I don't think it's that nutty. I use syntax highlighting, but I use very mellow colors that do not distract. The example given out in Akesson's article is a co

I don't think it's that nutty. I use syntax highlighting, but I use very mellow colors that do not distract. The example given out in Akesson's article is a complete eyesore, however many text editors are like that and it's not that simple to change the color scheme in all of them. I believe syntax highlighting can also spoil you if that's all you're used to. It is a good exercise to write and maintain some code in raw format, occasionally. Personally I think it's enough just to highlight the reserved keywords and comments.