I program without syntax highlighting

Summary

For more than a year I have been without syntax highlighting. My editor of choice, acme, simply does not have it and I actually prefer it that way. Some would explain this as an instance of the Stockholm syndrome, or some strange form of hipsterism. However, I think there are some valid advantages to not colouring our texts, and so I will put them forth. What syntax highlighting is good for Some people perceive numbers and letters as coloured, and can use this ability to solve some tasks quicker. So initially, giving everyone synesthesia for free using syntax highlighting seems like it should improve our ability to understand code quickly. I do think it does give some speedup in checking wether there are syntax mistakes in the code. The classic example is some sneaky comment errors like this one: // Initialise for (i=0;i<3;++i) { /* Do initialisation here! niftyConfig = 1; funkyValue = 2; } // Run forever for (;;) { /* So, this is where we do stuff! */ ... } Syntax highlighting is not the only way of telling that your parenthesis, quotes and comments are matched up. In Acme I double click on the outmost marker to check that it has a match. This gives the added benefit that the region is selected if I wish to make edits to it. This is an active action on my part, because usually I know where my parentheisis go and do not need any help. For most part syntax is not the most challenging part of programming, and I have yet to run into troubles where I could not spot my syntax errors. I usually program in a tight loop of writing, compiling and testing, meaning that any syntax related mistakes are probably in the most recently edited region and are easy to spot. The beauty of code The first thing one thinks when going from highlighted to unhighlighted code might be «This code is just a grey mash of symbols». Though, this sensation quickly fades as one gets engaged in the code. This “getting in to the groove”-part of the programming session is remarkably short, and afterwar...