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Vim syntax enable/on

There are two ways to make "syntax on" in Vim: syntax enable and syntax on. What preferred to put into vimrc? What the difference between them? I have read :h :syn-qstart and don't feel the difference.

Solution

  • The answer is more or less given at :h syntax_cmd. Basically, what Vim does is

    let g:syntax_cmd = enable ? "enable" : "on"
source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
unlet g:syntax_cmd

    So the difference (if any) is how runtime files (actually, $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syncolor.vim which gets sourced through synload.vim which, in turn, is sourced through syntax.vim) treat the value of syntax_cmd variable.

    "Enabled"-version uses :hi def to set the colors for standard syntax groups, while "on"-version just :hi. But you need to do something rather tricky to encounter any difference.

    $ vim -u NONE
:colo blue
:scr 1
:unlet g:colors_name
:syn enable
: "text is colored with "blue" colorscheme
:syn on
: "background is still "blue" but many colors now come from "default"

    So usually syntax enable is slightly preferred, but you may just ignore this. At least, I'm not able to imagine a truly realistic situation where it matters.