ViM syntax highlighting for Cool

Cool (Classroom Object Oriented Language) is a language created to develop a compiler in a one semester course. I implemented a compiler for Cool, of course I needed to study the language, since ‘learning to code = coding’ the colored syntax is a good friend.

Actually the vim site has a Cool syntax highlight file/script https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1216, but I wrote my own file

to learn the Cool lexical definition
to have a simpler and more compact file

My vim.cool:

" ViM syntax file
" Language: Cool
" Maintainer: Alfonso S. Siciliano alfonso.siciliano@email.com
" License: Public Domain - No Warranty
" Created: 27 November 2015
" Latest Revision: 20 September 2017

if version < 600
        syntax clear
elseif exists("b:current_syntax")
        finish
endif

"Keywords
syn case ignore
syn keyword keywords class inherits new
syn keyword keywords in isvoid let loop pool then while
syn keyword keywords case esac of not else fi if
syn keyword boolConstKeywords true false
syn keyword self self

"Match
syn match escapeChars '\\\"\|\\0\|\\'                      contained
syn match escapeChars '\\b\|\\t\|\\f\|\\n\|\\r\|\\t\|\\v'  contained
syn match classID  '\u[0-9a-zA-Z_]*'
syn match objectID '\l[0-9a-zA-Z_]*'
syn match at       '@'                                     contained
syn match number   '\d\+'
syn match singleLineComment '--.*$'
syn match caseOperator '=>'

"Region
syn region multiLinesComment start='(\*' end='\*)'
syn region string start='\\\@<!"' end='\\\@<!"'     contains=escapeChars
syn region dispatch start='@' end='\.'              contains=at,classID

"Error
syn match errors ":\s*\l\S*"
syn match errors "@\s*\l\S*"

let b:current_syntax = "cool"

hi def link string                      String
hi def link keywords                    Statement
hi def link boolConstKeywords           Constant
hi def link number                      Number
hi def link escapeChars                 SpecialChar
hi def link classID                     Type
hi def link self                        Special
hi def link at                          Special
hi def link caseOperator                Special
hi def link singleLineComment           Comment
hi def link multiLinesComment           Comment
hi def link errors                      Error

to “install”:

save the specification syntax in ~/.vim/syntax/vim.cool
create ~/.vim/ftdetect/cool.vim and write

au BufRead,BufNewFile *.cl set filetype=cool

run vim and enable colored syntax

:syntax on

It’s all, happy Hacking!