Syntax Off (2012)

Re:Syntax Off (2012) by bcj on Sunday November 17, 2013 @03:13PM (#6750607)

"The best way I can describe it is to compare it to reading a book. When I read a book, I don't want parts of speech highlighted in different colours. What I want to do is to read the book, to take in the information."

I found this interesting, as my reaction has been almost the complete opposite. I've never felt that syntax highlighting played a part in understanding code at a high level. Syntax highlighting is there for when I'm reading my code like a copy-editor. It (along with an inline linter) is there to make syntactical errors more obvious so I can deal with them as I make them.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Syntax Off (2012) by oneeyedpigeon on Sunday November 17, 2013 @03:26PM (#6750681)

I think this analogy is just terrible. A book != code. Well, certainly a novel, in which you're not re-reading the same sentence several times over, flipping 100 pages forward, then 90 pages back, etc. I can actually think of certain ways in which a non-fiction book could be usefully 'syntax highlighted'.

[ Parent | on HN ]