Emacs: How to Edit Lisp Code
This page shows you how to edit lisp code efficiently with plain GNU emacs.
Highlight Brackets: show-paren-mode
Insert Brackets by Pair
Emacs: Auto Close Brackets, electric-pair-mode
You should ALWAYS insert brackets by pair.
Delete Brackets by Pair
Emacs: Delete Brackets by Pair
You should ALWAYS delete brackets by pair.
Move Cursor to Bracket
It's critical to have keys that move cursor to previous opening bracket and next closing bracket.
Navigate Lisp Code as Tree
Emacs: Navigate Lisp Code as Tree
You can move cursor to brackets in such way as navigating a tree.
This is less useful than the freely moving to any bracket.
Select Lisp Expression by Unit
Alt+x mark-sexp 【Ctrl+Alt+Space】 to select a complete parenthesized expression. Your cursor must be on the left bracket.
To select a complete sexp, type Ctrl+Alt+↑
(backward-up-list)
then Ctrl+Alt+Space.
Xah Emacs Lisp Mode
You may try my elisp mode. It provides better syntax coloring, and lots abbrev and function parameter templates.