emacs-which-key VS helm

I think which-key already solves exactly that: https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key

As for the "complicated keybindings general" -- I assume because remembering things like C-x C-s is hard because of the shifted keystrokes? I get that, and there is in fact a solution for less used keybindings which I love, called 'which-key' https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key

I would recommend installing the which-key package, which is a fantastic discoverability aid. If you ever want an example config to get some inspiration, I have one here: Emacs Bedrock

Make sure you have which-key installed and turned on. When using a keybinding that has a prefix (like C-x or C-c), it displays all the keybindings that start with that prefix.

which-key for the shortcut menus

there are some packages to help with the keybings, which-key shows a list of keybind and its command and (guru-mode)[https://github.com/bbatsov/guru-mode] enforces to use the "best" keybind, for exemple, it forces you to use C-n to move the cursor, blocking you to use the down key, and if you press the down key, it show a text in minibuffer to the best keybind.

Thanks for confirming, I think it's an issue in which-key itself: https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key/pull/166

If you haven't already, definitely check out the package which-key.

> even though I'm a terminal user ... I really like the discoverability of GUIs, and that's where a good GUI is unbeatable by CLI.

CLI has poor discoverability? Sure; but even on the terminal, discoverability can still be good:

A couple of nice examples of discoverability in keyboard-focused programs:

- emacs' which-key[0]; there's a vim port[1] too. This shows you (some) of the available keybindings for the next input, and a short label. So you don't have to remember what `SPC h p ...` or all the options under `SPC f...`.. but it still helps to recall that `SPC h` is for 'help' related commands, `SPC f` for file related commands.

- emacs' magit[2][3]. Magit is so good at discoverability, that I'd rate it as the best tool for using git with. I've learned more about git from using it.

[0] https://github.com/justbur/emacs-which-key

[1] https://github.com/liuchengxu/vim-which-key

[2] https://magit.vc/

[3] https://emacsair.me/2017/09/01/magit-walk-through/

Am I right in thinking this is quite similar to which-key?

(setq inhibit-startup-message t) (setq visible-bell t) (setq make-backup-files nil) ; Disable the creation of ~ files (setq auto-save-default nil) ;; stop creating those #auto-save# files (setq display-line-numbers-mode t) ;(scroll-bar-mode -1) ; Disable visible scrollbar. Only for visual GUI ;(tool-bar-mode -1) ; Disable the toolbar. Only for visual GUI ;(tooltip-mode -1) ; Disable tooltips (menu-bar-mode -1) ; Disable the menu bar. Only for visual GUI ;(set-fringe-mode 10) ;(setq visible-bell t) ; Mac OSX specific ;mac-function-modifier ;mac-control-modifier) ;mac-command-modifier ;mac-option-modifier ;mac-right-command-modifier ;mac-right-control-modifier ;mac-right-option-modifier ;; key bindings (when (eq system-type 'darwin) ;; mac specific settings (set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8) (set-keyboard-coding-system 'utf-8) (prefer-coding-system 'utf-8) (setq mac-command-modifier 'meta) (setq mac-control-modifier 'control) (global-set-key [kp-delete] 'delete-char) ;; sets fn-delete to be right-delete ) ;; ORG Mode (global-set-key (kbd "C-c l") #'org-store-link) (global-set-key (kbd "C-c a") #'org-agenda) (global-set-key (kbd "C-c c") #'org-capture) ;; packages (require 'package) (add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")) ;; Comment/uncomment this line to enable MELPA Stable if desired. See `package-archive-priorities` ;; and `package-pinned-packages`. Most users will not need or want to do this. ;;(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa-stable" . "https://stable.melpa.org/packages/") t) (package-initialize) ;; LSP-mode config (setq package-selected-packages '(lsp-mode yasnippet lsp-treemacs helm-lsp projectile hydra flycheck company avy which-key helm-xref dap-mode)) (when (cl-find-if-not #'package-installed-p package-selected-packages) (package-refresh-contents) (mapc #'package-install package-selected-packages)) ;; sample `helm' configuration use https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/ for details (helm-mode) (require 'helm-xref) (define-key global-map [remap find-file] #'helm-find-files) (define-key global-map [remap execute-extended-command] #'helm-M-x) (define-key global-map [remap switch-to-buffer] #'helm-mini) (which-key-mode) (add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'lsp) (add-hook 'c++-mode-hook 'lsp) (lsp-treemacs-sync-mode 1) (setq gc-cons-threshold (* 100 1024 1024) read-process-output-max (* 1024 1024) treemacs-space-between-root-nodes nil company-idle-delay 0.0 company-minimum-prefix-length 1 lsp-idle-delay 0.1) ;; clangd is fast (with-eval-after-load 'lsp-mode (add-hook 'lsp-mode-hook #'lsp-enable-which-key-integration) (require 'dap-cpptools) (yas-global-mode)) ;; theme (load-theme 'modus-vivendi t)

Oh wow wow wow! I just checked your commit on the repository. That's so amazing. I really appreciate that. And I also found a convenient donation link.

Next you "only" have to remember (elisp) function names. "Completion UIs" like ivy/counsel, icomplete, helm or vertico/consult, give you a nice auto completion list on M-x (choose the one of them, you like the most). Some of those Completion UIs will display existing keybindings and a short documentation for commands, near the auto complete candidates. So you will start to remember more keybindings without "learning sessions", just because invoking functions via keybindings is much faster (more convenient).

I use imenu, and helm-imenu to filter out the list interactively. Instead of scrolling through, you "jump" to an item via completion like helm-imenu, which filters all headings interactively in real-time as you type.

I personally use Helm, so I can manage all files (open, delete, copy, rename, etc) all from completing prompt directly, I don't need to open Dired for that.

Helm 1.2 release was in September 2011: https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/releases/tag/v1.2

I updated helm recently and when trying to use it after startup I was hitting "Defining as dynamic an already lexical var" . debugger showed me it was due to `ffap-machine-p-local` not being defined yet, digging into helm-lib.el i found that it is due to the ffap let bindings added recently to `helm-guess-filename-at-point` - the first one was to address this issue https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/issues/2574 and more recently two more ffaps were let bound. I can fix by adding `(require 'ffap)` in the helm `use-package` `:config` -- wondering if this is the recommended way or if it might be something worth living inside helm-lib.el near the top where it requires cl-lib already?

Related to https://github.com/emacs-helm/helm/discussions/2577

Yes, Helm. Probably others like Embark.