# Syntax Highlighting and Colors

Use the Source Editor Preferences dialog box (Preferences -> Source Editor) to turn syntax highlighting on or off and to choose color formats.

## Syntax Highlighting

If you choose syntax highlighting, the source editor highlights text elements using different colors. Elements are interpreted based on the type of file loaded into the editor.

### Program Source Files

Files with the following extensions are treated as program source:

`.c` | `.jav` | `.h`
`.cc` | `.cpp` | `.hpp`
`.java` | `.cxx` | `.hxx`

The following elements are highlighted in program source files:

Background | The background color of the editor pane
Reserved words | Keywords, plus `true`, `false`, and `null` (language specific keywords are determined by the file extension)
Comments | Text delimited by: `//`, `/*...*/`
Numbers | Any text element that begins with a digit
All other text | Text elements other than those defined above

### HTML Files

Files with the `.html` and `.htm` extensions are treated as HTML document source.

The following text elements are highlighted in HTML files:

Background | The background color of the editor pane
Tags | All text between tag brackets
Comments | All text between comment characters
Numbers | Any text element that begins with a digit
All other text | Text elements other than those defined above

## Foreground/Background

Choose a preselected combination of foreground (text) and background colors.

If syntax highlighting is turned on, colors that highlight text elements are chosen to fit into the foreground/background color scheme.

See also:

  Editing Source
  Source Editor Fonts
  Source Editor Tabs and Indentation