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h1=. Star Ratings for Syntax Highlighter Language Support (Draft)
p={font-style: italic}. murphy 2008-11-06, updated 2008-12-25
h2. Abstract
A proposal for a simple, 6-level star rating to estimate a syntax highlighters' support of a given language.
h2. Levels
I propose five levels, which can be represented with 0 to 5 out of 5 stars:
|_=. Name |_=. Level |_. Stars |
|>. No support |=. 0 | ☆☆☆☆☆ |
|>. Poor support |=. 1 | ★☆☆☆☆ |
|>. Basic support |=. 2 | ★★☆☆☆ |
|>. Good support |=. 3 | ★★★☆☆ |
|>. Very good support |=. 4 | ★★★★☆ |
|>. Perfect support |=. 5 | ★★★★★ |
h3. Definition
Each rating has an associated support percentage and a short description.
|_<. Name |_. Stars |_>. % |_<. Description |
| No support | ☆☆☆☆☆ |>. 0 | Missing, broken, or useless. |
| Poor support | ★☆☆☆☆ |>. 70 | Highlights average code, fails on complex code, hangs up, buggy. |
| Basic support | ★★☆☆☆ |>. 90 | Good highlighting for typical code, problems with complex code. |
| Good support | ★★★☆☆ |>. 98 | Solid highlighting for most code, some problems with very complex code. |
| Very good support | ★★★★☆ |>. 99 | Perfect highlighting even for complex code, only small problems with edge cases. |
| Perfect support | ★★★★★ |>. 100 | Complete highlighting, can be used as reference. |
h2. Rating Process
The star ratings are defined above. It is completely up to the author of a scanner to rate their work.
However, they should be careful not to overrate a scanner/lexer. Ratings of 2 and up should only be granted for tested code. A rating of 3 should not be given without a review of another person who knows the language very well. A rating of 5 is very rare for complex languages; such scanners should be bug free, feature complete, and absolutely reliable. A rating of 4 is typically the goal for a developer.
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