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  3. What is the best font for programming?

What is the best font for programming?

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  • V Vikram A Punathambekar

    I know it's fashionable to pillory CSS and all that, but he just asked for good fonts suited for programming (least eye strain, crossed 0s, that sort of thing). Nowhere does he claim that using this one true font will make him a gangsta coder.

    Cheers, Vikram. (Cracked not one CCC, but two!)

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    Christian Graus
    wrote on last edited by
    #15

    He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me. "I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming. " This is ridiculous, I am sorry. The font that suits you, is a personal choice. There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

    Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

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    • S Shog9 0

      I use multiple fonts. Italic comments and bold operators make code faster to read. And I believe strongly in reading a lot of code as quickly as possible... As for which fonts... Pick something that looks good to you. Why on earth would you trust someone else's subjective opinions over what your own eyes tell you? Personally, I dislike using fonts where l looks like 1 or 0 looks like O, but YMMV...

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      Christian Graus
      wrote on last edited by
      #16

      This was exactly my point. There is no magical 'programming font'. He needs to choose something he likes.

      Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

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      • C Christian Graus

        He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me. "I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming. " This is ridiculous, I am sorry. The font that suits you, is a personal choice. There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

        Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

        S Offline
        S Offline
        Shog9 0
        wrote on last edited by
        #17

        Christian Graus wrote:

        He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me.

        Honestly... You should probably stop responding to him... ...My responses are way better. ;-P

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        • C Christian Graus

          This was exactly my point. There is no magical 'programming font'. He needs to choose something he likes.

          Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

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          S Offline
          Shog9 0
          wrote on last edited by
          #18

          Christian Graus wrote:

          He needs to choose something he likes.

          Or Comic Sans. Someone here must be using that...

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          • S Shog9 0

            I use multiple fonts. Italic comments and bold operators make code faster to read. And I believe strongly in reading a lot of code as quickly as possible... As for which fonts... Pick something that looks good to you. Why on earth would you trust someone else's subjective opinions over what your own eyes tell you? Personally, I dislike using fonts where l looks like 1 or 0 looks like O, but YMMV...

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            FyreWyrm
            wrote on last edited by
            #19

            What is the best food? pizza, no spaghetti, well either I guess What is the best drink? Dr. Pepper, no questions about it What clothing and shoes are best? Anything made by Wrangler and Justin boots What haircut? high-and-tight What animal? a horse... and a dog Those weren't so hard.

            Don't blame me. I voted for Chuck Norris.

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            • F FyreWyrm

              What is the best food? pizza, no spaghetti, well either I guess What is the best drink? Dr. Pepper, no questions about it What clothing and shoes are best? Anything made by Wrangler and Justin boots What haircut? high-and-tight What animal? a horse... and a dog Those weren't so hard.

              Don't blame me. I voted for Chuck Norris.

              S Offline
              S Offline
              Shog9 0
              wrote on last edited by
              #20

              FyreWyrm wrote:

              Anything made by Wrangler

              Pockets are too small.

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              • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                Consolas, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I use 15 pt.

                Turns out I use 14 pt.

                (My monitor is only 17 inches, and I use 1280x1024).

                Cheers, Vikram. (Cracked not one CCC, but two!)

                modified on Friday, November 27, 2009 2:36 AM

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                CaptainSeeSharp
                wrote on last edited by
                #21

                Vikram A Punathambekar wrote:

                Consolas, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I use 15 pt. (My monitor is only 17 inches, and I use 1280x1024).

                Thats crazy. I think I'm stuck on Terminal 10pt. It isn't perfect, but other fonts just don't have that special look to them.

                Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

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                • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                  Consolas, and I know I'm going out on a limb here, but I use 15 pt.

                  Turns out I use 14 pt.

                  (My monitor is only 17 inches, and I use 1280x1024).

                  Cheers, Vikram. (Cracked not one CCC, but two!)

                  modified on Friday, November 27, 2009 2:36 AM

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                  Judah Gabriel Himango
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #22

                  Wow. I use Consolas 12pt here. I thought that was big.

                  Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon Judah Himango

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                  • C Christian Graus

                    He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me. "I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming. " This is ridiculous, I am sorry. The font that suits you, is a personal choice. There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

                    Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

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                    V Offline
                    Vikram A Punathambekar
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #23

                    Christian Graus wrote:

                    And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me.

                    Maybe if you hadn't indulged him all these years, he would have just ignored you? Besides, this is your response - ridiculing his questions?

                    Christian Graus wrote:

                    The font that suits you, is a personal choice.

