How to install Pygments (syntax highlighter) using Homebrew

Recently, I found a Ruby Gem that I wanted to install and try out, but found out that Pygments was a dependency that I need to install first. I immediately tried to see if I could install it with Homebrew (the best package manager ever, for the Mac)…

brew install pygments   #wont work

There is no Homebrew formula available to install it. After some searching, I found out that Pygments is one of Homebrew’s formulas it won’t accept. “Why can’t I install Pygments using Homebrew?” I wondered. The reason is because Pygments is written in Python, and Python has its own package manager. This is sort of like how Ruby has RubyGems or PHP has, shudder, PEAR.

Your Mac already came with Python installed, so you already have everything you need in order to install Pygments.

sudo easy_install Pygments

If you’re wondering, easy_install is a Python module used for managing Python packages.