# Desiring different colors for functions and variables in v.4

**URL:** <https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248>\
**Category:** JupyterLab\
**Created:** [April 18, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248 "2024-04-18T17:36:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![sbonaretti](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/sbonaretti/32/3059_2.png) [@sbonaretti](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/sbonaretti)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248/1 "2024-04-18T17:36:56Z")

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Hi,  
I have updated to JupyterLab, but I would like to keep the same color coding for functions and variables as in the previous version.  
In v.3, functions were green and variables black, so they were visually easy to distinguish both while coding and when teaching coding.  
In v.4, both functions and variables are black, thus indistinguishable.  
How can I change the settings so that I go back to the color coding in v.3 while using v.4?  
Thank you very much for your help!  
Serena

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**Author:** ![krassowski](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/krassowski/32/1685_2.png) [@krassowski](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/krassowski)\
**Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248/3 "2024-04-18T20:16:57Z")

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> [@sbonaretti](#):
>
> In v.3, functions were green and variables black, so they were visually easy to distinguish both while coding and when teaching coding.  
> In v.4, both functions and variables are black, thus indistinguishable.

Which exact version are you running @sbonaretti? The highlighting for built-in functions and keywords was reimplemented in JupyterLab v4.1.3. It was backported to v4.0 too but there has not been a release on 4.0.x yet, but it will available in 4.0.14.

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**Author:** ![sbonaretti](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/sbonaretti/32/3059_2.png) [@sbonaretti](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/sbonaretti)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2024, 7:47am UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248/4 "2024-04-23T07:47:29Z")

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Hi @krassowski,

Thank you so much for this quick and positive answer!

I am running v. 4.0.11 from Anaconda.

I have tried to install JupyterLab with pip3 on my MacOS Sonoma 14.2.1 with M1, but I was not successful. The installation does not provide any error, but when I launch `jupyter lab` from terminal, I get this error:  
`JupyterLab Error JupyterLab application assets not found in "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/python@3.11/3.11.9/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/share/jupyter/lab" Please run `jupyter lab build` or use a different app directory`  
I have tried out several things from various blogs, but I could not make it work. In case you know any post in JupyterLab Discourse that solves this issue, would you point me to that? I would love to solve this issue!

Thank you very much for your kind help!!!

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**Author:** ![sbonaretti](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex031/user_avatar/discourse.jupyter.org/sbonaretti/32/3059_2.png) [@sbonaretti](https://discourse.jupyter.org/u/sbonaretti)\
**Post date:** [April 25, 2024, 7:44am UTC](https://discourse.jupyter.org/t/desiring-different-colors-for-functions-and-variables-in-v-4/25248/5 "2024-04-25T07:44:18Z")

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Hi,  
I could find the solution to my problem. Writing it here in case somebody needs it.

- I had Homebrew installed, which might have been part of the problem. So I deleted it by running this line in terminal:  
`/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/uninstall.sh)"`
- Installed `JupyterLab`:  
`pip3 install jupyter lab`
- Added `JupyterLab` to my paths:  
`open .zshrc `  
In the opened file I wrote: `export PATH=$PATH:~/Library/Python/3.9/bin` (the path was in the warnings during the installation of `JupyterLab`)
- Closed everything and restarted