bug#23501: Non-regex-based syntax highlighting

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Nir Friedman <quicknir@gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, 10 May 2016 14:55:41 -0400
> Cc: 23501@debbugs.gnu.org
> 
> I guess I'm a bit less clear on the solution, because I don't have a good 
> sense of who the owner of the C++
> major mode is, and how the code is structured. My thinking was that perhaps 
> hooks could be added to make
> it easier for plugin writers to modify the syntax coloring of the major mode. 
> As opposed to plugin writers
> needing to rewrite the C++ major mode from scratch just to change the syntax 
> coloring.

Colors are added at display time, so hooks will not help here.  Or at
least it isn't immediately clear to me how they could help.

I suggest to study how syntax highlighting works in Emacs, including
the JIT font-lock feature and its relation to the display engine.
Until you have a good understanding of how this stuff works, I don't
think you will be able to come with a design for hooks which external
tools could use for this purpose.