Emacs close paren jumps to already existing close-paren when editing clojure code

Question

If having this piece of code in an emacs buffer:

(if (> x 5
    true
    false))

When I try to edit it in order to fix the parenthesis, something very annoying is happening! When I try to add a closing parenthesis to the if condition, emacs is making the cursor jump to the closing parenthesis after 'false' instead of adding a new parenthesis after 5.

Is this part of some mode, maybe clojure-mode? Do you know how may I fix this? What is this useful for?

Answer 1

It sounds like you're using paredit. Did you install it like recommended on the project page?

As to what it's good for? It's good for editing lists. But you have to buy into whe whole system, or you'll end up really confused. See the wiki page.

Do you have this section in your ~/.emacs.el? Just remove it.

;; (require 'paredit) if you didn't install via package.el
(defun turn-on-paredit () (paredit-mode 1))
(add-hook 'clojure-mode-hook 'turn-on-paredit)

Answer 2

Yes, paredit is "different". It will always make sure your parenthesis balance. See http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/PareditCheatsheet .

For your code, place the cursor beneath the first closing parenthesis and press C-left. Repeat the exercise and it will have moved to where you want it.

Cut&paste (kill & yank in emacs lingo) also allow you to manually screw with the balanced parenthesis, so until you get used to paredit it may be easier to use. Good luck!