Chapter 10: Syntax Coloring in an IDE
Creating a useful programming language requires more than just a compiler or interpreter that makes it possible to run programs—it requires an ecosystem of tools for developers. This ecosystem often includes debuggers, online help, or an integrated development environment, commonly called an IDE. An IDE can be broadly defined as any programming environment in which source code editing, compilation, linking steps (if any), and execution may all be performed within the same user interface (UI).
This chapter addresses some of the challenges of incorporating code from your programming language implementation into an IDE to provide syntax coloring and visual feedback about syntax errors. One reason that you want to learn how to do this is that many programmers will not take your language seriously unless it has an IDE. The code in this chapter will be a Unicon example since there is no IDE that is implemented identically in Unicon and Java...