How should I change my workflow when moving from IDO to Helm

Question

As an Emacs newbie, I found IDO and loved it since it made searching for files so much quicker. After spending some time on this site, I've read more and more about Helm and I'm planning on making the switch. Some of my questions are:

1. What are the biggest differences?
2. Specifically, how should my workflow change when finding files, switching buffers, or calling new commands?

I used this post to set up Helm, but my file searches (C-x C-f) and buffer switches (C-x b) look pretty much the same as they did before.

Here is my config:

(require 'helm)
(require 'helm-config)

;; The default "C-x c" is quite close to "C-x C-c", which quits Emacs.
;; Changed to "C-c h". Note: We must set "C-c h" globally, because we
;; cannot change `helm-command-prefix-key' once `helm-config' is loaded.
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c h") 'helm-command-prefix)
(global-unset-key (kbd "C-x c"))

(define-key helm-map (kbd "<tab>") 'helm-execute-persistent-action) ; rebihnd tab to do persistent action
(define-key helm-map (kbd "C-i") 'helm-execute-persistent-action) ; make TAB works in terminal
(define-key helm-map (kbd "C-z")  'helm-select-action) ; list actions using C-z

(when (executable-find "curl")
  (setq helm-google-suggest-use-curl-p t))

(setq helm-quick-update                     t ; do not display invisible candidates
      helm-split-window-in-side-p           t ; open helm buffer inside current window, not occupy whole other window
      helm-buffers-fuzzy-matching           t ; fuzzy matching buffer names when non--nil
      helm-move-to-line-cycle-in-source     t ; move to end or beginning of source when reaching top or bottom of source.
      helm-ff-search-library-in-sexp        t ; search for library in `require' and `declare-function' sexp.
      helm-scroll-amount                    8 ; scroll 8 lines other window using M-<next>/M-<prior>
      helm-ff-file-name-history-use-recentf t)

(helm-mode 1)

Answer 1

UPDATED (Helm changes, personal config changes, and Tu Do comments).

I switched from IDO to Helm few years ago and I never looked back.

• I find the presentation cleaner than let's say ido-vertical-mode for example.
• Helm doesn't have flex matching though.
• You don't need smex, etc. Helm does it all.
• The Tu do article is good as it provides some nice animated screenshots of what Helm can do.

I use Helm projectile, Helm swoop, Helm semantic, Helm ag and some of the Helm interactive commands. Checkout the Melpa page for Helm related packages that might interest you.

Here's some of my Helm related setup :

(setq helm-ff-transformer-show-only-basename nil
      helm-adaptive-history-file             "~/.emacs.d/data/helm-history"
      helm-yank-symbol-first                 t
      helm-move-to-line-cycle-in-source      t
      helm-buffers-fuzzy-matching            t
      helm-ff-auto-update-initial-value      t)

(autoload 'helm-descbinds      "helm-descbinds" t)
(autoload 'helm-eshell-history "helm-eshell"    t)
(autoload 'helm-esh-pcomplete  "helm-eshell"    t)

(global-set-key (kbd "C-h a")    #'helm-apropos)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-h i")    #'helm-info-emacs)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-h b")    #'helm-descbinds)

(add-hook 'eshell-mode-hook
          #'(lambda ()
              (define-key eshell-mode-map (kbd "TAB")     #'helm-esh-pcomplete)
              (define-key eshell-mode-map (kbd "C-c C-l") #'helm-eshell-history)))

(global-set-key (kbd "C-x b")   #'helm-mini)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-b") #'helm-buffers-list)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-m") #'helm-M-x)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-f") #'helm-find-files)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x C-r") #'helm-recentf)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x r l") #'helm-filtered-bookmarks)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-y")     #'helm-show-kill-ring)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s o")   #'helm-swoop)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s /")   #'helm-multi-swoop)

(require 'helm-config)
(helm-mode t)
(helm-adaptative-mode t)

(global-set-key (kbd "C-x c!")   #'helm-calcul-expression)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x c:")   #'helm-eval-expression-with-eldoc)
(define-key helm-map (kbd "M-o") #'helm-previous-source)

(global-set-key (kbd "M-s s")   #'helm-ag)

(require 'helm-projectile)
(setq helm-projectile-sources-list (cons 'helm-source-projectile-files-list
                                         (remove 'helm-source-projectile-files-list 
                                              helm-projectile-sources-list)))
(helm-projectile-on)

(define-key projectile-mode-map (kbd "C-c p /")
  #'(lambda ()
      (interactive)
      (helm-ag (projectile-project-root))))

(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-x c o h") #'helm-org-headlines)