Re: Emacs command frequencies:

[Paul R]

Hello Nikolaj,

I found your mail interesting and I would like to express my opinion on
2 points below.

Nikolaj> - I am very careful when rebinding default keys. Not because
Nikolaj> I think the defaults are excellent, but because once you rebind
Nikolaj> one, you likely have to rebind many more. Unfortunately, this
Nikolaj> makes rebinding common keys less worthwhile. You can't just
Nikolaj> rebind the top 25, you'll have to rebind many more. If you want
Nikolaj> to use M-x or C-c, it would even be thousands.

That should not happen, this means there is either a missing level of
indirection in the maps, or a mode not using the correct indirection.
I think there is a level of indirection as far as C-x is concerned,
although I'm not sure. Making sure every levels of indirection exist and
every bindings use them correctly is a prerequisite for a deep change in
emacs bindings. I think it is worth the effort, and most of it can be
automated.

Nikolaj> - Commands that are repeated frequently should have the highest
Nikolaj> priority for one-button keys. That's why I personally think
Nikolaj> save-buffer and kill-this-buffer would be a waste for single
Nikolaj> keys. On the other hand other-window has a terrible default for
Nikolaj> the same reason.

I very often use context-sticky commands for this type of thing, just
like C-x e e e ... e. So I would use C-x o o o ... o. Pressing anything
else than o would exit this sticky context. I find it both intuitive and
efficient on every places I need it.

regards


-- 
  Paul