-modes
               'cc-mode)
  (global-aggressive-indent-mode))

Compilation

Compilation mode, a super useful subsystem of Emacs which allows one to run arbitrary commands. If those commands produce errors, particularly errors that have a filename, column and line, compilation-mode can colourise them and automatically help you navigate to them. Very nifty.

Here I add some bindings and a filter which colourises the output of compilation mode for ANSI escape sequences; eyecandy is certainly nice but it's just useful when dealing with tools that use those codes so you can actually read the text.

(use-package compile
  :defer t
  :general
  (leader
    "j" #'next-error
    "k" #'previous-error)
  (code-leader
    "c" #'compile
    "C" #'recompile)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'compilation-mode-map
    "c" #'recompile)
  (general-def
    :keymaps 'compilation-mode-map
    "g" nil) ;; by default this is recompile
  :display
  ("\\*compilation\\*"
   (display-buffer-reuse-window display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (reusable-frames . t)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :init
  (setq compilation-scroll-output 'first-error)
  :config
  (add-hook 'compilation-filter-hook #'ansi-color-compilation-filter))

xref

Find definitions, references and general objects using tags without external packages. Provided by default in Emacs and just requires a way of generating a TAGS file for your project. Helps with minimal setups for programming without heavier packages like Eglot.

(use-package xref
  :defer t
  :display
  ("\\*xref\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (inhibit-duplicate-buffer . t)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :general
  (code-leader
    "t" '(nil :which-key "Tags"))
  (code-leader
    :infix "t"
    "t" #'xref-find-apropos
    "d" #'xref-find-definitions
    "r" #'xref-find-references)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'xref--xref-buffer-mode-map
    "RET" #'xref-goto-xref
    "J" #'xref-next-line
    "K" #'xref-prev-line
    "g" #'xref-revert-buffer
    "q" #'quit-window))

Project.el

An inbuilt solution for creating and managing projects that doesn't require a dependency. Where possible we should try to use Emacs defaults (admittedly this is a philosophy I've only recently adopted) so when setting up a new computer it takes a bit less time.

Here I write a TAGS command, mimicking projectile's one, so I can quickly generate them in C/C++ projects.

(use-package project
  :defer t
  :general
  (general-def
    :keymaps 'project-prefix-map
    "R" #'+project/generate-tags)
  :config
  (defun +project/generate-tags ()
    (interactive)
    (let ((project (project-current)))
      (if (not project)
          (message "+project/generate-tags: Not in project.")
        (let ((tags-file (concat (project-root project) "TAGS"))
              (files (format "%s" (project-files project))))
          (set-process-sentinel
           (start-process-shell-command
            "PROJECT-GENERATE-TAGS"
            "*gen-tags*"
            (format "ctags -Re -f %s %s"
                    tags-file
                    (substring files 1 (- (length files) 1))))
           (lambda (p event)
             (when (string= event "finished\n")
               (visit-tags-table (concat (project-root (project-current)) "TAGS"))
               (message "Finished generating tags!")))))))))

devdocs

(use-package devdocs
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (file-leader
    "d" #'devdocs-lookup))

rainbow-delimiters

Makes colours delimiters (parentheses) based on their depth in an expression. Rainbow flag in your Lisp source code.

(use-package rainbow-delimiters
  :defer t
  :straight t
  :general
  (mode-leader "r" #'rainbow-delimiters-mode)
  :hook
  ((lisp-mode-hook emacs-lisp-mode-hook racket-mode-hook) . rainbow-delimiters-mode))

Org mode

Org is, at its most basic, a markup language. org-mode is a major mode for Emacs to interpret org buffers. org-mode provides a lot of capabilities, some are:

  • A complete table based spreadsheet system, with formulas (including calc-mode integration)
  • Code blocks with proper syntax highlighting and editing experience

    • Evaluation
    • Export of code blocks to a variety of formats
    • Export of code blocks to a code file (so called "tangling", which is what occurs in this document)
  • Feature complete scheduling system with calendar integration

    • A clock-in system to time tasks
  • TODO system
  • Export to a variety of formats or make your own export engine using the org AST.
  • Inline $\LaTeX$, with the ability to render the fragments on demand within the buffer
  • Links to a variety of formats:

    • Websites (via http or https)
    • FTP
    • SSH
    • Files (even to a specific line)
    • Info pages

I'd argue this is a bit more than a markup language. Like Magit, some use Emacs just for this system.

Org Essentials

Org has a ton of settings to tweak, which change your experience quite a bit. Here are mine, but this took a lot of just reading other people's configurations and testing. I don't do a good job of explaining how this works in all honesty, but it works well for me so I'm not very bothered.

