chapters/46.markdown @ 0f37d5cc8d29

Advanced Syntax Highlighting
============================

So far we've defined some simple syntax highlighting for Potion files: keywords
and functions.

If you didn't do the exercises in the last chapter, you need to go back and do
them.  I'm going to assume you did them.

In fact, you should go back and do *any* exercises you skipped.  Even if you
think you don't need them, you *need* to do them for this book to be effective.
Please trust me on this.

Highlighting Comments
---------------------

One obvious part of Potion that we need to highlight is comments.  The problem
is that Potion comments start with `#` which is (almost always) not in
`iskeyword`.

If you don't know what `iskeyword` means, you didn't listen to me.  Go back and
*do the damn exercises*.  I'm not just throwing useless busywork at you when
I write the exercises for each chapter.  You *really* need to do them to
understand the book.

Because `#` isn't a keyword character we need to use a regular expression to
match it (and the rest of the comment).  We'll do this with `syntax match`
instead of `syntax keyword`.  Add the following lines to your syntax file:

    :::vim
    syntax match potionComment "\v#.*$"
    highlight link potionComment Comment

I'm not going to tell you where to put them in the file any more.  You're
a programmer: use your judgement.

Close and reopen `factorial.pn`.  Add a comment somewhere in the file and you'll
see that it's highlighted as a comment.

The second line is simple: it tells Vim to highlight anything in the
`potionComment` syntax group as a `Comment`.

The first line is something new.  We use `syntax match` which tells Vim to match
*regexes* instead of literal keywords.

Notice that the regular expression we're using starts with `\v` which tells Vim
to use "very magic" mode.  Reread the chapter on Basic Regular Expressions if
you're not sure what that means.

In this particular case the "very magic" mode isn't necessary.  But in the
future we might change this regex and wonder why it's not working, so I'd
recommend *always* using "very magic" regexes for consistency.

As for the regex itself, it's fairly simple: comments start with a hash and
include all characters from there to the end of the line.

If you need a refresher course on regular expressions you should take a look at
[Learn Regex the Hard Way][regex] by Zed Shaw.

[regex]: http://regex.learncodethehardway.org/

Highlighting Operators
----------------------

Another part of Potion we need regexes to highlight is operators.  Add the
following to your syntax file:

    :::vim
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\*\="
    syntax match potionOperator "\v/\="
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\+\="
    syntax match potionOperator "\v-\="
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\*"
    syntax match potionOperator "\v/"
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\+"
    syntax match potionOperator "\v-"
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\?"

    highlight link potionOperator Operator

Close and reopen `factorial.pn`.  Notice that the `*=` in the factorial function
is now highlighted.

The first thing you probably noticed about this hunk of code is that I put each
regex on its own line instead of grouping them like I did with keywords.  This
is because `syntax match` does *not* support multiple groups on a single line.

You should also note that I used `\v` at the beginning of every regular
expression, even when it wasn't strictly necessary.  I prefer to keep my regex
syntax consistent when writing Vimscript, even if it means a few extra
characters.

You might be wondering why I didn't use a regex like `"\v-\=?"` to match both
`-` *and* `-=` in one line.  You can absolutely do that if you want to.  It will
work just fine.  I just tend to think of `-` and `-=` as separate operators, so
I put them on separate lines.

Defining those operators as separate matches simplifies the regexes at the cost
of some extra verbosity.  I prefer doing it like that, but you may feel
differently.  Use your judgement.

I also never defined `=` as an operator.  We'll do that in a second, but
I wanted to avoid it for now so I could teach you a lesson.

Because I used separate regexes for `-` and `-=` I had to define `-` *after*
`-=`!

If I did it in the opposite order and used `-=` in a Potion file, Vim would
match `-` (and highlight it, of course) and only `=` would remain for matching.
This shows when you're building groups with `syntax match` each group "consumes"
pieces of the file that can't be matched later.

This is an oversimplification, but I don't want to get bogged down in the
details just yet.  For now, your rule of thumb should be to match larger groups
first and smaller groups later.

Let's go ahead and add `=` as an operator, now that we've had our lesson:

    :::vim
    syntax match potionOperator "\v\="

Take a second and think about where you need to put this in the syntax file.
Reread the last few paragraphs if you need a hint.

Exercises
---------

Read `:help syn-match`.

We didn't make `:` an operator in our example.  Read the Potion docs and make
a conscious decision about whether to make `:` an operator.  If you decide to do
so, add it to the syntax file.

Do the same for `.` and `/`.

Add a syntax group `potionNumber` that highlights numbers.  Link it to the
highlight group `Number`.  Remember that Potion supports numbers like `2`,
`0xffaf`, `123.23`, `1e-2`, and `1.9956e+2`.  Remember to balance the time it
takes to handle edge cases with the amount of time those edge cases will
actually be used.