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Should I learn to use Emacs with no intention to learn Lisp, if my other option is to get familiar with vi?
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Richard Stallman chose Lisp as the extension language for his rewrite of Emacs (the original used Text Editor and Corrector (TECO) as its extension language) because of its powerful features, including the ability to treat functions as data.
Emacs Lisp is not a purely functional programming language since side effects are common. Instead, Emacs Lisp is considered an early functional flavored language. The following features contribute to the functional flavor: its notation is functional (including a lambda calculus-like notation – see LambdaExpression)
Learning a little Emacs Lisp will help you use Emacs more effectively: You will better understand the documentation and online help for functions and variables. You will be able to consult the Lisp source code for a function or variable, in order to understand it still better.
In a fresh Emacs window, type ESC-x lisp-interaction-mode . That will turn your buffer into a LISP terminal; pressing Ctrl+j will feed the s-expression that your cursor (called "point" in Emacs manuals' jargon) stands right behind to LISP, and will print the result.
Yes. With all the resources out there (FAQ, Emacs wiki, and the Stack Exchange Emacs site) and custom (M-x custom). You don't need to know Lisp. You just cut/paste what you find.
You can drive a Ferrari/Yugo without knowing the internals of the combustion engine or how a Formula One transmission works...
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