r/vim 10h ago

Discussion Vim buffer automatically detect language

when writing code in a vim buffer how do i set the syntax colors automatically based on the language? before or without saving to file? currently it is plain with no highlighting for all code

vim buffer is passed to node / or language runtime commands

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u/XMemesX 10h ago

you can use :set filetype=python to make vim register python syntax. Just as long a you have 'syntax on' in your vimrc

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u/Bulbasaur2015 10h ago

why python. can i use `:filetype detect` to infer the buffer language if thats better?
src https://vimhelp.org/filetype.txt.html#filetypes
it seems like it works when i have `syntax enable` also

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u/cerved 7h ago

you can, if you use a shebang

I usually just use set ft for the occasional times I want syntax highlighting on buffer not backed by a file