Emacs: Friend or Foe?

There are several small items that you might want to configure to depart from Emacs' default behavior. I'm going to list the code for these briefly below; none of them involve new concepts other than those discussed above. The comments should describe these customizations adequately.

;; Allow M-j, M-k, M-h, M-l to move cursor,
;; similar to vi.
(global-set-key "\M-j" 'next-line)
(global-set-key "\M-k" 'previous-line)
(global-set-key "\M-h" 'backward-char)
(global-set-key "\M-l" 'forward-char)
;; Commonly used buffer commands, requiring
;; less use of CTRL
;; (For the ergonomically-minded.)
(global-set-key "\C-xf" 'find-file)
(global-set-key "\C-xs" 'save-buffer)
;; Open a line below the current one; as in "o" in vi
(defun my-open-line ()
  (interactive "*")
  (end-of-line nil)
  (insert ?\n))
(global-set-key "\C-o" 'my-open-line)
;; Make the current buffer the only visible one,
;; and recenter it.
(defun my-recenter-frame ()
   (interactive "")
   (delete-other-windows)
   (recenter))
(global-set-key "\C-l 'my-recenter-frame)
;; Save all buffers and kill Emacs, without prompting
(defun my-save-buffers-kill-emacs (arg)
   (interactive "P")
   (save-buffers-kill-emacs t))
(global-set-key "\C-x\C-c" 'my-save-buffers-kill-emacs)
;; Preserve original save-buffers-kill-emacs,
;; in case we don't want
;; to save what we were doing
(global-set-key "\C-x\C-x" 'save-buffers-kill-emacs)
;; Real Programmers don't use backup files
(setq make-backup-files 'nil)
;; But Real Programmers do use RCS. Includes
;; rcsid[] definition in a C source file
(defun my-c-insert-rcsid ()
   (interactive "*")
   (insert "static char rcsid[] = \"@(#)$Header$\";"))
(define-key c-mode-map "\C-c\C-x" 'my-c-insert-rcsid)
;; Finally, prevent next-line command from adding
;; newlines at the
;; end of the document. Instead, ring the bell when
;; at the end of
;; the buffer.
(setq next-line-add-newlines 'nil)

I hope that this whirlwind tour through the world of Emacs customization has been useful, or, at least entertaining. I've found many of the above modifications to be invaluable. Remember the old saying: Have Elisp, will travel.

That being said, it's back to vi for a while.

Getting the Emacs LISP Manual