> is there any existing documentation on syntax colouring that goes beyond "what we thought looked nice"?
That's perhaps not the best way to think about it.
Graphic designers and typographers fret about this stuff constantly. There are theories of color which describe how to combine colors in visually effective ways. It's part subjective, part prescriptive and part aesthetic.
Someone could probably put together a large suite of complex experiments to figure out (or re-confirm) some fundamental truths about color when it comes to syntax, and maybe be able to make statistically faint claims about one theme being better than another. But what would one accomplish after all that objective research other than coming up with yet another cool-looking color scheme for folks to select on their IDE drop-downs?
At the end of the day, you the user, has infinite freedom to select from hundreds of thoughtful preconfigured color and font themes, or, optionally compose your own. Isn't that good enough?
Graphic designers and typographers fret about this stuff constantly. There are theories of color which describe how to combine colors in visually effective ways. It's part subjective, part prescriptive and part aesthetic.
Someone could probably put together a large suite of complex experiments to figure out (or re-confirm) some fundamental truths about color when it comes to syntax, and maybe be able to make statistically faint claims about one theme being better than another. But what would one accomplish after all that objective research other than coming up with yet another cool-looking color scheme for folks to select on their IDE drop-downs?
At the end of the day, you the user, has infinite freedom to select from hundreds of thoughtful preconfigured color and font themes, or, optionally compose your own. Isn't that good enough?