If you don't know about Makefiles and you want to compile some code, you should read the tutorial on Makefiles . XEmacs will split the window in half and show you the progress of your compile. If there are errors it will display the error lines in the buffer. When you are editing programs it is possible to use Syntax Highlighting. Syntax Highlighting and select Colors and Most.
Syntax highlighting is useful for catching errors and helps in reading code.
General Appearance XEmacs is highly configurable. You can choose the font that is used when you are editing, how much syntax highlighting is done, whether colors or fonts are used for syntax highlighting, and many other options. Playing with XEmacs is probably the best way to learn about its power. For instance, the Luther's menu item that you see in XEmacs was added by the code you find in your .emacs file. If you need more help, select the Help menu item.