Re: Include modern-cpp-font-lock into GNU Emacs

[Alan Mackenzie]

Hello, Ludwig.

On Mon, Aug 06, 2018 at 21:24:51 +0100, Ludwig PACIFICI wrote:
> Hello emacs-devel

> After a reddit post[1], I'd like to discuss with you the possibility to 
> integrate modern-cpp-font-lock into GNU Emacs.

> modern-cpp-font-lock[2] is a font lock improvement for recent version of 
> C++ - so far, up to C++17. It can be seen as an add-on of the c++-mode 
> (part of CC Mode).

In what respects is this package an improvement over the fontification
in standard C++ Mode?

> I published this package to improve the C++ support in Emacs. The 
> release cycle of C++ and Emacs are slow. Especially if not in synced, it 
> can lead to a long time with lack of support for the language. Melpa[3] 
> is a good place to release modern-cpp-font-lock, because it enables 
> quicker release cycles.

I've briefly skimmed modern-cpp-font-lock.el.  It seems there is a _lot_
of duplication with C++ Mode - m-c-f-l attempts to fontify all C++
keywords, even though nearly all will be already fontified by C++ Mode;
raw strings are now handled by C++ Mode; nullptr, false, true are also
handled by C++ Mode; and so on.

Do you have an up to date diff betweeen m-c-f-l.el and C++ Mode - things
that m-c-f-l handles, but C++ Mode doesn't?  I suspect that difference
will be small to medium, rather than large.

> Let me know what are your opinions.

I think I would prefer to integrate missing font locking into CC Mode,
rather than introducing a new ad-hoc package which doesn't fit well with
CC Mode.  But I do accept your comment about the rate of release of C++
Mode.

> Best regards
> Ludwig

> [1]: 
> https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/94j39z/modern_c_font_lock_in_emacs/
> [2]: https://github.com/ludwigpacifici/modern-cpp-font-lock
> [3]: https://melpa.org/#/modern-cpp-font-lock

-- 
Alan Mackenzie (Nuremberg, Germany).