  • By default ~/Text is my directory for text files. I actually have a repository that manages this directory for agenda files and other documents
  • Indentation in file should not be allowed, i.e. text indentation, as that forces other editors to read it a certain way as well. It's obtrusive hence it's off.
  • Org startup indented is on by default as most documents do benefit from the indentation, but I do turn it off for some files via #+startup:noindent
  • When opening an org document there can be a lot of headings, so I set folding to just content
  • Org documents can also have a lot of latex previews, which make opening some after a while a massive hassle. If I want to see the preview, I'll do it myself, so turn it off.
  • Org manages windowing itself, to some extent, so I set those options to be as unobtrusive as possible
  • Load languages I use in src blocks in org-mode (Emacs-lisp for this configuration, C and Python)
(use-package org
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq org-directory "~/Text"
        org-adapt-indentation nil
        org-indent-mode nil
        org-startup-indented t
        org-startup-folded 'content
        org-startup-with-latex-preview nil
        org-imenu-depth 10
        org-src-window-setup 'current-window
        org-indirect-buffer-display 'current-window
        org-link-frame-setup '((vm . vm-visit-folder-other-frame)
                               (vm-imap . vm-visit-imap-folder-other-frame)
                               (file . find-file))
        org-babel-load-languages '((emacs-lisp . t)
                                   (lisp . t)
                                   (shell . t))))

Org Latex

Org mode has deep integration with latex, can export to PDF and even display latex fragments in the document directly. I setup the pdf-process, code listing options via minted and the format options for latex fragments.

(use-package org
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq org-format-latex-options
        '(:foreground default :background default :scale 2
          :html-foreground "Black" :html-background "Transparent"
          :html-scale 1.0 :matchers ("begin" "$1" "$" "$$" "\\(" "\\["))
        org-latex-src-block-backend 'minted
        org-latex-minted-langs '((emacs-lisp "common-lisp")
                                 (ledger "text")
                                 (cc "c++")
                                 (cperl "perl")
                                 (shell-script "bash")
                                 (caml "ocaml"))
        org-latex-packages-alist '(("" "minted"))
        org-latex-pdf-process
        (list (concat "latexmk -f -bibtex -pdf "
                      "-shell-escape -%latex -interaction=nonstopmode "
                      "-output-directory=%o %f"))
        org-latex-minted-options
        '(("style" "colorful")
          ("linenos")
          ("frame" "single")
          ("mathescape")
          ("fontfamily" "courier")
          ("samepage" "false")
          ("breaklines" "true")
          ("breakanywhere" "true"))))

Org Core Variables

Tons of variables for org-mode, including a ton of latex ones. Can't really explain because it sets up quite a lot of local stuff. Also I copy pasted the majority of this, tweaking it till it felt good. Doom Emacs was very helpful here.

(use-package org
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq org-edit-src-content-indentation 0
        org-goto-interface 'outline
        org-imenu-depth 10
        org-export-backends '(ascii html latex odt icalendar)
        org-eldoc-breadcrumb-separator " → "
        org-enforce-todo-dependencies t
        org-fontify-quote-and-verse-blocks t
        org-fontify-whole-heading-line t
        org-footnote-auto-label t
        org-hide-leading-stars t
        org-hide-emphasis-markers nil
        org-image-actual-width nil
        org-priority-faces '((?A . error) (?B . warning) (?C . success))
        org-link-descriptive nil
        org-tags-column 0
        org-todo-keywords
        '((sequence "TODO" "WIP" "DONE")
          (sequence "PROJ" "WAIT" "COMPLETE"))
        org-use-sub-superscripts '{}))

Org Core Functionality

Hooks, prettify-symbols and records for auto insertion.

(use-package org
  :defer t
  :hook
  (org-mode-hook . prettify-symbols-mode)
  :display
  ("\\*Org Src.*"
   (display-buffer-same-window))
  :auto-insert
  (("\\.org\\'" . "Org skeleton")
   "Enter title: "
   "#+title: " str | (buffer-file-name) "\n"
   "#+author: " (read-string "Enter author: ") | user-full-name "\n"
   "#+description: " (read-string "Enter description: ") | "Description" "\n"
   "#+date: " (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d" (current-time)) "\n"
   "* " _))

Org Core Bindings

Some bindings for org mode.

(use-package org
  :defer t
  :general
  (file-leader
    "l" #'org-store-link
    "i" #'org-insert-last-stored-link)
  (code-leader
    :keymaps 'emacs-lisp-mode-map
    "D" #'org-babel-detangle)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    "l" '(nil :which-key "Links")
    "'" '(nil :which-key "Tables")
    "c" '(nil :which-key "Clocks")
    "r" #'org-refile
    "d" #'org-date-from-calendar
    "t" #'org-todo
    "," #'org-priority
    "T" #'org-babel-tangle
    "i" #'org-insert-structure-template
    "p" #'org-latex-preview
    "s" #'org-property-action
    "e" #'org-export-dispatch
    "o" #'org-edit-special)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    :infix "l"
    "i" #'org-insert-link
    "l" #'org-open-at-point
    "f" #'org-footnote-action)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    :infix "'"
    "a" #'org-table-align
    "c" #'org-table-create
    "f" #'org-table-edit-formulas
    "t" #'org-table-toggle-coordinate-overlays
    "s" #'org-table-sum
    "e" #'org-table-calc-current-TBLFM
    "E" #'org-table-eval-formula))

Searching org files

The default imenu support for Org-mode is god-awful. Imenu for org-mode should show me a list of headings and provide a completing-read interface to search them.

Counsel has me covered for this as I can just provide it a regex as an initial prompt to narrow the candidates down to just the headings then let the user go from there. I use swiper when considering just the local file (a la imenu) and counsel-rg to search multiple org-files.

