prettify

Prettify is a verb meaning to make something more attractive or aesthetically pleasing. The term is used across design, typography, and general language to indicate applying style or decoration without changing the underlying function. In computing, prettifying typically refers to automatically formatting data or code to improve readability, often by applying consistent indentation, line breaks, and spacing.

In programming, a tool that performs prettification is called a prettifier or pretty-printer. The goal is to produce a human-friendly representation of source code or data while preserving its semantics. Common targets include source code in languages such as JavaScript, Python, and Java, as well as data formats like JSON, XML, and YAML. Prettifiers are often integrated into development environments or provided as standalone libraries. Notable examples include Google Code Prettify, a JavaScript library that adds syntax highlighting to code blocks on web pages, and various language-specific formatters that enforce consistent style conventions.

The term reflects the broader idea of improving readability and presentation without altering function. Its usage spans everyday language and technical contexts, where the emphasis is on clarity, structure, and consistency. Etymologically, prettify comes from the word pretty with the suffix -fy, meaning to make or become. See also: pretty-printer, code formatter, syntax highlighting, and prettiness.