Simple Emacs Starter Kit

.gitignore

README.el
backups/
elpa/
projectile-bookmarks.eld
recentf
smex-items

README.org

Settings

Package stuff

Add melpa to the package list and initialize our packages

(require 'package)
(add-to-list 'package-archives
             '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/"))
(package-initialize)

Set up use-package which is a nicer way of organizing config.

;; Ensure use-package is installed
(unless (package-installed-p 'use-package)
  (package-refresh-contents)
  (package-install 'use-package))

;; Configure and load use-package
(setq use-package-always-ensure t)
(require 'diminish)

(eval-when-compile
  (defvar use-package-verbose t)
  (require 'use-package))

Appearance

Load a theme

(load-theme 'tango-dark)
(use-package monokai-theme
  :disabled t
  :config
  (load-theme 'monokai t))

Set a font if we’re in a gui.

(if (window-system)
  (set-frame-font "Source Code Pro 10"))

Add column and line numbers to the modeline

(column-number-mode 1)
(line-number-mode 1)

This simply changes the name of some of the major modes in the modeline so we don’t need to see the whole thing.

(defmacro diminish-major-mode (mode new-name)
  `(add-hook (intern (concat (symbol-name ,mode) "-hook"))
             '(lambda () (setq mode-name ,new-name))))

(diminish-major-mode 'lisp-interaction-mode "λ»")
(diminish-major-mode 'emacs-lisp-mode "Eλ")
(diminish-major-mode 'lisp-mode "λ")

Disable all the extra menus and crap

(menu-bar-mode -1)
(tool-bar-mode -1)
(scroll-bar-mode -1)

smart-mode-line is a simple modeline which is a huge improvement over the default

(use-package smart-mode-line
  :config
  (setq sml/no-confirm-load-theme t
        sml/theme 'dark)
  (sml/setup))

Navigation

ido, or interactively-do, is a nice replacement for most internal prompts.

(use-package ido
  :config
  ;; smex is a better replacement for M-x
  (use-package smex
    :bind
    ("M-x" . smex)
    ("M-X" . smex-major-mode-commands))

  ;; Use ido everywhere we can
  (use-package ido-ubiquitous
    :config
    (ido-ubiquitous-mode 1))

  ;; This makes ido work vertically
  (use-package ido-vertical-mode
    :config
    (setq ido-vertical-define-keys 'C-n-C-p-up-down-left-right
          ido-vertical-show-count t)
    (ido-vertical-mode 1))

  ;; This adds flex matching to ido
  (use-package flx-ido
    :config
    (flx-ido-mode 1)
    (setq ido-enable-flex-matching t
          flx-ido-threshold 1000))

  ;; Turn on ido everywhere we can
  (ido-mode 1)
  (ido-everywhere 1)

  (setq resize-mini-windows t
        ido-use-virtual-buffers t
        ido-auto-merge-work-directories-length -1))

Project based navigation is really nice. All key binds for projectile are prefixed with C-p p.

(use-package projectile
  :diminish projectile-mode
  :config (projectile-global-mode))

This makes it so when you get to the top or the bottom it will only scroll by a few lines, rather than a page at a time.

(use-package smooth-scrolling
  :config
  (setq smooth-scroll-margin 5
        scroll-conservatively 101
        scroll-preserve-screen-position t
        auto-window-vscroll nil
        scroll-margin 5)
  (smooth-scrolling-mode 1))

undo-tree improves undos so you can actually undo more than the directly previous action.

(use-package undo-tree
  :diminish undo-tree-mode
  :config
  (global-undo-tree-mode 1))

Which-key will make it easier to find commands when they’re partially typed in.

(use-package which-key
  :diminish which-key-mode
  :config
  (which-key-mode 1)
  (setq which-key-idle-delay 0.5
        which-key-popup-type 'side-window
        which-key-side-window-location 'right))

Programming

VCS stuff, like status in the gutter and reverting of buffers if they’ve changed on disk (like during a checkout) and haven’t been modified in emacs.

