Should I learn to use Emacs? [duplicate]

Question

I use IntelliJ IDEA as a code editor, so this isn't to replace that. I use vi or vim for simple text editing on our servers and standard unix commands to find files, get directory listings etc.

Colleagues swear by emacs but I wonder just whether it's worth my time learning it. Just how much more productive will i be?

EDIT: It's been pointed out that this question has been asked before

Answer 1

I've used emacs for more than twenty years. As much as possible, I try to use it for all my typing needs, including, as Fu86 mentioned, reading email, news, etc, as well as notes, to-do lists, writing code, running compiles, etc. Since emacs is much older than the extensible vim (as opposed to the relatively non-extensible vi), it has a much larger collection of extension modes covering almost any purpose you can imagine. That said, it's fair to say that serious use of emacs can be considered a lifestyle choice, in that it takes a considerable amount of effort and time to become fluent with the tool.

My real answer is that, as far as editors (and any other category of tool) go, you should find one that is powerful and flexible, and then take the time to become a skilled user of that tool. Your tool of choice can be either vim or emacs, or perhaps something else, but in any event, take the time to learn it well. Personally, I've chosen to master emacs, and I've never been disappointed when I've wanted it to handle some new situation for me.

Having never worked seriously in Java, I can't comment from direct experience on how well it replaces tools like eclipse and intellij. I'm old enough to be skeptical of these highly-integrated tools (even without experience with them), and there are emacs modes that provide some (although by no means all, I'm sure) of the features of these editors.