diff --git a/dartdoc_options.yaml b/dartdoc_options.yaml
index d340a230628..6fc305054bb 100644
--- a/dartdoc_options.yaml
+++ b/dartdoc_options.yaml
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 # This file is used by dartdoc when generating API documentation for Flutter.
 dartdoc:
+  # Before you can run dartdoc, the snippets tool needs to have a snapshot built.
+  # The dev/tools/dartdoc.dart script does this automatically.
   tools:
     snippet:
-      command: ["dev/snippets/lib/main.dart", "--type=application"]
+      command: ["bin/cache/dart-sdk/bin/dart", "../../bin/cache/snippets.snapshot", "--type=application"]
       description: "Creates application sample code documentation output from embedded documentation samples."
     sample:
-      command: ["dev/snippets/lib/main.dart", "--type=sample"]
+      command: ["bin/cache/dart-sdk/bin/dart", "../../bin/cache/snippets.snapshot", "--type=sample"]
       description: "Creates sample code documentation output from embedded documentation samples."
diff --git a/dev/bots/analyze-sample-code.dart b/dev/bots/analyze-sample-code.dart
index 5c9f0562698..115c7c62d9b 100644
--- a/dev/bots/analyze-sample-code.dart
+++ b/dev/bots/analyze-sample-code.dart
@@ -202,22 +202,23 @@ class SampleChecker {
   // Precompiles the snippets tool if _snippetsSnapshotPath isn't set yet, and
   // runs the precompiled version if it is set.
   ProcessResult _runSnippetsScript(List<String> args) {
+    final String workingDirectory = path.join(_flutterRoot, 'dev', 'docs');
     if (_snippetsSnapshotPath == null) {
       _snippetsSnapshotPath = '$_snippetsExecutable.snapshot';
       return Process.runSync(
-        Platform.executable,
+        path.absolute(Platform.executable),
         <String>[
           '--snapshot=$_snippetsSnapshotPath',
           '--snapshot-kind=app-jit',
-          _snippetsExecutable,
+          path.absolute(_snippetsExecutable),
         ]..addAll(args),
-        workingDirectory: _flutterRoot,
+        workingDirectory: workingDirectory,
       );
     } else {
       return Process.runSync(
-        Platform.executable,
-        <String>[_snippetsSnapshotPath]..addAll(args),
-        workingDirectory: _flutterRoot,
+        path.absolute(Platform.executable),
+        <String>[path.absolute(_snippetsSnapshotPath)]..addAll(args),
+        workingDirectory: workingDirectory,
       );
     }
   }
diff --git a/dev/docs/assets/overrides.css b/dev/docs/assets/overrides.css
index 4aa271620b4..981157b7f70 100644
--- a/dev/docs/assets/overrides.css
+++ b/dev/docs/assets/overrides.css
@@ -137,3 +137,10 @@ footer {
   font-size: 13px;
   padding: 12px 20px;
 }
+/* Override the comment color for highlight.js to make it more
+   prominent/readable */
+.hljs-comment {
+  color: #128c00;
+  font-style: italic;
+  font-weight: bold;
+}
diff --git a/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/application.html b/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/application.html
index 479a8c09c2f..347b6e13323 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/application.html
+++ b/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/application.html
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
               onclick="copyTextToClipboard();">
         <i class="material-icons copy-image">assignment</i>
       </button>
-      <pre class="language-dart"><code class="language-dart">{{code}}</code></pre>
+      <pre class="language-{{language}}"><code class="language-{{language}}">{{code}}</code></pre>
     </div>
   </div>
   <div class="snippet" id="longSnippet" hidden>
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
               onclick="copyTextToClipboard();">
         <i class="material-icons copy-image">assignment</i>
       </button>
-      <pre class="language-dart"><code class="language-dart">{{app}}</code></pre>
+      <pre class="language-{{language}}"><code class="language-{{language}}">{{app}}</code></pre>
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
diff --git a/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/sample.html b/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/sample.html
index 9343a01f92e..15a98ea5717 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/sample.html
+++ b/dev/snippets/config/skeletons/sample.html
@@ -1,19 +1,18 @@
 {@inject-html}
+<div class="snippet-buttons">
+  <button id="shortSnippetButton" selected>Sample</button>
+</div>
 <div class="snippet-container">
   <div class="snippet">
-    <div class="snippet-description">
-      {@end-inject-html}
-      {{description}}
-      {@inject-html}
+    <div class="snippet-description">{@end-inject-html}
+{{description}}{@inject-html}
     </div>
     <div class="copyable-container">
       <button class="copy-button-overlay copy-button" title="Copy to clipboard"
               onclick="copyTextToClipboard(findSiblingWithId(this, 'sample-code'));">
         <i class="material-icons copy-image">assignment</i>
       </button>
-      <pre class="language-dart" id="sample-code">
-        <code class="language-dart">{{code}}</code>
-      </pre>
+      <pre class="language-{{language}}" id="sample-code"><code class="language-{{language}}">{{code}}</code></pre>
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
diff --git a/dev/snippets/lib/configuration.dart b/dev/snippets/lib/configuration.dart
index 3f7f3ebc438..1f401b1bfd9 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/lib/configuration.dart
+++ b/dev/snippets/lib/configuration.dart
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 import 'dart:io' hide Platform;
 
