Sublime Forum

Please provide default syntax highlighting for fortran

#1

Dear Sublime team,

I am a frequent user of sublime, and I have noticed that every time I download Sublime on a new computer, I have to go into package control to enable Fortran syntax highlighting. I find this extremely unfair, especially considering that Sublime supports syntax highlighting for many other programming languages by default.

Fortran is a language that has been around for over six decades and is still widely used in many scientific and engineering applications. In fact, many of the world’s leading scientists and researchers who have won Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and other fields have used Fortran to develop their groundbreaking discoveries. For example, John Bardeen, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice, used Fortran to develop the first transistor at Bell Labs in the 1940s. However, it is disappointing that Sublime does not provide default support for Fortran syntax highlighting, which makes it difficult for users to get started with this language.

As a loyal user of Sublime, I would like to request that you consider enabling Fortran syntax highlighting by default in your editor.

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#2

I am not a ST staff.

The latest language which has been considered to be default is Swift and it failed due to whatever reason I don’t remember. Anyway, I won’t consider “install a package with Package Control = a lot of steps” unless you don’t use Package Control (and any 3rd-party package) at all.

https://packagecontrol.io/search/fortran

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#3

Agreed. But, how difficult is it to make it default? Just curious.

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#4

Technically super easy. Practically, who will maintain it? Do ST staff speaks Fortran? Do ST staff speaks all built-in syntax (obviously no, but are already built-in like when ST was created. probably copied from TextMate)?

For Swift support request, it looks like ST staff is willing to accept it but the implementation doesn’t follow ST’s scope naming convention and no one makes it fit so eventually it failed.

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#5

Thanks for the reply.

I am not sure if such a simple option requires that much maintenance? How about whatever thing available through package control, just make it default? That should be good right? I think there isn’t enough demand for it to be made default I guess.

Anyway for now package control is the only option. Still wish its default.

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#6

If you submit a formal request, the staff should give you a reason, even if the explanation may be short.

Having it default means the official should maintain it.

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#7

I’d rather like to drop some of the dead default syntaxes such as ActionScript instead of adding more.

Package Control is the best place for all the exotic rarely used syntaxes.

ST never claimed to be all batteries included.

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#8

Wikipedia: “the first FORTRAN compiler delivered in April 1957”.

Separately, I have noticed that every time I download Sublime on a new computer, I have to go into package control to enable PostScript syntax highlighting. Which has even less chance than Fortran of being in the default languages.

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#9

That was because none of the currently (or rather previously, at the time) available syntax definitions from the community were up to standards and there was not enough support from the community to get it up to the standards. There were basically 2 attemps (in one pull request), but they were not deemed good enough and rightfully so, if I may say so myself after trying out both options.

I believe that the intersection between people using Swift via Sublime Text and people interested in syntax development is not very high.

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