3 ms·

I choose to avoid syntax highlighting. The first time I saw it was some years ago, and I remember thinking it was interesting that the editor actually "knew" w

I choose to avoid syntax highlighting. The first time I saw it was some years ago, and I remember thinking it was interesting that the editor actually "knew" what it was looking at. It actually understood the rules of the language and was able to use them to apply different colors. However, I also decided at that point that it was not for me. The text already has a certain vibe to it so there's no need to add any enhancement via the computer. If anything, it tends to clash with the actual business of programming. But that's just me, and I'm probably an outlier in this regard.

agumonkey 14y ago
I'm not sure, but I think Rob Pike recently advocated against syntax highlighting, saying it was distracting, leading to focus on tiny parts instead of reading the program as an integrated whole. Surprisingly I agree with him. Syntax highlighting is probably a side effect of unbearable complexity. In Pike's context I guess he could avoid it, his culture and work run around small, elegant and expressive code.
- jdmichal 14y ago
  It IS distracting, if all the default themes built into Sublime are any indication of how it's used now. Everything pops in conflicting colors that would make an interior designer scream in pain. But, it can also be used to make the parts you don't care about fade into the background, and better reveal the shape of the code you do. I prefer to purposely downplay keywords (blue) and comments (dark green), and make hard-coded numbers and strings obvious (red). All this on a black background with almost white text. A drastically reduced palate with plain colors.