 import 'package:meta/meta.dart';
-import 'package:platform/platform.dart';
 import 'package:path/path.dart' as path;
 
 /// What type of snippet to produce.
@@ -13,6 +12,7 @@ enum SnippetType {
   /// Produces a snippet that includes the code interpolated into an application
   /// template.
   application,
+
   /// Produces a nicely formatted sample code, but no application.
   sample,
 }
@@ -27,29 +27,31 @@ String getEnumName(dynamic enumItem) {
 /// A class to compute the configuration of the snippets input and output
 /// locations based in the current location of the snippets main.dart.
 class Configuration {
-  const Configuration({Platform platform}) : platform = platform ?? const LocalPlatform();
+  Configuration({@required this.flutterRoot}) : assert(flutterRoot != null);
 
-  final Platform platform;
+  final Directory flutterRoot;
 
   /// This is the configuration directory for the snippets system, containing
   /// the skeletons and templates.
   @visibleForTesting
-  Directory getConfigDirectory(String kind) {
-    final String platformScriptPath = path.dirname(platform.script.toFilePath());
-    final String configPath =
-        path.canonicalize(path.join(platformScriptPath, '..', 'config', kind));
-    return Directory(configPath);
+  Directory get configDirectory {
+    _configPath ??= Directory(
+        path.canonicalize(path.join(flutterRoot.absolute.path, 'dev', 'snippets', 'config')));
+    return _configPath;
   }
 
+  Directory _configPath;
+
   /// This is where the snippets themselves will be written, in order to be
   /// uploaded to the docs site.
   Directory get outputDirectory {
-    final String platformScriptPath = path.dirname(platform.script.toFilePath());
-    final String docsDirectory =
-      path.canonicalize(path.join(platformScriptPath, '..', '..', 'docs', 'doc', 'snippets'));
-    return Directory(docsDirectory);
+    _docsDirectory ??= Directory(
+        path.canonicalize(path.join(flutterRoot.absolute.path, 'dev', 'docs', 'doc', 'snippets')));
+    return _docsDirectory;
   }
 
+  Directory _docsDirectory;
+
   /// This makes sure that the output directory exists.
   void createOutputDirectory() {
     if (!outputDirectory.existsSync()) {
@@ -59,11 +61,11 @@ class Configuration {
 
   /// The directory containing the HTML skeletons to be filled out with metadata
   /// and returned to dartdoc for insertion in the output.
-  Directory get skeletonsDirectory => getConfigDirectory('skeletons');
+  Directory get skeletonsDirectory => Directory(path.join(configDirectory.path,'skeletons'));
 
   /// The directory containing the code templates that can be referenced by the
   /// dartdoc.
-  Directory get templatesDirectory => getConfigDirectory('templates');
+  Directory get templatesDirectory => Directory(path.join(configDirectory.path, 'templates'));
 
   /// Gets the skeleton file to use for the given [SnippetType].
   File getHtmlSkeletonFile(SnippetType type) {
diff --git a/dev/snippets/lib/main.dart b/dev/snippets/lib/main.dart
index 30b09b1b8e9..3f475592059 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/lib/main.dart
+++ b/dev/snippets/lib/main.dart
@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ import 'configuration.dart';
 import 'snippets.dart';
 
 const String _kElementOption = 'element';
+const String _kHelpOption = 'help';
 const String _kInputOption = 'input';
 const String _kLibraryOption = 'library';
+const String _kOutputOption = 'output';
 const String _kPackageOption = 'package';
 const String _kTemplateOption = 'template';
 const String _kTypeOption = 'type';
-const String _kOutputOption = 'output';
 
