Why would you use a vanilla emacs? Paredit, js2, magit, there are so many excellent extensions that can improve your workflow. If you're using lisp/scheme, SLIME/Geiser is indispensible.
I mostly work in C-like languages (and Python). Vanilla Emacs is just about all I need. I don't treat it as many people seem to use it, namely "enter Emacs once, then use it as an environment for hours."
Also, I learned Emacs in 1979, and it's pretty much wired into my muscle memory. Getting things back to an I-don't-have-to-think-about-it state is important, and whiz-bang features just get in the way most of the time.
Also, I learned Emacs in 1979, and it's pretty much wired into my muscle memory. Getting things back to an I-don't-have-to-think-about-it state is important, and whiz-bang features just get in the way most of the time.