Syntax highlighting facts for kids

Highlighting the effect of missing delimiter (after watch='false) in JavaScript

Syntax highlighting is where a text editor, integrated development environment or other computer program shows different parts of some source code in different colours. This makes it easier for computer programmers to read the source code and understand what it does. It can be done in different colors, and different programming languages have different rules about what parts of the source code need to be different colors.

Example

This is an example comparing some C code without syntax highlighting and with syntax highlighting:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
      printf("Hello world!\n");
      return(0);
}

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
      printf("Hello world!\n");
      return(0);
}

See also

In Spanish: Resaltado de sintaxis para niños