About Magik Emacs
Emacs extensions and tutorials for GE Smallworld Magik developers, by HydePark Consulting.
“Emacs is not an editor. Emacs is a way of thinking about the world and as such is a way of thinking about editors. When you ask what Emacs does, you are asking a question with no answer, because Emacs doesn’t do, it is done to. Emacs just is … I hope this makes things clearer.” — Scott Dorsey
Background
I have been working with Emacs since 1996. Prior to that I worked with AutoCAD, mainly programming in Lisp. After using Emacs alongside Smallworld and Magik for some time, I began adding features to Emacs tailored specifically for the Smallworld and Magik development environment. What started as personal productivity enhancements grew into a broader set of extensions worth sharing.
Six Sigma Green Belt Project
At GE, a Six Sigma Green Belt project focused on Emacs customization demonstrated quantified savings in both development time and cost. The project validated what many Emacs users already sensed: a well-tuned editor environment directly improves throughput for Magik programmers working in the Smallworld application suite.
Ongoing Development
I continue to extend Emacs based on personal interest and requests from fellow developers. This site exists to share the features I find useful in my daily work — screen-casts, command references, and tool recommendations that make Magik development more efficient.
For consulting services, visit HydePark-Consulting.com.
The Magik Emacs environment brings together the extensibility of Emacs with the domain-specific needs of GE Smallworld Magik development. Developers working with Magik objects, collections, methods, and symbols benefit from tailored extensions that streamline debugging, source file navigation, and database interaction. Whether you are inspecting a record or collection, tracing through method calls, or managing variables across a Smallworld session, the right Emacs configuration can transform an otherwise cumbersome workflow into a fluid, keyboard-driven experience. This site explores practical tutorials and extensions that help Magik programmers harness Emacs as a powerful development companion, reducing friction between editing, testing, and understanding Magik code.