Emacs from Scratch Part Two

Alternatively, there’s tramp so you’re only opening the file from a remote path with emacs running locally

In the generic (integrated over a 20-year timespan), actually, yes, I do use other peoples' computers often. I do that less since Covid, since everything has switch to working-from-home, but:

* Nowadays, technical development occupies a plurality, but not a majority, of my time.

* Much of the time on technical development is spent mentoring people more junior than myself, rather than coding myself.

In the in-person version of the above, I'd spend a lot of time sitting next to someone, either at a keyboard or a whiteboard.

Working with the right junior developer (bright, inexperienced, ambitious, open-minded), I find it very rewarding, and they do too:

* I'll usually pose a problem to them to solve.

* They'll come back with questions, or perhaps a little bit of prototype code.

* I'll usually explain some complex algorithm, piece of systems programming, or architecture, with a lot of theoretical background about not just what but why.

* They'll implement that, or sometimes, something better I didn't think of.

* I'll review their code in-depth, line-by-line, sitting together talking through it.

* They'll make changes, and by that point, we'll usually be ready to merge.

At this point, people half my age implement things faster than I could. Part of that is youthful energy, but just as much are distractions (meetings with stakeholders, home/family/etc. constraints, administrative overhead, keeping funding flowing, etc.). I put a lot of energy into making sure they have room to focus.

For me, it's rewarding to see systems built quickly, and it's rewarding to see the level of personal growth which comes with this. Very obviously, a lot of information flows both ways too, and I learn a lot through the process.

The right junior developers find this very rewarding as well. We're solving hard problems, and it's a much faster, deeper way to learn than e.g. a grad school course. The process also results in very high quality code.

Footnote: A lot of this requires building a close personal relationship and a lot of trust to work well too. That's important to me too. If I spent 40+ hours at work, I want a village. I feel better in that sort of workplace, than a 3-year mercenary-style career job-hopping and keeping a clean work/life split. I am not pushing that on anyone else, but the way my brain is wired, that's the kind of workplace I feel good in. For someone to sit at my terminal (or vice-versa) it's very intrusive with people one doesn't know well and trust.

> Personally, I do 99.9% of development on one machine. If I need to edit a file while ssh-ing, I use vim.

You don't find tramp-mode sufficient for remote editing?

In a twist worthy of a Christmas fairytale miracle, the emacs users recognised the error of their ways, and embraced the workflow their hearts had secretly always longed for: vim. Peace returned to the kingdom, RSI was defeated, they lived happily ever after and had many children.

And a whole lot of other config which most people wouldn't need.

By the way, notice that use-package is now built into emacs (you don't need to install it since Emacs 29).

Finally, an Emacs guide for people like me.

The .ttf is a simple Google search away.