5 ms·

I bet math textbooks would be great with "syntax highlighting" ... If it works for code, why not?

by n00b101 10y ago

jessriedel 10y ago
I'd be happy if more physicists would just include a list that defines all variables. They are just generally introduced in the text as they are needed, so trying to pull a useful bit out of a 100+ page review article is a huge pain.
- Leszek 10y ago
  I'd enjoy an interactive version that could e.g. define variables when the mouse hovers above them. It's a shame that we're still bound so much by the rules of print.
- metasean 10y ago
  Most of my statistics books actually had very useful summaries of variable symbols & names, as well as other useful referential information [1] in the front and back endpapers. [1] For example, there was a non-parametric stats book that had a table with common conditions for each statistic covered.
  - jessriedel 10y ago
    Yea, many textbooks even a few journal articles do this very well.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
46Bit 10y ago
College textbooks sure would be easier that way. Most of my note-taking process is defining things more formally, making things colourcoded and drawing out the relationships.
tptacek 10y ago
Does it really work in code?
- jdoss 10y ago
  I would argue that it does. It helps me spot stupid errors that I might have to hunt for later if it wasn't for seeing the pattern of colored syntax highlighting.
- stephengillie 10y ago
  Color coding syntax makes code jump off the page for many of us. Does it for you? Bracket and parenthesis highlighting alone is invaluable. My style is Obsidian, with a dark background, yellow/orange quoted text, blue variables, grey comments, bold white operators, white block comments. Ported from VI to N++ for a unified experience.
  - tptacek 10y ago
    I don't know. I do it too, like everyone else, but I'm not sure how much of a benefit I get from it.
    - stephengillie 10y ago
      Maybe you should try turning it off for a while? The benefit for me is highly proven - I'm 5 to 10 times more likely to make a bracket or parenthesis mistake without color coding. And I make about 10% more variable/comment errors too.
- andrewflnr 10y ago
  I find it helps in grasping the gross structure of a piece of code, which lets me know where to focus my attention. Also highlighting strings has saved my butt a few times.
- manicdee 10y ago
  Yes. The basic error checking provided by something as simple as different colours for reserved words, defined variables, strings, etc, is extremely useful. More developed syntax highlighting which knows about methods or functions that are in scope vs out of scope, variabkes that sre not defined in this scope, etc, are another layer of utility. I get used to "for" being a certain shade of blue. When it is not blue, there is something wrong. If it is green, I have an unclosed string somewhere. If it is red, I have an unclosed block interfering with scope. If it is underlined, I have put the "for" where the parser was expecting an identifier.
bariumbitmap 10y ago
Richard Feynman had grapheme-color synesthesia, so he effectively saw all math with "syntax highlighting": http://sdl.granthazard.com/exhibits/show/famous-synesthetes/famous-synesthetes-closer-look/richard-feynman http://sdl.granthazard.com/exhibits/show/famous-synesthetes/... I have some proposed a system with examples here: https://nbeaver.github.io/equation-manager-description/ https://nbeaver.github.io/equation-manager-description/
- jrapdx3 10y ago
  Thanks for the links, I didn't previously know that Feynman was a synesthete. Grapheme synesthesia is the most frequent type of synesthesia. I'm also a grapheme synesthete which is no doubt the only talent I'd have in common with Feynman. What makes this form of synesthesia a feature and not a bug is illustrated by research showing grapheme synesthetes probably have above average visual learning ability. I can say that the sensory phenomena do tend to dim with age, but for me it was quite vivid as a kid, numbers, letters and words were strongly "colored" automatically. That did help memorizing things that schoolwork required, but in my case not tremendously helpful for solving math problems. I looked at the PDF. Feynman's description is rather like my experience, though I'd emphasize that individual numbers and letters had unique, stable "colorization". IOW it's not that all numerals were blue, but that 0 was cyan, 1 was black, 2 yellow, etc. Likewise A or a was red, B appeared green, b looked yellow-green, and so on. Combinations of letters in words would take on a meaning communicated as particular blocks of colors, that is, certain key words or phrases were readily identified. Kind of weird to write it out like that but I believe it did make it easier to get through the rote parts of schooling. When I got bored sometimes I'd toss things around in my head, colors flying everywhere. The teacher could never guess what I was thinking... Each synesthete has an individual sensory pattern, and syntax highlighting schemes are probably quite a bit different from synesthetic perception. Nonetheless what you show is very likely a good idea. I sure appreciate using syntax highlighting for code editing, suggesting there are good reasons to think it's worth applying elsewhere.

