Websites using Highlight.js

Okay, let s break down Highlight.js, focusing on its overview, revenue (or lack thereof), alternatives, pricing, and customer care.

Overview

Highlight.js is a free, open-source JavaScript library used for syntax highlighting on websites and web applications. It automatically detects the language of code snippets and highlights them with appropriate colors and formatting. It supports a vast number of programming languages and markup formats, making it a highly versatile tool for developers and content creators who display code.

Key Features:

• Automatic language detection: No need to specify the language manually.
• Extensive language support: Supports 190+ languages and dialects.
• Highly customizable: Allows tweaking the look and feel through CSS themes.
• Easy to use: Simple implementation with minimal code.
• Lightweight and fast: Efficient performance for website loading.
• Cross-browser compatibility: Works well in all modern browsers.
• Open-source: Community-driven development and constant updates.
• No external dependencies: No additional libraries are required.

Revenue (or Lack Thereof)

Highlight.js is completely free and open-source. It operates under the BSD 3-Clause license, meaning there is no direct revenue model. The project relies entirely on community contributions through:

• Code contributions: Developers contributing to the library s codebase.
• Financial donations: Support through platforms like Patreon, Open Collective, etc. (These are relatively small, not a sustainable company revenue stream).
• Bug reports and feature requests: User feedback to improve the project.

Therefore, Highlight.js does not have any revenue in the traditional sense. It is a community-driven project, not a commercial entity.

Alternatives

Several alternatives to Highlight.js exist, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:

1. Prism.js:
   • Pros: Similar functionality to Highlight.js, highly customizable, plugin ecosystem.
   • Cons: Can be slightly heavier than Highlight.js, more complexity in customization.
2. CodeMirror:
   • Pros: Powerful text editor component, not just syntax highlighting, highly extensible.
   • Cons: Larger codebase, more complex setup, heavier performance compared to Highlight.js, not specifically designed for highlighting.
3. Shiki:
   • Pros: Uses the syntax highlighting engine of VS Code, very accurate and modern, uses Typescript.
   • Cons: Requires Node.js during build time, less flexibility with themes compared to CSS driven solutions.
4. Google Code Prettify:
   • Pros: Simple and straightforward, easy to use.
   • Cons: Older library, fewer features, less actively developed compared to Highlight.js, fewer language options.
5. Pygments:
   • Pros: Powerful Python library, excellent for server-side rendering of code.
   • Cons: Not a JavaScript library, requires Python, not directly integrated into web pages like Highlight.js.

Pricing

As a free and open-source project, Highlight.js has no pricing model. You can use it in personal and commercial projects without any cost.

Customer Care Details

Since Highlight.js is a free and community-driven project, it doesn t have traditional customer care like a commercial product. However, you can get support and help through these channels:

• GitHub Repository:
  • Issues: Report bugs, request features, ask for help.
  • Pull requests: Contribute to the project, suggest fixes.
  • Discussions: Engage with the community, ask general questions, provide answers to others.
• Stack Overflow: Search for solutions or ask questions related to Highlight.js, using appropriate tags (e.g. highlightjs).
• Community Forums: Although not official channels, community forums and discussion groups often have sections for Highlight.js questions.
• Official Documentation: Carefully written official documentation is very helpful for learning how to configure and customize the project.

Important Notes on Support:

• Community-based: Support is largely provided by volunteers and other users, so responses might not be immediate or guaranteed.
• No official support team: There s no dedicated support team, so direct communication is typically through the issue tracker and community platforms.
• Focus on documentation: The official documentation is generally comprehensive and should be the first resource for troubleshooting.
• Contributing is encouraged: If you encounter a problem, contributing a fix or solution is highly appreciated by the community.

In Summary

Highlight.js is an incredibly valuable tool for web developers and content creators. It is free, versatile, and highly configurable. While it lacks traditional revenue and customer care, the strong community support makes it a solid choice for syntax highlighting needs. If you need robust support and a very complex feature set it would be beneficial to look at commercial alternatives or more heavy duty open source ones.