Emacs: move to a certain character, forwards and backwards

Question

In vim, I can use f to move the cursor forwards to a certain character and F to do this backwards. How to do it in Emacs? I know you can use C-z or M-z to delete until a certain character, and you can also first delete then paste to achieve a motion. But 1) is there a better way to do this, only movement, without delete? and 2) how to do this backwards?

Answer 1

Forward incremental search is C-s, and reverse incremental search is C-r.

Responding to comment:

To delete from the current position backwards to a specific character, you can use

C-<space> to mark the current position, then C-r <char> <RET> to locate the search character, and C-w to delete between current position and mark.

To get more help on doing things in emacs, you should look at the tutorial. Typing C-h t will open the tutorial in a new buffer.

Answer 2

jump-char was designed specifically for this task.

To delete, use zap-to-char or activate the mark by pressing C-spc before jumping, then C-w.