The cherry on top is +org/search-config-headings which searches the org files in user-emacs-directory and provides the headings for them. This allows me to search my configuration pretty quickly.

(use-package counsel
  :defer t
  :commands (+org/swiper-goto
             +org/search-headings
             +org/search-config-headings)
  :general
  (file-leader
    "P" #'+org/search-config-headings)
  (search-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    "I" #'+org/search-headings)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    [remap imenu] #'+org/swiper-goto)
  :config
  (defvar +org/heading-regexp "^[\\*]+[ ] ")

  (defun +org/swiper-goto ()
    (interactive)
    (counsel-grep-or-swiper +org/heading-regexp))

  (defun +org/search-headings ()
    "Searches directory (of buffer) for org headings via counsel-rg"
    (interactive)
    (counsel-rg +org/heading-regexp (file-name-directory (buffer-file-name))))

  (defun +org/search-config-headings ()
    "Searches config.org for org headings via +org/swiper-goto"
    (interactive)
    (counsel-rg +org/heading-regexp (file-name-directory user-emacs-directory) "--max-depth=1")))

Org Agenda

Org agenda provides a nice viewing for schedules. With org mode it's a very tidy way to manage your time.

(use-package org-agenda
  :defer t
  :init
  (defconst +org/agenda-root "~/Text"
    "Root directory for all agenda files")
  (setq org-agenda-files (list (expand-file-name +org/agenda-root))
        org-agenda-window-setup 'current-window
        org-agenda-skip-deadline-prewarning-if-scheduled t
        org-agenda-skip-scheduled-if-done t
        org-agenda-skip-deadline-if-done t
        org-agenda-start-with-entry-text-mode nil)
  :config
  (evil-set-initial-state 'org-agenda-mode 'normal)
  :general
  (file-leader
    "a" `(,(proc (interactive)
                 (find-file (completing-read "Enter directory: " org-agenda-files nil t)))
          :which-key "Open agenda directory"))
  (app-leader
    "a" #'org-agenda)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'org-agenda-mode-map
    "zd" #'org-agenda-day-view
    "zw" #'org-agenda-week-view
    "zm" #'org-agenda-month-view
    "gd" #'org-agenda-goto-date
    "RET" #'org-agenda-switch-to
    "J" #'org-agenda-later
    "K" #'org-agenda-earlier
    "t" #'org-agenda-todo
    "." #'org-agenda-goto-today
    "," #'org-agenda-goto-date
    "q" #'org-agenda-quit
    "r" #'org-agenda-redo))

Org capture

Org capture provides a system for quickly "capturing" some information into an org file. A classic example is creating a new TODO in a todo file, where the bare minimum to record one is:

  • where was it recorded?
  • when was it recorded?
  • what is it?

Org capture provides a way to do that seamlessly without opening the todo file directly.

(use-package org-capture
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq
   org-default-notes-file (concat org-directory "/todo.org")
   org-capture-templates
   '(("t" "Todo" entry
      (file "")
      "* TODO %?
%T
%a")))
  :general
  (leader
    "C" #'org-capture)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'org-capture-mode-map
    "ZZ" #'org-capture-finalize
    "ZR" #'org-capture-refile
    "ZQ" #'org-capture-kill))

Org clock-in

Org provides a nice timekeeping system that allows for managing how much time is taken per task. It even has an extensive reporting system to see how much time you spend on specific tasks or overall.

(use-package org-clock
  :after org
  :init
  (defvar +org/clock-out-toggle-report nil
    "Non-nil means update the first clock report in the file every
time a clock out occurs.")
  :config
  (advice-add #'org-clock-out
              :after
              (proc (interactive)
                    (if +org/clock-out-toggle-report
                        (org-clock-report t))))
  :general
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    :infix "c"
    "d" #'org-clock-display
    "c" #'org-clock-in
    "o" #'org-clock-out
    "r" #'org-clock-report
    "t" (proc (interactive)
              (setq-local +org/clock-out-toggle-report
                          (not +org/clock-out-toggle-report)))))

Org compile to PDF on save

If +org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-p is non-nil, then compile to \(\LaTeX\) and run an async process to compile it to a PDF. Doesn't make Emacs hang (like org-latex-export-to-pdf) and doesn't randomly crash (like the async handler for org-export). Works really well with pdf-view-mode.

(use-package org
  :defer t
  :init
  (defvar +org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-p
    nil
    "Non-nil to activate compile functionality.")
  :general
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    "C" (proc (interactive)
              (if (+org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-f)
                  (setq-local +org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-p nil)
                (setq-local +org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-p t))))
  :config
  (+oreo/create-auto-save
   (and (eq major-mode 'org-mode) +org/compile-to-pdf-on-save-p)
   (start-process-shell-command "" "*pdflatex*" (concat "pdflatex -shell-escape "
                                                        (org-latex-export-to-latex)))))

WAIT Org ref

For bibliographic stuff in $\LaTeX$ export.

