When your InitFile gets so large that you really need to start over, then you have declared ".emacs bankruptcy".

The term was coined by RyanMcGeary on 2007-10-07[http://www.emacsblog.org/2007/10/07/declaring-emacs-bankruptcy/]:

: ''I give up. During the past 6 years of my emacs career, my .emacs initialization file grew to embarrassing levels. As of this morning, it is well over 1000 lines and is a looming burden of disorganization. Startup time is poor, customizations exist for modes that I don’t use anymore (ahem, csharp-mode), and it has been this way for too long....''

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:: I thought people should be comfortable with managing ~10000 lines of text with ease. -- [[Leo]]

:: For configuration code related to rarely or no longer used modes, you can move the code into eval-after-load forms to reduce emacs startup time. -- [[JisangYoo]]

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There are several ways to cope with DotEmacsBankruptcy.

You may delete only those parts of your InitFile that you do not need any longer, e.g., because you do not use a mode any more that got configured in your .emacs file.

You also may rewrite your existing InitFile in OrgMode and add some comments and outline so as to make it a literate programming file. Make sure you will not end up with excessive commenting alone, but provide a consistent prose that consists of both, the comments and your code as one. You may then tangle the code to your InitFile from time to time for active use.

The most radical way to get rid of DotEmacsBankruptcy is, of course, deleting your InitFile altogether and re-start your configuration from scratch.

Anyway you will end up with an InitFile that is considerably shorter and cleaner than it used to be, enhancing startup time and handling of your .emacs file in the future.

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You can use [https://github.com/vapniks/org-dotemacs|org-dotemacs] to keep your init file organised in an org-mode file. -- JoeBloggs

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CategoryDotEmacs