Re: Suggestion: Ace-window in Emacs core for switching windows?

[Jeremy Bryant]

Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net> writes:

> Jeremy Bryant <jb@jeremybryant.net> writes:
>
>> Stefan Kangas <stefankangas@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net> writes:
>>>
>>>> Given that we already have windmove, would the addition of ace-window
>>>> really change that much?
>>>
>>> The same argument could be used for many packages that we have in core.
>>> Who needs Gnus when you have rmail, and so on.  The packages do
>>> basically the same thing, but in very different ways.
>
> That is fair IMO, because the ways /are/ very different.  I just wanted
> to clarify, if the method employed by ace-window is different enough to
> be interesting as an alternative to windmove. 


>> FWIW, my personal reason for using ace-window is due to helping with
>> RSI.  I find that the facility to navigate windows by staying on the
>> home row reduces the travel distance on the keyboard.
>>
>> I recognise that this may not be as essential for other users, and offer
>> these remarks just for wider understanding.
>
> My question is what your experience with windmove has been, and what
> advantage ace-window has over windmove.  E.g. my main configuration
> for

Happy to answer your question:
I used windmove before I started using ace-window, I concur that it is a
useful and intuitive package, and indeed more understandable.

I also like the fact that ace-window naturally scales up; in the case of
2 windows, M-x ace-window (bound to your key of choice), reduces to
simply the equivalent of M-x other-window.
For N>=3 windows, you get the interface explained before.

> windmove is
>
>   (setopt windmove-default-keybindings '(nil . nil))
>
> that binds window switching directly to the arrow keys.  I don't know of
> anyone else who does this (and I know of a few colleges who got annoyed
> at me for doing this), but I think it is neat.  What I am trying to say

I agree it's neat.
But in my personal use case, as explained, I wish to stay on the home row, so I
almost don't use the arrows for anything.

> is that there might be a windmove configuration that would serve you
> just as well, but you just haven't found it yet.  In that case, we need

Yes, it could well be true that there is a another interesting configuration.

> to document the features better, instead of going through the process of
> adding more packages -- as we have seen, that can take a while.

Yes, I accept the bar to adding new packages to Emacs is high

>
>> From ace-window.el:
>> ;; By default, ace-window uses numbers for window labels so the window
>> ;; labeling is intuitively ordered.  But if you prefer to type keys on
>> ;; your home row for quicker access, use this setting:
>> ;;
>> ;;    (setq aw-keys '(?a ?s ?d ?f ?g ?h ?j ?k ?l))
>>
>>
>> I've adapted it to Dvorak layout as:
>> (setq aw-keys '(?a ?s ?d ?f ?g ?h ?j ?k ?l))