I'm on 24.5, and I don't know how it was in the past, but Emacs' default minibuffer reading functionality is good enough that Ido, Ivy, Helm or whatnot seem superfluous to me. I can type
C-x C-f ~/Git/projectx/src/ding/~/.xombrero/runtime//etc/fstab RET
it will do the correct thing, and it will give visual feedback. Also I can type
M-x rev-bu RET
and it will run revert-buffer, and if I type TAB instead of RET, it will complete to actual command name. It will ignore case in completions if these variables are set:
;; Ignore case when completing file names in minibuffer.
read-file-name-completion-ignore-case t
read-buffer-completion-ignore-case t
completion-ignore-case t
Also an indispensable config:
enable-recursive-minibuffers t
What does them tools provide that can't be easily done by these? And ido fails when entering a TRAMP file name, so one has to hit C-f in minibuf to drop to the original prompt.
This works great if you have all the commands memorized. If you don't, fuzzy matching in ido is a fantastic way to find commands and variables that do what you want (Emacs has a great tendency to name user-facing commands very sensibly a lot of the time). Most of the time I can use C-h f and C-h v to figure out how to configure something without having to read the documentation.
In addition, ido and flx-ido provide more efficient and faster (you don't have to manually invoke it) autocompletion than what you can get with prefix-based tab completion.
Also, I haven't had any issue with ido+TRAMP - everything works seamlessly on my end.
I do not have all the commands memorised. But how emacs completes changes upon where you hit tab. if you type M-x re-bu TAB, it will show revert-buffer, re-builder, etc. If you hit TAB when cursor is at the beginning, like M-x buffer M-b TAB, it will show any command with buffer in it. Then you can C-x o to the Completions buffer and use any search tool on it, e.g. isearch-forward-regexp.
More power to you, but I couldn't go back to manually-invoked completion at this point. An environment which gives me as much information as possible as quickly as possible in as few keystrokes as possible is a big priority for me, and I'm willing to have a few extra dependencies in order to get that.
It's not about dependencies, after all ido is part of emacs. I find the default with some tweaks to simply be better. Though it's a bit personal preference here I think.
"dependencies" was a reference to the numerous plugins I use to get ido in a state that I enjoy. I don't particularly like stock ido, though I prefer it to the standard completing-read.
it will do the correct thing, and it will give visual feedback. Also I can type
and it will run revert-buffer, and if I type TAB instead of RET, it will complete to actual command name. It will ignore case in completions if these variables are set: Also an indispensable config: What does them tools provide that can't be easily done by these? And ido fails when entering a TRAMP file name, so one has to hit C-f in minibuf to drop to the original prompt.