Emacs 29 better defaults

init.el

;;;; Better defaults for Emacs to help get new users up and running quickly.
;;;; This configuration is meant to help solve some common usability problems,
;;;; particularly with Emacs's default completion framework, cluttered UI,
;;;; and package installation. Inspired by the Better Defaults repo:
;;;; https://git.sr.ht/~technomancy/better-defaults.
;;;;
;;;; Annotations are included for various options, but I recommend using
;;;; the built-in Emacs help to learn more about each configuration setting.
;;;; For example, `C-h v` or `M-x describe-variable`.

;; Performance tweaking
(setq gc-cons-threshold 100000000) ; 100 mb
(setq read-process-output-max (* 1024 1024)) ; 1mb

;; Remove UI clutter
(menu-bar-mode -1)
(tool-bar-mode -1)
(scroll-bar-mode -1)
(setq inhibit-startup-screen t)

;; Set your font preferences here
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 120)

;; On OSX swap meta and super for better keyboard ergonomics. This is
;; great if you use a Windows-style keyboard on Mac OS.
(defmacro if-osx (&rest body)
  `(if (eq system-type 'darwin)
       (progn ,@body)))

(if-osx
 (setq mac-command-modifier 'meta)
 (setq mac-option-modifier 'super))
 
;; Unique buffer names for matching files, very useful when dealing
;; with lots of index.ts, for example
(require 'uniquify)

;; Misc. settings
;; Use `C-h v` to read the docs on the individual options
(electric-pair-mode t)
(show-paren-mode 1)
(setq-default indent-tabs-mode nil)
(save-place-mode t)
(savehist-mode t)
(recentf-mode t)
(global-auto-revert-mode t)

;; Display line numbers when in programming modes
(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'display-line-numbers-mode)

(setq uniquify-buffer-name-style 'forward
      window-resize-pixelwise t
      frame-resize-pixelwise t
      load-prefer-newer t
      backup-by-copying t
      custom-file (expand-file-name "custom.el" user-emacs-directory))

;; Completion framework, swap this out to Vertico/Ivy/Helm if you'd like
(fido-vertical-mode t)

(unless package-archive-contents
  (package-refresh-contents))

;; Great looking theme
(use-package modus-themes
  :ensure t
  :init
  (modus-themes-load-themes)
  :config
  (modus-themes-load-vivendi))

;; Code-completion at point
(use-package company
  :ensure t
  :hook (after-init . global-company-mode)
  :custom
  (company-idle-delay 0))
  
;; Better minibuffer completions and project searching
(use-package vertico
  :ensure t
  :custom
  (vertico-cycle t)
  (read-buffer-completion-ignore-case t)
  (read-file-name-completion-ignore-case t)
  (completion-styles '(basic substring partial-completion flex))
  :init
  (vertico-mode))

(use-package savehist
  :init
  (savehist-mode))

(use-package marginalia
  :after vertico
  :ensure t
  :init
  (marginalia-mode))

;; Use emacsclient to open files in an already-running Emacs process
(require 'server)
(unless (server-running-p) (server-start))

How to install Emacs (with native compilation)

Install via https://github.com/d12frosted/homebrew-emacs-plus:

brew tap d12frosted/emacs-plus
brew install emacs-plus@29 --with-native-comp

Then, create ~/.emacs.d/ and drop this init.el file into that directory:

mkdir ~/.emacs.d/
curl https://gist.githubusercontent.com/mgmarlow/c298502c0f84d1c06c881b8de404b7c7/raw -o ~/.emacs.d/init.el