(emacs.info) Major Modes

 
 Major Modes
 ***********
 
    Emacs provides many alternative "major modes", each of which
 customizes Emacs for editing text of a particular sort.  The major modes
 are mutually exclusive, and each buffer has one major mode at any time.
 The mode line normally shows the name of the current major mode, in
 parentheses ( Mode Line).
 
    The least specialized major mode is called "Fundamental mode".  This
 mode has no mode-specific redefinitions or variable settings, so that
 each Emacs command behaves in its most general manner, and each option
 is in its default state.  For editing text of a specific type that
 Emacs knows about, such as Lisp code or English text, you should switch
 to the appropriate major mode, such as Lisp mode or Text mode.
 
    Selecting a major mode changes the meanings of a few keys to become
 more specifically adapted to the language being edited.  The ones that
 are changed frequently are <TAB>, <DEL>, and `C-j'.  The prefix key
 `C-c' normally contains mode-specific commands.  In addition, the
 commands which handle comments use the mode to determine how comments
 are to be delimited.  Many major modes redefine the syntactical
 properties of characters appearing in the buffer.   Syntax.
 
    The major modes fall into three major groups.  Lisp mode (which has
 several variants), C mode, Fortran mode and others are for specific
 programming languages.  Text mode, Nroff mode, TeX mode and Outline
 mode are for editing English text.  The remaining major modes are not
 intended for use on users' files; they are used in buffers created for
 specific purposes by Emacs, such as Dired mode for buffers made by Dired
 ( Dired), Mail mode for buffers made by `C-x m' ( Sending
 Mail), and Shell mode for buffers used for communicating with an
 inferior shell process ( Interactive Shell).
 
    Most programming-language major modes specify that only blank lines
 separate paragraphs.  This is to make the paragraph commands useful.
 ( Paragraphs.)  They also cause Auto Fill mode to use the
 definition of <TAB> to indent the new lines it creates.  This is
 because most lines in a program are usually indented.  (
 Indentation.)
(emacs.info) Major Modes

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