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Miscellaneous Goodies

Minimizing Startup Time

Emacs Daemon

One way to avoid all perceived boot time, is to start emacs during the system boot as a daemon. This is the option I have gone with.

All you need to do add the Emacs daemon to auto-start:

emacs --daemon

I use systemd instead. For this option, create a user systemd service file with the following content:

[Unit]
Description=Emacs: the extensible, self-documenting text editor
Documentation=man:emacs(1) info:Emacs

[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/bin/emacs --daemon
ExecStop=/usr/bin/emacsclient --eval "(progn (setq kill-emacs-hook nil) (kill emacs))"
Environment=DISPLAY=:%i
TimeoutStartSec=0
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

To enable the service on startup, just do systemd enable --user emacsd.service.

Profiling with esup

Esup can perform a profile of your current configuration. Esup is obtainable over MELPA, so go ahead and use use-package like we normally do:

(use-package esup
  :defer t)

Next, just execute esup with M-x esup. A separate emacs process will start, and the profiling results will be returned in a separate window, which would look like this:

./images/esup.png

You can take note of the packages that take the longest amount of time to initialize, and weigh their alternatives. For example, I might contemplate removing git-gutter+ or replacing it with a more lightweight alternative.

Micro-optimizations with keyfreq

Once you’ve determined your Emacs style, you begin to use the same keybindings again and again. Understanding which functions are invoked most often, allows you to optimize your workflow by binding them to shorter, more accessible key combinations.

keyfreq monitors your keypresses during daily Emacs usage.

(use-package keyfreq
  :config
  (keyfreq-mode 1)
  (keyfreq-autosave-mode 1))

After a period of Emacs usage, run M-x keyfreq-show. Perform micro-optimizations based on the results. After which, M-x keyfreq-reset to rinse and repeat.

Remapping Capslock

Without doubt, the capslock key is one of the most underused keys (that is if you’re normal). Do yourself a favour and remap it to something more useful – I recommend the elusive Ctrl key. On the Mac, you can remap it in the keyboard preferences pane.

Ergonomic Keybindings

Anyone who spends enough time at the keyboard is at risk of repetitive strain injury, or RSI. Spend some time reflecting on how often you stretch out your pinky or move your thumb into awkward positions to press a key.

M-x

Let’s face it. M-x is actually pretty damn hard to hit. x is highly inaccessible, not even on alternative keyboard layouts like Dvorak.

In prelude, M-x is bound to C-x C-m. I bind M-x to M-a, which is originally bound to backward-sentence, which I don’t use much at all. Both are viable options.

ergoemacs

ergoemacs was developed to bring familiar keys to Emacs, as well as to reduce risk of RSI. While you could follow the instructions on the webpage to have it installed, I recommend studying their keybindings and adopting the ones you think you’ll like.