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Coming from Emacs or Vim

imp takes its editing from Vim and its idea from Emacs: the editor is written in its own language, and you can change any of it while it runs. Here's what carries over, and what doesn't.

From Vim

Your hands already know imp. Motions, operators, text objects, counts, ., registers, macros, marks, visual mode, / search, :s, :g, folds, splits and buffers all work as in Vim. See Vim.

What's different:

  • Configuration is Scheme, not Vimscript. init.scm takes the place of .vimrc. The :map family still works, from the command line or with (run-ex! "nnoremap ..."). See Configuring init.scm.
  • Space is the leader. SPC opens a menu of everything you can do next, and M-x runs any command by name. See Leader and modes.
  • Plugins are packages. Git, Org, a file browser, language servers, completion and terminals come built in. Extras are packages; see Packages.
  • Some mappings aren't supported: :omap, :xmap, :smap, :cmap and :tmap, and the <buffer> and <expr> arguments.
  • No undo by time. :earlier 10m and :later don't exist, and undo history isn't kept after you close a file.

From Emacs

What feels familiar:

  • The editor is its own language. Most of imp is Scheme. SPC h f shows any function's docs and where it's defined, and you can redefine it on the spot. See Live Scheme and help.
  • Evaluate as you go. In a Scheme buffer, SPC e e runs the form at the cursor, SPC e b the buffer, and SPC e i opens a REPL.
  • Hooks and advice. add-hook! and advice-add! work much like Emacs's.
  • The packages you'd miss. A Magit-style git interface (SPC g g), Org mode with an agenda and capture, and an editable file browser like dired. See Git, Org and File browser.
  • M-x. It lists every command, with its key and what it does.

What's different:

  • Scheme, not Elisp. imp can't run Emacs's packages or your Emacs config.
  • Vim keys by default. Press C-z to switch to Emacs state, where keys insert text and Emacs keys edit: C-x C-f, C-x C-s, C-k, C-y, C-s and the rest. C-z switches back.

To start in Emacs state every time, add this to init.scm:

(set-option! 'editing-style "emacs")

See Emacs state for the keys it has.