(use-package diff-hl
  :config
  ;; We only need diff-hl-margin-mode if we're in a terminal.
  (global-diff-hl-mode 1)
  (unless (window-system)
    (diff-hl-margin-mode 1)))

;; Revert buffers if they've changed on disk
(global-auto-revert-mode 1)
(setq auto-revert-verbose nil)

General programming settings and hooks

;;; Programming stuff
(which-function-mode 1)

;; Most programming modes are derived from prog-mode, so common hooks
;; can go here
(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook
          (lambda ()
            (linum-mode 1)
            (setq show-trailing-whitespace)))

;; We only want to set the linum-format if we're in a terminal.
(unless (window-system)
  (setq linum-format "%4d\u2502"))

This will make sure things like TODO, FIXME, and XXX are noticed

(use-package fic-mode
  :diminish fic-mode
  :config
  (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'fic-mode))

Random syntax things

(use-package web-mode
  :mode
  "\\.jinja\\'"
  "\\.html\\'")

(use-package less-css-mode
  :mode "\\.less\\'")

(use-package js2-mode
  :mode "\\.js\\'")

(use-package cmake-mode
  :mode
  "CMakeLists\\.txt\\'"
  "\\.cmake\\'")

(use-package json-mode
  :mode "\\.json\\'")

(use-package lua-mode
  :mode "\\.lua\\'")

(use-package markdown-mode
  :mode ("\\.md\\'" . gfm-mode))

(use-package php-mode
  :mode "\\.php\\'")

(use-package racket-mode
  :mode "\\.rkt\\'")

(use-package ruby-mode
  :mode
  "Rakefile"
  "\\.rb\\'")

(use-package systemd
  :mode ("\\.service\'" . systemd-mode))

Random Stuff

General annoyances. (salute)

;; Ensure backups make it to a different folder so we don't litter all
;; our directories with them.
(setq save-place-file (concat user-emacs-directory "places")
      backup-directory-alist `(("." . ,(concat user-emacs-directory
                                               "backups"))))

;; Improve buffer names when duplicate files are opened
(require 'uniquify)
(setq uniquify-buffer-name-style 'forward)

;; Show parens
(show-paren-mode 1)

;; Make it so you only need to type 'y' or 'n' not 'yes' or 'no'
(fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p)

;; Damn visual bell
(setq ring-bell-function 'ignore)

;; Support the mouse and colors in the terminal
(xterm-mouse-mode 1)

;; We don't care about the startup screen. Just give us a scratch buffer.
(setq initial-buffer-choice t
      inhibit-startup-screen t)

init.el

;; init -- belak's emacs init.el
;;
;;; Commentary:
;; This file is only to bootstrap into README.org and set up some
;; basic timing.
;;
;;; Code:

;; Define the start time so we can measure how long loading took later.
(defconst emacs-start-time (current-time))

;; Turn on debugging. This is for ensuring we get decent errors when
;; the startup is messed up.
(setq debug-on-error t
      debug-on-quit t)

;; Load the org-mode file. This has everything aside from the timing.
(require 'org)
(org-babel-load-file
 (expand-file-name "README.org" user-emacs-directory))

;; Now that we're done loading, we disable debugging since we don't
;; need it any more
(setq debug-on-error nil
      debug-on-quit nil)

;; Now that we're done loading everything, print how long it took.
(when window-system
  (let ((elapsed (float-time (time-subtract (current-time) emacs-start-time))))
    (message "Loading %s...done (%.3fs)" load-file-name elapsed))

  (add-hook 'after-init-hook
            `(lambda ()
               (let ((elapsed (float-time (time-subtract (current-time) emacs-start-time))))
                 (message "Loading %s...done (%.3fs) [after-init]"
                          ,load-file-name elapsed)))
            t))

;;; init.el ends here

Thanks

No problem! I honestly forgot about this until I got the notification. My current setup has gotten a bit more complex... maybe I should come back to basics at some point.