Info Catalog eintr: Whitespace in Lists eintr: Lisp Lists

eintr: Typing Lists

 
 1.1.3 GNU Emacs Helps You Type Lists
 ------------------------------------
 
 When you type a Lisp expression in GNU Emacs using either Lisp
 Interaction mode or Emacs Lisp mode, you have available to you several
 commands to format the Lisp expression so it is easy to read.  For
 example, pressing the <TAB> key automatically indents the line the
 cursor is on by the right amount.  A command to properly indent the code
 in a region is customarily bound to ‘M-C-\’.  Indentation is designed so
 that you can see which elements of a list belong to which list—elements
 of a sub-list are indented more than the elements of the enclosing list.
 
    In addition, when you type a closing parenthesis, Emacs momentarily
 jumps the cursor back to the matching opening parenthesis, so you can
 see which one it is.  This is very useful, since every list you type in
 Lisp must have its closing parenthesis match its opening parenthesis.
 (Major Modes (emacs)Major Modes, for more information about
 Emacs’s modes.)
 

Info Catalog eintr: Whitespace in Lists eintr: Lisp Lists