>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 highlighti

>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