 /// Generates snippet dartdoc output for a given input, and creates any sample
 /// applications needed by the snippet.
@@ -73,9 +74,20 @@ void main(List<String> argList) {
     defaultsTo: environment['ELEMENT_NAME'],
     help: 'The name of the element that this snippet belongs to.',
   );
+  parser.addFlag(
+    _kHelpOption,
+    defaultsTo: false,
+    negatable: false,
+    help: 'Prints help documentation for this command',
+  );
 
   final ArgResults args = parser.parse(argList);
 
+  if (args[_kHelpOption]) {
+    stderr.writeln(parser.usage);
+    exit(0);
+  }
+
   final SnippetType snippetType = SnippetType.values
       .firstWhere((SnippetType type) => getEnumName(type) == args[_kTypeOption], orElse: () => null);
   assert(snippetType != null, "Unable to find '${args[_kTypeOption]}' in SnippetType enum.");
diff --git a/dev/snippets/lib/snippets.dart b/dev/snippets/lib/snippets.dart
index b2616e85b58..482b3b1df8a 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/lib/snippets.dart
+++ b/dev/snippets/lib/snippets.dart
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ void errorExit(String message) {
 // A Tuple containing the name and contents associated with a code block in a
 // snippet.
 class _ComponentTuple {
-  _ComponentTuple(this.name, this.contents);
+  _ComponentTuple(this.name, this.contents, {String language}) : language = language ?? '';
   final String name;
   final List<String> contents;
+  final String language;
   String get mergedContent => contents.join('\n').trim();
 }
 
@@ -28,7 +29,9 @@ class _ComponentTuple {
 /// the output directory.
 class SnippetGenerator {
   SnippetGenerator({Configuration configuration})
-      : configuration = configuration ?? const Configuration() {
+      : configuration = configuration ??
+           // This script must be run from dev/docs, so the root is up two levels.
+            Configuration(flutterRoot: Directory(path.canonicalize(path.join('..', '..')))) {
     this.configuration.createOutputDirectory();
   }
 
@@ -95,11 +98,16 @@ class SnippetGenerator {
   /// if not a [SnippetType.application] snippet.
   String interpolateSkeleton(SnippetType type, List<_ComponentTuple> injections, String skeleton) {
     final List<String> result = <String>[];
+    const HtmlEscape htmlEscape = HtmlEscape();
+    String language;
     for (_ComponentTuple injection in injections) {
       if (!injection.name.startsWith('code')) {
         continue;
       }
       result.addAll(injection.contents);
+      if (injection.language.isNotEmpty) {
+        language = injection.language;
+      }
       result.addAll(<String>['', '// ...', '']);
     }
     if (result.length > 3) {
@@ -109,16 +117,17 @@ class SnippetGenerator {
       'description': injections
           .firstWhere((_ComponentTuple tuple) => tuple.name == 'description')
           .mergedContent,
-      'code': result.join('\n'),
+      'code': htmlEscape.convert(result.join('\n')),
+      'language': language ?? 'dart',
     }..addAll(type == SnippetType.application
         ? <String, String>{
             'id':
                 injections.firstWhere((_ComponentTuple tuple) => tuple.name == 'id').mergedContent,
             'app':
-                injections.firstWhere((_ComponentTuple tuple) => tuple.name == 'app').mergedContent,
+                htmlEscape.convert(injections.firstWhere((_ComponentTuple tuple) => tuple.name == 'app').mergedContent),
           }
         : <String, String>{'id': '', 'app': ''});
-    return skeleton.replaceAllMapped(RegExp(r'{{(code|app|id|description)}}'), (Match match) {
+    return skeleton.replaceAllMapped(RegExp('{{(${substitutions.keys.join('|')})}}'), (Match match) {
       return substitutions[match[1]];
     });
   }
@@ -126,31 +135,32 @@ class SnippetGenerator {
   /// Parses the input for the various code and description segments, and
   /// returns them in the order found.
   List<_ComponentTuple> parseInput(String input) {
-    bool inSnippet = false;
+    bool inCodeBlock = false;
     input = input.trim();
     final List<String> description = <String>[];
     final List<_ComponentTuple> components = <_ComponentTuple>[];
-    String currentComponent;
+    String language;
+    final RegExp codeStartEnd = RegExp(r'^\s*```([-\w]+|[-\w]+ ([-\w]+))?\s*$');
     for (String line in input.split('\n')) {
-      final Match match = RegExp(r'^\s*```(dart|dart (\w+))?\s*$').firstMatch(line);
-      if (match != null) {
-        inSnippet = !inSnippet;
+      final Match match = codeStartEnd.firstMatch(line);
+      if (match != null) { // If we saw the start or end of a code block
+        inCodeBlock = !inCodeBlock;
         if (match[1] != null) {
-          currentComponent = match[1];
+          language = match[1];
           if (match[2] != null) {
-            components.add(_ComponentTuple('code-${match[2]}', <String>[]));
+            components.add(_ComponentTuple('code-${match[2]}', <String>[], language: language));
           } else {
-            components.add(_ComponentTuple('code', <String>[]));
+            components.add(_ComponentTuple('code', <String>[], language: language));
           }
         } else {
-          currentComponent = null;
+          language = null;
         }
         continue;
       }
-      if (!inSnippet) {
+      if (!inCodeBlock) {
         description.add(line);
       } else {
-        assert(currentComponent != null);
+        assert(language != null);
         components.last.contents.add(line);
       }
     }
diff --git a/dev/snippets/test/configuration_test.dart b/dev/snippets/test/configuration_test.dart
index 8b2e567743f..41e7d2f7df6 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/test/configuration_test.dart
+++ b/dev/snippets/test/configuration_test.dart
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style license that can be
 // found in the LICENSE file.
 
