Re: cc-mode fontification feels random

[Daniel Colascione]

On June 11, 2021 11:46:18 PM Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org> wrote:

> > From: Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca>
> > Cc: Ergus <spacibba@aol.com>,  Alan Mackenzie <acm@muc.de>,  Eli Zaretskii
> > <eliz@gnu.org>,  rudalics@gmx.at,  rms@gnu.org,  emacs-devel@gnu.org
> > Date: Fri, 11 Jun 2021 16:52:37 -0400
> >
> > > Another problem with stock tree-sitter is that it makes Emacs less
> > > self-hosting. Tree-sitter grammars are written in JavaScript.
> >
> > Yes, there are some technical disadvantages to tree-sitter, indeed.
> > None of them make it unusable, but they do make it less convenient for
> > ELisp hackers and Emacs users.  So it's not a perfect solution, but
> > I don't think that should mean we don't want it in our toolbox.
>
> I agree that these issues shouldn't prevent us from trying to use TS,
> at least as an option.


Sure, but it'd be nice to package TS in such a way that it becomes more 
idiomatically lispy, at least if TS becomes the primary fontification 
engine for some modes. At the very least, it should be possible for users 
to apply ad hoc fontification on top of whatever TS supports. And how could 
something like TS work with, say, bison and flex files without fully 
general multi-mode support (which we also lack)?