(use-package org-ref
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq bibtex-files '("~/Text/bibliography.bib")
        bibtex-completion-bibliography '("~/Text/bibliography.bib")
        bibtex-completion-additional-search-fields '(keywords)))

Org ref ivy integration

Org ref requires ivy-bibtex to work properly with ivy, so we need to set that up as well

(use-package ivy-bibtex
  :straight t
  :after org-ref
  :config
  (require 'org-ref-ivy))

Org message

Org message allows for the use of org mode when composing mails, generating HTML multipart emails. This integrates the WYSIWYG experience with mail in Emacs while also providing powerful text features with basically no learning curve (as long as you've already learnt the basics of org).

(use-package org-msg
  :straight t
  :hook
  (message-mode-hook . org-msg-mode)
  (notmuch-message-mode-hook . org-msg-mode)
  :config
  (setq org-msg-options "html-postamble:nil H:5 num:nil ^:{} toc:nil author:nil email:nil \\n:t tex:dvipng"
        org-msg-greeting-name-limit 3)

  (add-to-list 'org-msg-enforce-css
               '(img latex-fragment-inline
                     ((transform . ,(format "translateY(-1px) scale(%.3f)"
                                            (/ 1.0 (if (boundp 'preview-scale)
                                                       preview-scale 1.4))))
                      (margin . "0 -0.35em")))))

Org for evil

Evil org for some nice bindings.

(use-package evil-org
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook (org-mode-hook . evil-org-mode)
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps 'org-mode-map
    "TAB" #'org-cycle))

Org reveal

Org reveal allows one to export org files as HTML presentations via reveal.js. Pretty nifty and it's easy to use.

(use-package ox-reveal
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq org-reveal-root "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/reveal.js"
        org-reveal-theme "sky"))

Org superstar

Org superstar adds unicode symbols for headers, much better than the default asterisks.

(use-package org-superstar
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook (org-mode-hook . org-superstar-mode))

Org bookmark

I maintain a bookmarks file at ~/Text/bookmarks.org. I would like the ability to construct new bookmarks and open bookmarks. They may be either articles I want to read, useful information documents or just straight up youtube videos. So I wrote a library myself which does the appropriate dispatching and work for me. Pretty sweet!

Also I define a template for org-capture here for bookmarks and add it to the list org-capture-templates.

(use-package org-bookmark
  :defer t
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :general
  (file-leader
    "b" #'+bookmark/open-bookmark)
  :init
  (with-eval-after-load "org-capture"
    (add-to-list
     'org-capture-templates
     '("b" "Bookmark" entry
       (file "bookmarks.org")
       "* %? :bookmark:
%T
%^{url|%x}p
"
       ))))

Languages

For a variety of (programming) languages Emacs comes with default modes but this configures them as well as pulls any modes Emacs doesn't come with.

Makefile

Defines an auto-insert for Makefiles. Assumes C but it's very easy to change it for C++.

(use-package make-mode
  :defer t
  :auto-insert
  (("[mM]akefile\\'" . "Makefile skeleton")
   ""
	 "CC=gcc
OUT=main.out
LIBS=
ARGS=

GFLAGS=-Wall -Wextra -Werror -Wswitch-enum -std=c11
DFLAGS=-ggdb -fsanitize=address -fsanitize=undefined
DEPFLAGS=-MT $@ -MMD -MP -MF
RFLAGS=-O3
ifdef RELEASE
CFLAGS=$(GFLAGS) $(RFLAGS)
else
CFLAGS=$(GFLAGS) $(DFLAGS)
endif

SRC=src
DIST=build
CODE=$(addprefix $(SRC)/, ) # add source files here
OBJECTS=$(CODE:$(SRC)/%.c=$(DIST)/%.o)
DEPDIR:=$(DIST)/dependencies
DEPS:=$(CODE:$(SRC)/%.c=$(DEPDIR):%.d) $(DEPDIR)/main.d

.PHONY: all
all: $(OUT)

$(OUT): $(DIST)/$(OUT)

$(DIST)/$(OUT): $(OBJECTS) $(DIST)/main.o | $(DIST)
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $^ -o $@ $(LIBS)

$(DIST)/%.o: $(SRC)/%.c | $(DIST) $(DEPDIR)
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(DEPFLAGS) $(DEPDIR)/$*.d -c $< -o $@ $(LIBS)

.PHONY: run
run: $(DIST)/$(OUT)
	./$^ $(ARGS)

.PHONY:
clean:
	rm -rfv $(DIST)/*

$(DIST):
	mkdir -p $(DIST)

$(DEPDIR):
	mkdir -p $(DEPDIR)

-include $(DEPS)
"
   _))

WAIT SQL

The default SQL package provides support for connecting to common database types (sqlite, mysql, etc) for auto completion and query execution. I don't use SQL currently but whenever I need it it's there.

(use-package sql
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq sql-display-sqli-buffer-function nil))

WAIT Ada

Check out ada-mode, my custom ada-mode that replaces the default one. This mode just colourises stuff, and uses eglot and a language server to do the hard work.

(use-package ada-mode
  :load-path "elisp/"
  :defer t
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "eglot"
    (add-hook 'ada-mode-hook #'eglot)))

NHexl

Hexl-mode is the inbuilt package within Emacs to edit hex and binary format buffers. There are a few problems with hexl-mode though, including an annoying prompt on revert-buffer.

