Purpose and Status
Purpose
The PL/SQL extension exists to provide a focused and maintainable syntax highlighting experience for database-oriented development in Visual Studio Code.
The goal is straightforward:
- highlight real PL/SQL and SQL code accurately
- support common file naming conventions used in database projects
- stay lightweight and fast
- remain easy to evolve and publish
Current status
The extension is currently ready for manual installation and local use.
It already includes:
- a standalone language id:
plsql - a custom grammar in
syntaxes/plsql.tmLanguage.json - a language configuration in
syntaxes/language-configuration.json - local packaging with
vsce - repository metadata, changelog, and CI
- this site and documentation structure
What is planned next
The next step is Marketplace publication.
That work mainly involves:
- final review of metadata and visuals
- screenshots for Marketplace presentation
- release tagging and publication flow
- ongoing grammar refinements based on real usage
Project principles
1. Keep scope intentional
The extension should stay focused on syntax highlighting and file association. This keeps behavior predictable and reduces maintenance cost.
2. Prefer clarity over size
The grammar is optimized, but not at the cost of becoming opaque. It should remain understandable when future fixes are needed.
3. Stay theme-friendly
Scope names are chosen to work well with common VS Code themes in both dark and light mode.
4. Make release operations repeatable
Packaging, validation, documentation, and site generation should all be easy to run locally before publishing.