After installing Emacs (see my previous post), the next thing to do is install gams-mode. If you got Emacs running, installing gams-mode is not so difficult.

First of all download gams-mode from Shiro Takeda’s website: You will find it here: gams-mode-download.

Update: you can now directly install gams-mode from the package repository:

There are quite a few ways to install Emacs on your Windows machine. On Linux it is rather easy: just use for example on Ubuntu your package manager. For the Mac you can have a look at Aquamacs, a version of Emacs that complies with the Human Interface Guidelines. More information on Aquamacs can be found at http://aquamacs.org/.

On Windows it is a different story. Emacs is coming from the Unix world and on Windows installing asks for a little bit more knowledge of Windows basics. You can’t for example install an additional feature (like Gams-mode for Emacs) by just

GAMS users probably spend most of their time editing their models. Just before project deadlines they may sit more than 8 hours a day in front of their computer hacking through their code. The choice of a good editor can therefore be crucial. After years of trying different editors I finally stuck (xxx) with the open-source editor Emacs.

For those of you who want to stop reading because they heard about the disadvantages of Emacs (“It has a steep learning curve”, “It is more a program for hackers” or “You have to learn all kind of key bindings by heart”),