Suggesting to install babel syntax highlighting for Sublime

[vjeux]

I have a brand new laptop and the syntax highlighting in Sublime is all crappy for JSX. Would be nice to detect if Sublime is opened and if people are using the standard JavaScript one and recommend installing the babel syntax highlighter.

One project that does something similar is Fuse where there's a wizard that lets you automatically install their Sublime extension by pressing next.

[vjeux]

Looks like it's going to be a bit of a pain to do install it automatically via code and the instructions are also quite painful :(

1. Install PackageControl

• View > Show Console
• Copy & Paste the python script

2. Install Babel Package

• Cmd Shift P
• Type Package Control: Install Package
• Type Babel and press Enter

3. Set Babel to be the default syntax highlighting for JavaScript

• Open a JavaScript file
• View > Syntax > Open all with current extension as... > Babel -> JavaScript (Babel)

[gaearon]

Can we ask Sublime to ship Babel syntax as JavaScript?

[vjeux]

@thejameskyle tried but was unsuccessful.

I see this as the first step. I want to have a one click installation for setting up your editor with syntax highlighting, eslint, flow... This is a big part of the developer experience and something that every tool I know of punted on so far.

[battaile]

Sublime 2 specific but from looking at similar issues I think it works the same in Sublime 3:
mrmartineau/SublimeTextSetupWiki#3 (comment)

To install Package Control, http://sublime.wbond.net/Package%20Control.sublime-package needs to be placed inside of the Installed Packages/ folder. The next time Sublime starts, it will install the package.

To batch install other packages, a Package Control.sublime-settings file needs to be placed into the Packages/User/ folder. Inside of the settings file should be a JSON object with the key "installed_packages" that references a list of package names. When Package Control starts, if any of those packages are not present, the will be automatically downloaded and installed. Here is an example: http://pastebin.com/NLEavL1K.

So just copy the sublime-package file and then create/append babel to the sublime-settings file? Actually making the filetype association can be expressed as one of their json macros but I'm not sure how to invoke that programatically.

[stephenkingsley]

@gaearon @vjeux may I ask the react team's member is not use atom?

[gaearon]

While this is a cool idea, it’s unlikely either of us will get to it, and it’s also somewhat fragile. With the influx of competing editors (Atom, VSCode) it doesn’t seem like special-casing Sublime is a good idea. Sublime also recently updated to ship Package Control by default.

I think this could better be addressed as a doc entry. I filed an issue for that: #804.