Just about every text editor offers some sort of automatic formatting capability--syntax coloring. Currently each editor has a parser and tries to understand code syntax. Why should every different editor have to implement its own C/C++/Perl/Java/Fortan/Ada/Lua/Befunge parser to provide syntax coloring and assorted services? I would like to see a set of standard hooks in compilers and interpreters, that would allow text editors request information about the code for syntax parsing, and who knows what else. Why can't we write a compiler that exposes an API that allows editors to request expert knowledge from the real expert--the compiler?

I can't find precise references but I'm quite sure to have read something along these lines in p6l, and IIRC the general consensus amongst @Larry and others was that indeed such facilities should and will be provided in Perl 6, which is even more important for a language like that, given its modifiable grammar.

In reply to Re^5: Code Readability. Break Rule Number 5? by blazar
in thread Code Readability. Break Rule Number 5? by DACONTI

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.