-import 'package:platform/platform.dart' show FakePlatform;
+import 'dart:io';
 
 import 'package:test/test.dart' hide TypeMatcher, isInstanceOf;
 
@@ -10,36 +10,32 @@ import 'package:snippets/configuration.dart';
 
 void main() {
   group('Configuration', () {
-    FakePlatform fakePlatform;
     Configuration config;
 
     setUp(() {
-      fakePlatform = FakePlatform(
-          operatingSystem: 'linux',
-          script: Uri.parse('file:///flutter/dev/snippets/lib/configuration_test.dart'));
-      config = Configuration(platform: fakePlatform);
+      config = Configuration(flutterRoot: Directory('/flutter sdk'));
     });
     test('config directory is correct', () async {
-      expect(config.getConfigDirectory('foo').path,
-          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]foo')));
+      expect(config.configDirectory.path,
+          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter sdk[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config')));
     });
     test('output directory is correct', () async {
       expect(config.outputDirectory.path,
-          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter[/\\]dev[/\\]docs[/\\]doc[/\\]snippets')));
+          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter sdk[/\\]dev[/\\]docs[/\\]doc[/\\]snippets')));
     });
     test('skeleton directory is correct', () async {
       expect(config.skeletonsDirectory.path,
-          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]skeletons')));
+          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter sdk[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]skeletons')));
     });
     test('templates directory is correct', () async {
       expect(config.templatesDirectory.path,
-          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]templates')));
+          matches(RegExp(r'[/\\]flutter sdk[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]templates')));
     });
     test('html skeleton file is correct', () async {
       expect(
           config.getHtmlSkeletonFile(SnippetType.application).path,
           matches(RegExp(
-              r'[/\\]flutter[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]skeletons[/\\]application.html')));
+              r'[/\\]flutter sdk[/\\]dev[/\\]snippets[/\\]config[/\\]skeletons[/\\]application.html')));
     });
   });
 }
diff --git a/dev/snippets/test/snippets_test.dart b/dev/snippets/test/snippets_test.dart
index a253126f486..f621d6d6165 100644
--- a/dev/snippets/test/snippets_test.dart
+++ b/dev/snippets/test/snippets_test.dart
@@ -5,16 +5,13 @@
 import 'dart:io' hide Platform;
 import 'package:path/path.dart' as path;
 