Thus, nhexl-mode! It comes with a few other improvements. Check out the page yourself.

(use-package nhexl-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :mode ("\\.bin" "\\.out"))

C/C++

Setup for C and C++ modes, using Emacs' default package: cc-mode.

cc-mode

Tons of stuff, namely:

  • auto-fill-mode for 80 char limit
  • Some keybindings to make evil statement movement easy
  • Lots of pretty symbols
  • Indenting options and a nice (for me) code style for C
  • Auto inserts to get a C file going
(use-package cc-mode
  :defer t
  :hook
  (c-mode-hook   . auto-fill-mode)
  (c++-mode-hook . auto-fill-mode)
  :general
  (:keymaps '(c-mode-map c++-mode-map)
   :states '(normal motion visual)
   "(" #'c-beginning-of-statement
   ")" #'c-end-of-statement)
  :init
  (setq-default c-basic-offset 2)
  (setq-default c-auto-newline nil)
  (setq-default c-default-style '((other . "user")))
  (defun +cc/copyright-notice ()
    (let* ((lines (split-string (+license/copyright-notice) "\n"))
           (copyright-line (car lines))
           (rest (cdr lines)))
      (concat
       "* "
       copyright-line
       "\n"
       (mapconcat
        #'(lambda (x)
            (if (string= x "")
                ""
              (concat " * " x)))
        rest
        "\n"))))
  :auto-insert
  (("\\.c\\'" . "C skeleton")
   ""
   "/" (+cc/copyright-notice) "\n\n"
   " * Created: " (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d") "\n"
   " * Author: " user-full-name "\n"
   " * Description: " _ "\n"
   " */\n"
   "\n")
  (("\\.cpp\\'" "C++ skeleton")
   ""
   "/" (+cc/copyright-notice) "\n\n"
   " * Created: " (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d") "\n"
   " * Author: " user-full-name "\n"
   " * Description: " _ "\n"
   " */\n"
   "\n")
  (("\\.\\([Hh]\\|hh\\|hpp\\|hxx\\|h\\+\\+\\)\\'" . "C / C++ header")
   (replace-regexp-in-string "[^A-Z0-9]" "_"
                             (string-replace "+" "P"
                                             (upcase
                                              (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name))))
   "/" (+cc/copyright-notice) "\n\n"
   " * Created: " (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d") "\n"
   " * Author: " user-full-name "\n"
   " * Description: " _ "\n"
   " */\n\n"
   "#ifndef " str n "#define " str "\n\n" "\n\n#endif")
  :config
  (c-add-style
   "user"
   '((c-basic-offset . 2)
     (c-comment-only-line-offset . 0)
     (c-hanging-braces-alist (brace-list-open)
                             (brace-entry-open)
                             (substatement-open after)
                             (block-close . c-snug-do-while)
                             (arglist-cont-nonempty))
     (c-cleanup-list brace-else-brace)
     (c-offsets-alist
      (statement-block-intro . +)
      (substatement-open . 0)
      (access-label . -)
      (inline-open  . 0)
      (label . 0)
      (statement-cont . +)))))

Clang format

clang-format is a program that formats C/C++ files. It's highly configurable and quite fast. I have a root configuration in my Dotfiles (check it out here.

Clang format comes inbuilt with clang/LLVM, so it's quite likely to be on your machine.

(use-package clang-format
  :load-path "/usr/share/clang/"
  :defer t
  :after cc-mode
  :commands (+code/clang-format-region-or-buffer
             clang-format-mode)
  :general
  (code-leader
    :keymaps '(c-mode-map c++-mode-map)
    "f" #'clang-format-buffer)
  :config
  (define-minor-mode clang-format-mode
    "On save formats the current buffer via clang-format."
    :lighter nil
    (let ((save-func (proc (interactive)
                           (clang-format-buffer))))
      (if clang-format-mode
          (add-hook 'before-save-hook save-func nil t)
        (remove-hook 'before-save-hook save-func t))))
  (defun +code/clang-format-region-or-buffer ()
    (interactive)
    (if (mark)
        (clang-format-region (region-beginning) (region-end))
      (clang-format-buffer))))

cc org babel

To ensure org-babel executes language blocks of C/C++, I need to load it as an option in org-babel-load-languages.

(use-package org
  :after cc-mode
  :init
  (org-babel-do-load-languages
   'org-babel-load-languages
   '((C . t))))

WAIT D

D is a systems level programming language with C-style syntax. I think it has some interesting ideas such as a toggleable garbage collector. Here I just install the D-mode package, enable org-babel execution of d-mode blocks and alias D-mode with d-mode.

(use-package d-mode
  :defer t
  :straight t
  :config
  (fset 'D-mode 'd-mode)
  (with-eval-after-load "org-mode"
    (setf (alist-get 'd org-babel-load-languages) t)))

Rust

(use-package rust-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :general
  (code-leader
    :keymaps 'rust-mode-map
    "f" #'rust-format-buffer)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'rust-mode-map
    "c" #'rust-run-clippy)
  :init
  (setq rust-format-on-save t)
  (with-eval-after-load "eglot"
    (add-to-list 'eglot-server-programs '(rust-mode "rust-analyzer"))))

Racket

A scheme with lots of stuff inside it. Using it for a language design book so it's useful to have some Emacs binds for it.