I bet math textbooks would be great with "syntax highlighting" ... If it works for code, why not?

by n00b101 10y ago

I bet math textbooks would be great with "syntax highlighting" ... If it works for code, why not?

I'd be happy if more physicists would just include a list that defines all variables. They are just generally introduced in the text as they are needed, so trying to pull a useful bit out of a 100+ page review article is a huge pain.

Leszek 10y ago
I'd enjoy an interactive version that could e.g. define variables when the mouse hovers above them. It's a shame that we're still bound so much by the rules of print.
metasean 10y ago
Most of my statistics books actually had very useful summaries of variable symbols & names, as well as other useful referential information [1] in the front and back endpapers. [1] For example, there was a non-parametric stats book that had a table with common conditions for each statistic covered.
- jessriedel 10y ago
  Yea, many textbooks even a few journal articles do this very well.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

46Bit 10y ago

College textbooks sure would be easier that way. Most of my note-taking process is defining things more formally, making things colourcoded and drawing out the relationships.

tptacek 10y ago

Does it really work in code?

jdoss 10y ago
I would argue that it does. It helps me spot stupid errors that I might have to hunt for later if it wasn't for seeing the pattern of colored syntax highlighting.
stephengillie 10y ago
Color coding syntax makes code jump off the page for many of us. Does it for you? Bracket and parenthesis highlighting alone is invaluable. My style is Obsidian, with a dark background, yellow/orange quoted text, blue variables, grey comments, bold white operators, white block comments. Ported from VI to N++ for a unified experience.
- tptacek 10y ago
  I don't know. I do it too, like everyone else, but I'm not sure how much of a benefit I get from it.
  - stephengillie 10y ago
    Maybe you should try turning it off for a while? The benefit for me is highly proven - I'm 5 to 10 times more likely to make a bracket or parenthesis mistake without color coding. And I make about 10% more variable/comment errors too.
andrewflnr 10y ago
I find it helps in grasping the gross structure of a piece of code, which lets me know where to focus my attention. Also highlighting strings has saved my butt a few times.
manicdee 10y ago
Yes. The basic error checking provided by something as simple as different colours for reserved words, defined variables, strings, etc, is extremely useful. More developed syntax highlighting which knows about methods or functions that are in scope vs out of scope, variabkes that sre not defined in this scope, etc, are another layer of utility. I get used to "for" being a certain shade of blue. When it is not blue, there is something wrong. If it is green, I have an unclosed string somewhere. If it is red, I have an unclosed block interfering with scope. If it is underlined, I have put the "for" where the parser was expecting an identifier.

bariumbitmap 10y ago

Richard Feynman had grapheme-color synesthesia, so he effectively saw all math with "syntax highlighting": http://sdl.granthazard.com/exhibits/show/famous-synesthetes/famous-synesthetes-closer-look/richard-feynman http://sdl.granthazard.com/exhibits/show/famous-synesthetes/... I have some proposed a system with examples here: https://nbeaver.github.io/equation-manager-description/ https://nbeaver.github.io/equation-manager-description/

jrapdx3 10y ago
Thanks for the links, I didn't previously know that Feynman was a synesthete. Grapheme synesthesia is the most frequent type of synesthesia. I'm also a grapheme synesthete which is no doubt the only talent I'd have in common with Feynman. What makes this form of synesthesia a feature and not a bug is illustrated by research showing grapheme synesthetes probably have above average visual learning ability. I can say that the sensory phenomena do tend to dim with age, but for me it was quite vivid as a kid, numbers, letters and words were strongly "colored" automatically. That did help memorizing things that schoolwork required, but in my case not tremendously helpful for solving math problems. I looked at the PDF. Feynman's description is rather like my experience, though I'd emphasize that individual numbers and letters had unique, stable "colorization". IOW it's not that all numerals were blue, but that 0 was cyan, 1 was black, 2 yellow, etc. Likewise A or a was red, B appeared green, b looked yellow-green, and so on. Combinations of letters in words would take on a meaning communicated as particular blocks of colors, that is, certain key words or phrases were readily identified. Kind of weird to write it out like that but I believe it did make it easier to get through the rote parts of schooling. When I got bored sometimes I'd toss things around in my head, colors flying everywhere. The teacher could never guess what I was thinking... Each synesthete has an individual sensory pattern, and syntax highlighting schemes are probably quite a bit different from synesthetic perception. Nonetheless what you show is very likely a good idea. I sure appreciate using syntax highlighting for code editing, suggesting there are good reasons to think it's worth applying elsewhere.