Re: cc-mode fontification feels random

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Daniel Colascione <dancol@dancol.org>
> Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2021 11:11:21 -0700
> Cc: rudalics@gmx.at, emacs-devel@gnu.org, rms@gnu.org, acm@muc.de
> 
> The whole point of fontification is to provide visual hints about the 
> semantic structure of source code. If cc-mode can't do that reliably, my 
> preference would be for it to not do it at all. Fontification of a 
> type-using expression shouldn't change if I move the definition of that 
> type from one file to another.

I think we agree.  Except that for me, it should also not try if it
cannot do it quickly enough, not only reliably enough.

> IMHO, we should rely on LSP to figure out what symbols are types, and if 
> a LSP isn't available, we shouldn't try to guess.

I was talking about what to do (or not to do) with our existing
regexp- and "syntax"-based fontifications.  I still remember the days
when CC Mode handled that well enough without being a snail it
frequently is now, and that was on a machine about 10 times slower
than the one I use nowadays.  The C language didn't change too much
since then, at least not the flavor I frequently edit.