(use-package racket-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook (racket-mode-hook . racket-xp-mode)
  :display
  ("\\*Racket REPL*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :init
  (setq racket-documentation-search-location 'local)
  :general
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'racket-describe-mode-map
    "q" #'quit-window)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'racket-mode-map
    "gr" #'racket-eval-last-sexp)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps '(racket-mode-map racket-repl-mode-map)
    "d" #'racket-repl-describe)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'racket-mode-map
    "r" #'racket-run
    "i" #'racket-repl
    "e" #'racket-send-definition
    "sr" #'racket-send-region
    "sd" #'racket-send-definition))

WAIT CSharp

Haven't used C# in a while, but Emacs is alright for it with omnisharp.

(use-package csharp-mode
  :defer t)

WAIT Java

I kinda dislike Java, but if necessary I will code in it. Just setup a style and some pretty symbols. You can use LSP to get cooler features to be fair.

(use-package ob-java
  :defer t
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "cc-mode"
    (c-add-style
     "java"
     '((c-basic-offset . 4)
       (c-comment-only-line-offset 0 . 0)
       (c-offsets-alist
        (inline-open . 0)
        (topmost-intro-cont . +)
        (statement-block-intro . +)
        (knr-argdecl-intro . 5)
        (substatement-open . 0)
        (substatement-label . +)
        (label . +)
        (statement-case-open . +)
        (statement-cont . +)
        (arglist-intro . c-lineup-arglist-intro-after-paren)
        (arglist-close . c-lineup-arglist)
        (brace-list-intro first c-lineup-2nd-brace-entry-in-arglist c-lineup-class-decl-init-+ +)
        (access-label . 0)
        (inher-cont . c-lineup-java-inher)
        (func-decl-cont . c-lineup-java-throws))))
    (add-to-list 'c-default-style '(java-mode . "java")))

  (with-eval-after-load "abbrev"
    (define-abbrev-table 'java-mode-abbrev-table nil)
    (add-hook 'java-mode-hook
              (proc (setq-local local-abbrev-table java-mode-abbrev-table)))))

Haskell

Haskell is a static lazy functional programming language (what a mouthful). It's quite a beautiful language and really learning it will change the way you think about programming. However, my preferred functional language is still unfortunately Lisp so no extra brownie points there.

Here I configure the REPL for Haskell via the haskell-interactive-mode. I also load my custom package haskell-multiedit which allows a user to create temporary haskell-mode buffers that, upon completion, will run in the REPL. Even easier than making your own buffer.

(use-package haskell-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :hook
  (haskell-mode-hook . haskell-indentation-mode)
  (haskell-mode-hook . interactive-haskell-mode)
  :custom
  (haskell-interactive-prompt "[λ] ")
  (haskell-interactive-prompt-cont "{λ} ")
  (haskell-interactive-popup-errors nil)
  (haskell-stylish-on-save nil)
  (haskell-process-type 'auto)
  :general
  (shell-leader
    "h" #'haskell-interactive-bring)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'haskell-mode-map
    "l" #'haskell-process-load-or-reload
    "t" #'haskell-process-do-type)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'haskell-interactive-mode-map
    "c" #'haskell-interactive-mode-clear)
  (imap
    :keymaps 'haskell-interactive-mode-map
    "M-k" #'haskell-interactive-mode-history-previous
    "M-j" #'haskell-interactive-mode-history-next)
  :display
  ("\\*haskell.**\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :config
  (load (concat user-emacs-directory "elisp/haskell-multiedit.el")))

Python

Works well for python. If you have pyls it should be on your path, so just run eglot if you need. But an LSP server is not necessary for a lot of my time in python. Here I also setup org-babel for python source code blocks.

(use-package python
  :defer t
  :pretty
  (python-mode-hook
   ("None"   . "Ø")
   ("list"   . "")
   ("List"   . "")
   ("str"    . "𝕊")
   ("True"   . "⊨")
   ("False"  . "⊭")
   ("!"      . "¬")
   ("&&"     . "∧")
   ("||"     . "")
   ("for"    . "∀")
   ("print"  . "φ")
   ("lambda" . "λ")
   ("return" . "⟼")
   ("yield"  . "⟻"))
  :init
  (setq python-indent-offset 4)
  :config
  (with-eval-after-load "org-mode"
    (setf (alist-get 'python org-babel-load-languages) t)))

Python shell

Setup for python shell, including a toggle option

(use-package python
  :defer t
  :commands +python/toggle-repl
  :general
  (shell-leader
    "p" #'run-python)
  :display
  ("\\*Python\\*"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25)))

YAML

YAML is a data language which is useful for config files.

(use-package yaml-mode
  :straight t)

HTML/CSS/JS

Firstly, web mode for consistent colouring of syntax.

(use-package web-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :mode ("\\.html" . web-mode)
  :mode ("\\.js"   . web-mode)
  :mode ("\\.css"  . web-mode)
  :custom
  ((web-mode-code-indent-offset 2)
   (web-mode-markup-indent-offset 2)
   (web-mode-css-indent-offset 2)))

Emmet

Emmet for super speed code writing.

