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Yes, and that's your opinion. Not mine. Not his. It's an opinion piece, but you and just about everyone in this thread is writing as if their opinion is a fact

by bpchaps 10y ago

Yes, and that's your opinion. Not mine. Not his. It's an opinion piece, but you and just about everyone in this thread is writing as if their opinion is a fact that trumps his opinion. Stop that :(. Edit: Why the downvotes? Are different opinions really that bad?

acbabis 10y ago
Except the article is not an opinion piece. The author makes a factual claim that removing syntax highlighting makes the code ironically easier to read. That's something that could be measured and either confirmed or refuted in a lab.
- bpchaps 10y ago
  For some of us, syntax highlighting DOES make code more difficult to read. We're all different. I learned most of what I know on a Solaris 9 machine on a CRT with a model m back in 2008 with zero syntax highlighting, in vi and without vim. Zero fluff. I've tried syntax highlighting, but every time I do, I end up going back and my code quality and readability improves. I imagine a similar effect would happen to others if their colors were changed to incredibly tacky colors.
Nadya 10y ago
>Do you rely on syntax highlighting when developing software? If so, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. In this post, I will argue that syntax highlighting, while aesthetically seductive, moves focus from content to form, and discourages those who look at the code from trying to understand it. The very first opening line is an argument against syntax highlighting. Arguments (at least, of this sort) should be based on facts or studies, or at least logical reasoning and it is not introduced as an opinion piece, but an argument. I only gave the article a glance and I take two issues with it. >Syntax highlighting applied to fiction. It's easy to spot all the verbs, but why on Earth would you want to do that? I wouldn't need to for English, however I can think of a situation where I'd like to see the difference between an int '5' and a string '5' at a glance. In fact - that sort of bug isn't all that uncommon in languages that aren't hard typed. >[misguided piano teachers, yellow keys]...but do they honestly believe that children are unable to learn note names? They will have to, eventually, and then they will have to un-learn the colours. This argues like a case against mnemonics as learning devices. Mnemonics are an entire memory trick designed to be "un-learned" by the learner. Planet names aren't difficult to learn but a sentence like "Mercury Viewed Earth’s Many Aspects Joyfully Sitting Under Neptune" sure makes the order from the sun easier to remember. Mnemonics are a pretty well-research thing and they work [0]. Most people who want to compete in memory contests rely on using them. My favorite example is the Major System [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system
- bpchaps 10y ago
  He's making arguments against it, yes. But he's not saying it as a piece of fact. I can see why you think that, but it's still an opinion piece. For me, syntax highlighting is a crutch that I want to avoid. I find myself glancing at my code rather than actually reading my code when it's enabled. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling to turn it off and just go back into vi. My code becomes shorter, easier to read, faster and much easier to maintain.
  - acbabis 10y ago
    I can't argue with that, but shouldn't you want to eventually take off the training weights so you can go that much faster?
    - bpchaps 10y ago
      I do all the time. I spend a significant portion of my time using Jupyter, which has syntax highlighting and other 'improvements'. I really dislike it. Then again, I'm within a shell in tmux all day, so...
chc 10y ago
You're ordering everyone in the thread to stop saying the article is wrong. How can you not expect downvotes? Setting that aside, though, the author is not just expressing his opinion. This piece isn't saying, "Well, personally, I don't like syntax highlighting." The OP is arguing for a general truth, not just a personal preference of the author. The piece makes objective claims about the effects syntax highlighting has on its users. Why shouldn't people feel entitled to say the argument is flawed if they see flaws in the argument?
- bpchaps 10y ago
  I don't really think a sentence as flippant as that one can be considered "ordering"... and it if does, then I order you to stand up for your opinion with words, rather than downvotes. Really, I just think the guy's just very opinionated and is expressing something that's very important to him. Principle of charity and all that.
bpchaps 10y ago
Mods - is this kind of downvoting really warranted for these series of comments? I don't really understand. Much more off-topic posts that've been removed from the main thread in the past. Why is this any different?

by bpchaps 10y ago

acbabis 10y ago

Except the article is not an opinion piece. The author makes a factual claim that removing syntax highlighting makes the code ironically easier to read. That's something that could be measured and either confirmed or refuted in a lab.

bpchaps 10y ago
For some of us, syntax highlighting DOES make code more difficult to read. We're all different. I learned most of what I know on a Solaris 9 machine on a CRT with a model m back in 2008 with zero syntax highlighting, in vi and without vim. Zero fluff. I've tried syntax highlighting, but every time I do, I end up going back and my code quality and readability improves. I imagine a similar effect would happen to others if their colors were changed to incredibly tacky colors.

Nadya 10y ago

>Do you rely on syntax highlighting when developing software? If so, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. In this post, I will argue that syntax highlighting, while aesthetically seductive, moves focus from content to form, and discourages those who look at the code from trying to understand it. The very first opening line is an argument against syntax highlighting. Arguments (at least, of this sort) should be based on facts or studies, or at least logical reasoning and it is not introduced as an opinion piece, but an argument. I only gave the article a glance and I take two issues with it. >Syntax highlighting applied to fiction. It's easy to spot all the verbs, but why on Earth would you want to do that? I wouldn't need to for English, however I can think of a situation where I'd like to see the difference between an int '5' and a string '5' at a glance. In fact - that sort of bug isn't all that uncommon in languages that aren't hard typed. >[misguided piano teachers, yellow keys]...but do they honestly believe that children are unable to learn note names? They will have to, eventually, and then they will have to un-learn the colours. This argues like a case against mnemonics as learning devices. Mnemonics are an entire memory trick designed to be "un-learned" by the learner. Planet names aren't difficult to learn but a sentence like "Mercury Viewed Earth’s Many Aspects Joyfully Sitting Under Neptune" sure makes the order from the sun easier to remember. Mnemonics are a pretty well-research thing and they work [0]. Most people who want to compete in memory contests rely on using them. My favorite example is the Major System [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemonic_major_system

bpchaps 10y ago
He's making arguments against it, yes. But he's not saying it as a piece of fact. I can see why you think that, but it's still an opinion piece. For me, syntax highlighting is a crutch that I want to avoid. I find myself glancing at my code rather than actually reading my code when it's enabled. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling to turn it off and just go back into vi. My code becomes shorter, easier to read, faster and much easier to maintain.
- acbabis 10y ago
  I can't argue with that, but shouldn't you want to eventually take off the training weights so you can go that much faster?
  - bpchaps 10y ago
    I do all the time. I spend a significant portion of my time using Jupyter, which has syntax highlighting and other 'improvements'. I really dislike it. Then again, I'm within a shell in tmux all day, so...

chc 10y ago

You're ordering everyone in the thread to stop saying the article is wrong. How can you not expect downvotes? Setting that aside, though, the author is not just expressing his opinion. This piece isn't saying, "Well, personally, I don't like syntax highlighting." The OP is arguing for a general truth, not just a personal preference of the author. The piece makes objective claims about the effects syntax highlighting has on its users. Why shouldn't people feel entitled to say the argument is flawed if they see flaws in the argument?

bpchaps 10y ago
I don't really think a sentence as flippant as that one can be considered "ordering"... and it if does, then I order you to stand up for your opinion with words, rather than downvotes. Really, I just think the guy's just very opinionated and is expressing something that's very important to him. Principle of charity and all that.

bpchaps 10y ago

Mods - is this kind of downvoting really warranted for these series of comments? I don't really understand. Much more off-topic posts that've been removed from the main thread in the past. Why is this any different?