Language Server Protocol, is an open source JSON-RPC-based protocol for use between source code editors or IDE and servers that provide "language intelligence tools"
- features like code completion, syntax highlighting and marking of warnings and errors as well as refactoring routines.
- goal of the protocol is to allow programming language support independently.
- native search-and-replace could introduce errors. Can replace the partial matches. It can rename identically-named variables in other scopes. compiler or interpreters for a specific programming language are typically unable to provide these language services.
- compiler goal either transforming the source code into object code or immediately executing the code.
- in order to provide instant feedback to the user, the editing tool must be able to very quickly evaluate the syntactical and semantical consequences of a specific modification. The LSP allow for decoupling language services from the editor so that the services may be contained within a general-purpose language servers.
When a user edits one or more source code files using a language server protocol enabled tool
- tool acts as a client that consumes the language services provided by a language server.
- the tool may be text editor or IDE and the language service could be refactoring, code completion etc.
- client informs the server about what the user is doing, opening a file or inserting a character at a specific text position.
- the client can also request the server to perform a language service, to format a specified range in the text document.
- the server answer's client's request with an appropriate response. The formatting request is answered either by a response that transfers the formatted text to the client or by an error response containing details about the error.