(use-package emmet-mode
  :straight t
  :hook (web-mode-hook . emmet-mode)
  :general
  (imap
    :keymaps 'emmet-mode-keymap
    "TAB" #'emmet-expand-line
    "M-j" #'emmet-next-edit-point
    "M-k" #'emmet-prev-edit-point))

HTML Auto insert

(use-package web-mode
  :defer t
  :auto-insert
  (("\\.html\\'" . "HTML Skeleton")
   ""
   "<!doctype html>
<html lang=''>
  <head>
    <meta charset='utf-8'>
    <meta http-equiv='x-ua-compatible' content='ie=edge'>
    <title>"(read-string "Enter title: ") | """</title>
    <meta name='description' content='" (read-string "Enter description: ") | "" "'>
    <meta name='author' content='"user-full-name"'/>
    <meta name='viewport' content='width=device-width, initial-scale=1'>

    <link rel='apple-touch-icon' href='/apple-touch-icon.png'>
    <link rel='shortcut icon' href='/favicon.ico'/>
    <!-- Place favicon.ico in the root directory -->

  </head>
  <body>
    <!--[if lt IE 8]>
      <p class='browserupgrade'>
      You are using an <strong>outdated</strong> browser. Please
      <a href='http://browsehappy.com/'>upgrade your browser</a> to improve
      your experience.
      </p>
    <![endif]-->
"
   _
   "     </body>
</html>"))

WAIT Typescript

A child language of javascript which compiles to it.

(use-package typescript-mode
  :straight t
  :defer t
  :init
  (setq typescript-indent-level 2))

Common Lisp

Common Lisp is a dialect of Lisp, the most common one around. Emacs comes with builtin Lisp support, of course, and it's really good in comparison to literally everything else. However, I wish it had a better REPL…

Sly

Enter SLY. Sly is a fork of SLIME and is mandatory for lisp development on Emacs.

Here I just setup Sly to use sbcl.

(use-package sly
  :defer t
  :straight t
  :init
  (setq inferior-lisp-program "sbcl"
        sly-lisp-loop-body-forms-indentation 0)
  :display
  ("\\*sly-db"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.5))
  ("\\*sly-"
   (display-buffer-at-bottom)
   (window-height . 0.25))
  :config
  (evil-set-initial-state 'sly-db-mode 'normal)
  (with-eval-after-load "org"
    (setq-default org-babel-lisp-eval-fn #'sly-eval))
  (with-eval-after-load "company"
    (add-hook 'sly-mrepl-hook #'company-mode))
  :general
  (shell-leader
    "s" #'sly)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'lisp-mode-map
    "gr" #'sly-eval-buffer
    "gd" #'sly-edit-definition
    "gR" #'sly-who-calls)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'lisp-mode-map
    "a" '(sly-apropos :which-key "Apropos")
    "d" '(sly-describe-symbol :which-key "Describe symbol")
    "D" '(sly-documentation-lookup :which-key "Lookup on lispworks")
    "l" '(sly-load-file :which-key "Load file")
    "c" '(sly-compile-defun :which-key "Compile defun")
    "C" '(sly-compile-file :which-key "Compile file")
    "S" '(sly-mrepl-sync :which-key "Sync REPL"))
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'lisp-mode-map
    :infix "e"
    "b" #'sly-eval-buffer
    "e" #'sly-eval-last-expression
    "f" #'sly-eval-defun
    "r" #'sly-eval-region)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'sly-mrepl-mode-map
    "M-j" #'sly-mrepl-next-input-or-button
    "M-k" #'sly-mrepl-previous-input-or-button)
  (local-leader
    :keymaps 'sly-mrepl-mode-map
    "s" '(sly-mrepl-shortcut :which-key "Shortcut"))
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'sly-db-mode-map
    "\C-i" 'sly-db-cycle
    "g?" 'describe-mode
    "S" 'sly-db-show-frame-source
    "e" 'sly-db-eval-in-frame
    "d" 'sly-db-pprint-eval-in-frame
    "D" 'sly-db-disassemble
    "i" 'sly-db-inspect-in-frame
    "gj" 'sly-db-down
    "gk" 'sly-db-up
    (kbd "C-j") 'sly-db-down
    (kbd "C-k") 'sly-db-up
    "]]" 'sly-db-details-down
    "[[" 'sly-db-details-up
    (kbd "M-j") 'sly-db-details-down
    (kbd "M-k") 'sly-db-details-up
    "gg" 'sly-db-beginning-of-backtrace
    "G" 'sly-db-end-of-backtrace
    "t" 'sly-db-toggle-details
    "gr" 'sly-db-restart-frame
    "I" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-by-name
    "R" 'sly-db-return-from-frame
    "c" 'sly-db-continue
    "s" 'sly-db-step
    "n" 'sly-db-next
    "o" 'sly-db-out
    "b" 'sly-db-break-on-return
    "a" 'sly-db-abort
    "q" 'sly-db-quit
    "A" 'sly-db-break-with-system-debugger
    "B" 'sly-db-break-with-default-debugger
    "P" 'sly-db-print-condition
    "C" 'sly-db-inspect-condition
    "g:" 'sly-interactive-eval
    "0" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-0
    "1" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-1
    "2" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-2
    "3" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-3
    "4" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-4
    "5" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-5
    "6" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-6
    "7" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-7
    "8" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-8
    "9" 'sly-db-invoke-restart-9)
  (nmap
    :keymaps 'sly-inspector-mode-map
    "q" #'sly-inspector-quit))

