When displaying code snippets on a website, proper syntax highlighting significantly improves readability and user experience. One of the best tools for this is Prism.js, a lightweight and customizable syntax highlighter. In this article, we'll explore how to integrate Prism.js into your website to make your code snippets more visually appealing.
Prism.js offers several benefits:
Lightweight: It is designed to be fast and efficient.
Customizable: Various themes and plugins allow for a personalized experience.
Supports Multiple Languages: Easily highlight code for different programming languages.
Extensible: Plugins provide additional functionality like line numbers and automatic copy buttons.
To integrate Prism.js into your website, follow these steps:
In your base HTML template, include the necessary Prism.js CSS and JavaScript files by adding the following lines inside the <head> section:
<!-- core/templates/base.html -->
<!-- Prism.js CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/prism/1.29.0/themes/prism-tomorrow.min.css">
<!-- Prism.js JS -->
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/prism/1.29.0/prism.min.js"></script>
<!-- Load Additional Languages (Optional) -->
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/prism/1.29.0/components/prism-python.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/prism/1.29.0/components/prism-bash.min.js"></script>To enable syntax highlighting, wrap your code inside <pre> and <code> tags, specifying the appropriate language class. For example:
<pre><code class="language-python">
def hello_world():
print("Hello, World!")
</code></pre>Prism.js provides various themes that you can easily integrate. The example above uses the Tomorrow theme, but you can replace it with other themes like:
prism.css (default theme)
prism-okaidia.css (dark theme)
prism-twilight.css (light theme)
Check out the available themes on Prism.js’s official website.
By integrating Prism.js, you can improve the presentation of code snippets, making them more readable and visually appealing. Whether you're running a blog, documentation site, or an online learning platform, Prism.js is a powerful tool to enhance the developer experience.
Try different themes and plugins to customize it according to your needs, and enjoy beautifully formatted code snippets on your website!