-import 'package:platform/platform.dart' show FakePlatform;
-
-import 'package:test_api/test_api.dart' hide TypeMatcher, isInstanceOf;
+import 'package:test/test.dart' hide TypeMatcher, isInstanceOf;
 
 import 'package:snippets/configuration.dart';
 import 'package:snippets/snippets.dart';
 
 void main() {
   group('Generator', () {
-    FakePlatform fakePlatform;
     Configuration configuration;
     SnippetGenerator generator;
     Directory tmpDir;
@@ -22,10 +19,8 @@ void main() {
 
     setUp(() {
       tmpDir = Directory.systemTemp.createTempSync('snippets_test');
-      fakePlatform = FakePlatform(
-          script: Uri.file(path.join(
-              tmpDir.absolute.path, 'flutter', 'dev', 'snippets', 'lib', 'snippets_test.dart')));
-      configuration = Configuration(platform: fakePlatform);
+      configuration = Configuration(flutterRoot: Directory(path.join(
+          tmpDir.absolute.path, 'flutter')));
       configuration.createOutputDirectory();
       configuration.templatesDirectory.createSync(recursive: true);
       configuration.skeletonsDirectory.createSync(recursive: true);
@@ -67,7 +62,7 @@ A description of the snippet.
 
 On several lines.
 
-```dart preamble
+```my-dart_language my-preamble
 const String name = 'snippet';
 ```
 
@@ -82,13 +77,13 @@ void main() {
           generator.generate(inputFile, SnippetType.application, template: 'template', id: 'id');
       expect(html, contains('<div>HTML Bits</div>'));
       expect(html, contains('<div>More HTML Bits</div>'));
-      expect(html, contains("print('The actual \$name.');"));
+      expect(html, contains('print(&#39;The actual \$name.&#39;);'));
       expect(html, contains('A description of the snippet.\n'));
       expect(
           html,
-          contains('// A description of the snippet.\n'
-              '//\n'
-              '// On several lines.\n'));
+          contains('&#47;&#47; A description of the snippet.\n'
+              '&#47;&#47;\n'
+              '&#47;&#47; On several lines.\n'));
       expect(html, contains('void main() {'));
     });
 
@@ -110,7 +105,7 @@ void main() {
       final String html = generator.generate(inputFile, SnippetType.sample);
       expect(html, contains('<div>HTML Bits</div>'));
       expect(html, contains('<div>More HTML Bits</div>'));
-      expect(html, contains("print('The actual \$name.');"));
+      expect(html, contains('  print(&#39;The actual \$name.&#39;);'));
       expect(html, contains('A description of the snippet.\n\nOn several lines.\n'));
       expect(html, contains('main() {'));
     });
diff --git a/dev/tools/dartdoc.dart b/dev/tools/dartdoc.dart
index cda9793ed30..752ccd28f4c 100644
--- a/dev/tools/dartdoc.dart
+++ b/dev/tools/dartdoc.dart
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ Future<void> main(List<String> arguments) async {
   createFooter('$kDocsRoot/lib/footer.html');
   copyAssets();
   cleanOutSnippets();
+  precompileSnippetsTool();
 
   final List<String> dartdocBaseArgs = <String>['global', 'run'];
   if (args['checked']) {
@@ -299,6 +300,34 @@ void cleanOutSnippets() {
   }
 }
 
+File precompileSnippetsTool() {
+  final File snapshotPath = File(path.join('bin', 'cache', 'snippets.snapshot'));
+  print('Precompiling snippets tool into ${snapshotPath.absolute.path}');
+  if (snapshotPath.existsSync()) {
+    snapshotPath.deleteSync();
+  }
+  // In order to be able to optimize properly, we need to provide a training set
+  // of arguments, and an input file to process.
+  final Directory tempDir = Directory.systemTemp.createTempSync('dartdoc_snippet_');
+  final File trainingFile = File(path.join(tempDir.path, 'snippet_training'));
+  trainingFile.writeAsStringSync('```dart\nvoid foo(){}\n```');
+  Process.runSync(Platform.resolvedExecutable, <String>[
+    '--snapshot=${snapshotPath.absolute.path}',
+    '--snapshot_kind=app-jit',
+    path.join(
+      'dev',
+      'snippets',
+      'lib',
+      'main.dart',
+    ),
+    '--type=sample',
+    '--input=${trainingFile.absolute.path}',
+    '--output=${path.join(tempDir.absolute.path, 'training_output.txt')}',
+  ]);
+  tempDir.deleteSync(recursive: true);
+  return snapshotPath;
+}
+
 void sanityCheckDocs() {
   final List<String> canaries = <String>[
     '$kPublishRoot/assets/overrides.css',