Sly-ASDF

(use-package sly-asdf
  :straight t
  :after sly)

Emacs lisp

(use-package elisp-mode
  :defer t
  :pretty
  (lisp-mode-hook
   ("lambda" . "λ")
   ("t"      . "⊨")
   ("nil"    . "Ø")
   ("and"    . "∧")
   ("or"     . "")
   ("<="     . "≤")
   (">="     . "≥")
   ("defun"  . "ƒ")
   ("loop"   . "Σ")
   ("mapcar" . "→")
   ("reduce" . "↓")
   ("some"   . "∃")
   ("every"  . "∀"))
  (emacs-lisp-mode-hook
   ("lambda" . "λ")
   ("t"      . "⊨")
   ("nil"    . "Ø")
   ("and"    . "∧")
   ("or"     . "")
   ("defun"  . "ƒ")
   ("mapcar" . "→"))
  :general
  (:states '(normal motion visual)
   :keymaps '(emacs-lisp-mode-map lisp-mode-map)
   ")" #'sp-next-sexp
   "(" #'sp-previous-sexp)
  (nmmap
    :keymaps '(emacs-lisp-mode-map lisp-interaction-mode-map)
    "gr" #'eval-last-sexp)
  (vmap
    :keymaps '(emacs-lisp-mode-map lisp-interaction-mode-map)
    "gr" #'eval-region))

WIP Hydra like Lispy

A Hydra which uses the Lispy package (by abo-abo) to create a set of motions that allow movement around a lisp file easily.

2024-04-18: Still working on this, quite rough around the edges.

(use-package lispy
  :after (lisp-mode elisp-mode)
  :hydra
  (hydra-lispy
   nil "Move around quickly in Lisp"
   ("h" #'lispy-left)
   ("j" ("t" #'lispy-teleport)
    #'lispy-down)
   ("k" #'lispy-up)
   ("l" #'lispy-right)
   ("d" #'lispy-different)
   ("u" #'lispy-flow)
   ("o" #'lispy-oneline)
   ("m" #'lispy-multiline)
   ("N" #'lispy-narrow)
   ("W" #'lispy-widen)
   ("c" #'lispy-clone)
   ("fp" #'lispy-ace-paren)
   ("fs" #'lispy-ace-symbol :exit t)
   ("H" #'lispy-slurp)
   ("L" #'lispy-barf)
   ("M-h" #'lispy-move-left)
   ("M-j" #'lispy-move-down)
   ("M-k" #'lispy-move-up)
   ("M-l" #'lispy-move-right)
   ("C-g" nil))
  :general
  (nmmap
    :keymaps '(emacs-lisp-mode-map lisp-mode-map)
    "." #'hydra-lispy/body))

Lisp indent function

Add a new lisp indent function which indents newline lists more appropriately.

(use-package lisp-mode
  :defer t
  :config
  (defun +oreo/lisp-indent-function (indent-point state)
    (let ((normal-indent (current-column))
          (orig-point (point)))
      (goto-char (1+ (elt state 1)))
      (parse-partial-sexp (point) calculate-lisp-indent-last-sexp 0 t)
      (cond
       ;; car of form doesn't seem to be a symbol, or is a keyword
       ((and (elt state 2)
           (or (not (looking-at "\\sw\\|\\s_"))
              (looking-at ":")))
        (if (not (> (save-excursion (forward-line 1) (point))
                    calculate-lisp-indent-last-sexp))
            (progn (goto-char calculate-lisp-indent-last-sexp)
                   (beginning-of-line)
                   (parse-partial-sexp (point)
                                       calculate-lisp-indent-last-sexp 0 t)))
        ;; Indent under the list or under the first sexp on the same
        ;; line as calculate-lisp-indent-last-sexp.  Note that first
        ;; thing on that line has to be complete sexp since we are
        ;; inside the innermost containing sexp.
        (backward-prefix-chars)
        (current-column))
       ((and (save-excursion
             (goto-char indent-point)
             (skip-syntax-forward " ")
             (not (looking-at ":")))
           (save-excursion
             (goto-char orig-point)
             (looking-at ":")))
        (save-excursion
          (goto-char (+ 2 (elt state 1)))
          (current-column)))
       (t
        (let ((function (buffer-substring (point)
                                          (progn (forward-sexp 1) (point))))
              method)
          (setq method (or (function-get (intern-soft function)
                                        'lisp-indent-function)
                          (get (intern-soft function) 'lisp-indent-hook)))
          (cond ((or (eq method 'defun)
                    (and (null method)
                       (> (length function) 3)
                       (string-match "\\`def" function)))
                 (lisp-indent-defform state indent-point))
                ((integerp method)
                 (lisp-indent-specform method state
                                       indent-point normal-indent))
                (method
                 (funcall method indent-point state))))))))
  (setq-default lisp-indent-function #'+oreo/lisp-indent-function))