1. How Emacs changed
my Life
Yukihiro "Matz" Matsumoto
@yukihiro_matz
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

2.
1980
1/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

3.
I started programming
2/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

4.
3/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

5.
BASIC
4/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

6.
400 steps
5/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

7.
1988
6/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

8.
I met Emacs
7/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

9.
on Sun-3
8/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

10.
shared by 200 undergraduates
9/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

11.
I tried Emacs
10/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

12.
but I never used
11/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

13.
Emacs was prohibited
12/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

14.
It consumed too much
precious memory
13/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

15.
We are free to download free
software
14/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

16.
We are free to read the source
code
15/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

17.
I downloaded Emacs source
code
16/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

18.
and investigated
17/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

19.
Emacs was my first Lisp
interpreter
18/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

20.
I learned a lot about language
implementation from Emacs
19/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

21.
Embedding integers in
pointers
20/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

22.
Mark and sweep garbage
collection
21/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

23.
Calling convention between
Lisp and C
22/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

24.
I really understood how Lisp
work
23/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

25.
I was fascinated by Lisp
objects
24/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

26.
Lisp objects implemented by C
25/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

27.
Then I got a Sparc Station
26/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

28.
I started to use Emacs
27/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

29.
Emacs become part of me
28/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

30.
If I didn't like anything in
Emacs, I could change it
29/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

31.
Emacs is totally configurable
30/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

32.
Emacs made me realize
anything can be changed by a
programmer
31/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

33.
It is total freedom
32/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

34.
I could edit without thinking
key binding
33/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

35.
I didn't want to write anything
without Emacs
34/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

36.
Programs, Documents and
Mails
35/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

37.
so I wrote my own mail client
36/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

38.
named "cmail"
37/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

39.
in Emacs lisp
38/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

40.
It was my first non-trivial
(Emacs) Lisp program
39/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

41.
I used it everyday
40/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

42.
1993
41/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

43.
I started Ruby development
42/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

44.
with influence from Emacs
implementation
43/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

45.
Integers are coded in tagged
pointers
44/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

46.
It uses simple mark and
sweep garbage collector
45/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

47.
It uses similar object model to
Lisp
46/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

48.
Then I put Smalltalk-like OO
system on top
47/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

49.
For syntax, I wanted Algol/Ada/
Eiffel like one
48/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

50.
But as an Emacs addict,
I needed a language mode
49/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

51.
auto-indent was a must
50/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

52.
Back in 1993, there was no
auto-indenting language
mode for a language with
such syntax
51/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

53.
So I tried to write experimental
ruby-mode.el
52/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

54.
fighting with emacs lisp and
regular expression,
53/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

55.
for almost whole week
54/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

56.
I somehow succeeded to
implement auto-indentation
55/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

57.
for a language with "end"
delimiters
56/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

58.
If I couldn't make ruby-mode
to work
57/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

59.
the syntax of Ruby would
have changed
58/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

60.
to more C-like one
59/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

61.
too similar to other scripting
languages
60/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

62.
as a result, Ruby would not
have gained current popularity
61/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

63.
Summary
62/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

64.
1. Emacs taught me freedom
for software
63/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

65.
2. Emacs taught me how to
read code
64/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

66.
3. Emacs taught me power of
Lisp
65/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

67.
4. Emacs taught me how to
implement a language core
66/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

68.
5. Emacs taught me how to
implement a garbage collector
67/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

69.
6. Emacs helped me to code
and debug
68/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

70.
7. Emacs helped me to write
and edit text/mails/documents
69/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

71.
8. Emacs helped me to be a
effective programmer
70/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

72.
9. Emacs made me a hacker
71/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

73.
10. Emacs has changed my life
72/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

74.
forever
73/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2

75.
Thank you
74/74
Powered by Rabbit 0.9.2