Tutorial by Examples

In Emacs, file has the same meaning as in the operating system, and is used for permanent storage of data. A buffer is the internal representation of a file being edited. Files can be read into buffers using C-x C-f, and buffers can be written to files using C-x C-s (save file at its current locatio...

Emacs's user interface uses terms that were coined early and can be unsettling to users used to a more modern terminology. Frame In Emacs, what is otherwise called a window (the area of the display used by a program) is called a frame. Emacs starts using one frame, though additional frames may b...

Emacs uses the terms point, mark, and region to provide more precision about the selected text and position of the cursor. By understanding these terms, it'll help you understand and use other operations and functions. The point is the place in a buffer where editing (i.e. insertion) is currently t...

Killing and yanking more or less correspond to what is usually called "cutting" and "pasting". Killing killing means deleting text, and copying it to the kill-ring (which could be seen as a sort of "clipboard" in the "cut & paste" terminology). The kill ...

Major mode Emacs can adapt its behaviour to the specific type of text edited in a buffer. The set of specific Emacs customizations for a particular type of text is called a "major mode". Each buffer has exactly one major mode depending on its content type. Major modes can change the mean...