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We present a short experience report from the perspective of two
long-time Emacs users and one relative newcomer. Our motivations
relate, broadly, to reproducibility of research in science. We
reflect on our experiences with off-the-self solutions available
through the Emacs package manager, and describe some of our custom
extensions.
When working on a scientific research project, one typically has
multiple different computer programs running at the same time. For
example, we may use a computer algebra system such as Maxima for
calculations, an interactive language such as Julia for numerical
computations, TeX for writing up results, a reference manger such as
Zotero for the bibliography, Roam for note-taking, and Jekyll for
blogging. Switching and moving content among these programs can be
distracting, time-consuming, and prone to error. These issues are
compounded when there are several collaborators involved.
We explore a solution that looks toward building better "computational
notebooks" using Emacs. We take Org mode as our foundation. As many
in this audience will know, Org mode integrates features such as
writing, task management, program evaluation, typesetting,
presentation, and navigation. Tightly integrated add-on packages
round out the picture either by directly replacing the functionality
of the other programs mentioned above or automatically dispatching
commands to them. We outline both the pleasure and pain involved in
this experience.
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