Same, more than 10 years and I really should have known M-\ earlier :-) (or remembered it, I think I read about it earlier).
The thing is with Emacs, you can really optimize every key stroke if you want, but usually I'm too busy using it to program so I optimize the workflow only time to time.
OP here: I've been using Unix as my primary desktop, and Emacs as my primary editor, since 1988. I've known about these keybindings for a heckuva long time. But I keep encountering people who don't, and who are delighted to learn something new. I thought that it would be nice to share, that's all.
I learned Emacs first, and then became a vi user in the last few years. However, I notice that when I need to use emacs for some reason I can type the correct keyboard shortcuts, even though I don't remember anymore what the exact combination is ... It is a tryly amazing feeling.
This is not the first time someone has corrected me about default emacs keybindings. Considering that I probably set up that keybinding 15 years ago, it sure feels to me like it's part of emacs. I guess the next time I am trying to give some advice I need to do some software archeology on my .emacs first.
Yup, I did the same thing about 14 years ago. I was steadfastly using pico (yeah, yeah, don't ask) until I finally sat down and forced myself to spend a week in emacs, and finally "got it".
And I did it all again a few years later when (no longer using terminals or other people's computers) I finally bothered to map the control key to the left of "A", meta to underneath the '/' (sadly not always consistent on PC keyboards), stopped using the non-alpha keys, and realized how nice the "weird" keybindings always were.
I didn't know this! I just created a few keyboard shortcuts that I commonly use manually. Not perfect but it's gotten me over the hump. I may check out the emacs bindings on a slow day.
Personally my muscle memory adapted to this discrepancy, just as it did when starting with Vim (I started with Vim about 10 years ago and moved to Emacs+Evil about 3 years ago).
Now I'm somewhat the opposite, I expect everything else to have Emacs bindings, except when I'm directly editing code.
That's something Emacs has really gotten right: it doesn't force me to relearn keybindings that are so deep in my fingers they'll come out my elbows someday.
This may seem like a lot of work but at least for me this is all muscle memory, so I happen to type them without even realising what I am typing.
It is sort of like playing the piano. When you play your favourite song on the piano, you don’t think of the keys you are pressing. It is all muscle memory. You just let your brain and fingers do the work and your conscious being can simply enjoy the music. It’s like that with Emacs too!
Also, since this is Emacs we are talking about, of course we have the simpler alternative involving only a couple of keystrokes: C-0 c. This is discussed in the next section of the post.
that hinges on knowing what you're trying to do though right?
If Starcraft thought me to smush buttons super fast, that doesn't make it better than knowing which 11 buttons to hold down while typing my name in emacs to achieve the same result.
Are you saying it taught you to organise your actions better, or just how to press more buttons?
Oddly enough, I find that I have to put my hands on the keyboard to figure out what a particular emacs command is. My muscle memory has outlasted my 'brain' memory.
The thing is with Emacs, you can really optimize every key stroke if you want, but usually I'm too busy using it to program so I optimize the workflow only time to time.
reply