                    Yes, and he wants to know which ones people use so he can try them and pick one he likes. Do you also ridicule the people who ask for other people's favourite music players, text editors, etc?

                    Christian Graus wrote:

                    There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

                    As above. Also, I'd say Consolas was created for programming.

                    Christian Graus wrote:

                    He's an idiot.

                    On that we agree. :)

                    Cheers, Vikram. (Cracked not one CCC, but two!)

                    1 Reply Last reply
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                    • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                      Wow. I use Consolas 12pt here. I thought that was big.

                      Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon Judah Himango

                      V Offline
                      V Offline
                      Vikram A Punathambekar
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #24

                      Screen size and resolution?

                      Cheers, Vikram. (Cracked not one CCC, but two!)

                      J 1 Reply Last reply
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                      • J Judah Gabriel Himango

                        Wow. I use Consolas 12pt here. I thought that was big.

                        Religiously blogging on the intarwebs since the early 21st century: Kineti L'Tziyon Judah Himango

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                        S Offline
                        Shog9 0
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #25

                        Judah Himango wrote:

                        I thought that was big.

                        It is! When I use Consolas, I use 10pt. I prefer 10.5pt, but that doesn't seem to work in VS. Consolas is a very bulky font. Pretty enough, at larger sizes, and with good anti-aliasing... But bulky.

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                        • S Shog9 0

                          Judah Himango wrote:

                          I thought that was big.

                          It is! When I use Consolas, I use 10pt. I prefer 10.5pt, but that doesn't seem to work in VS. Consolas is a very bulky font. Pretty enough, at larger sizes, and with good anti-aliasing... But bulky.

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                          Member 96
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #26

                          Ahhh..screw it. I'm going to buy stock in monitor manufacturers and laugh all the way to the bank at you fools. ;)


                          "Creating your own blog is about as easy as creating your own urine, and you're about as likely to find someone else interested in it." -- Lore Sjöberg

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                          • C Christian Graus

                            He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me. "I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming. " This is ridiculous, I am sorry. The font that suits you, is a personal choice. There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

                            Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

                            R Offline
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                            Rajesh R Subramanian
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #27

                            Christian Graus wrote:

                            There are no fonts created FOR programming

                            http://www.proggyfonts.com/[^]

                            “Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

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                            • C CaptainSeeSharp

                              I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                              Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

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                              R Offline
                              Rajesh R Subramanian
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #28

                              Take a look at http://www.proggyfonts.com/[^]. The site has many good fonts for programming. I use Consolas though.

                              “Follow your bliss.” – Joseph Campbell

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                              • C CaptainSeeSharp

                                I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                                Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

                                J Offline
                                J Offline
                                Jamie Nordmeyer
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #29

                                I've got both Visual Studio and SQL Server Management Studio set to Consonas. It's a very easy to look at font, and as weird as it sounds, with ClearType enabled, it's really rather nice to look at. I've actually been more productive using this font.

                                Jamie Nordmeyer
                                Portland, Oregon, USA
                                http://www.feralcodemonkies.com

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                                • C CaptainSeeSharp

                                  I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                                  Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

                                  B Offline
                                  B Offline
                                  BillWoodruff
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #30

                                  Graham Shanks' comment linked to Hans' comprehensive survey : [^] "Font Survey: 42 of the Best Monospaced Programming Fonts" By Hans Dietrich A masterful job of illustrating and intelligently discussing the pros and cons of various fonts designed for programming. Which has undergone several revisions, been updated as recently as the end of September this year. So, I'd like to join in with Graham in "applause" for a great article ! imho Hans' article, along with the link to proggyfonts provided by Rajesh, has everything you need to make a choice suitable for your eyes and your style. < aside : I personally find colored text on a black background difficult to read in all situations, perhaps one reason I find so many of the WPF interfaces in the style I refer to as "vampire funeral" very difficult to use ... but I have the same problem with what I refer to as the "bleached-out aqua" WPF interface themes. probably just my old eyes > best, Bill

                                  "Many : not conversant with mathematical studies, imagine that because it [the Analytical Engine] is to give results in numerical notation, its processes must consequently be arithmetical, numerical, rather than algebraical and analytical. This is an error. The engine can arrange and combine numerical quantities as if they were letters or any other general symbols; and it fact it might bring out its results in algebraical notation, were provisions made accordingly." Ada, Countess Lovelace, 1844

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                                  • C CaptainSeeSharp

                                    I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                                    Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

                                    H Offline
                                    H Offline
                                    Hans Dietrich
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #31

                                    If you like programming on a dark background, check out Tomas Restrepo's VS2008 color schemes: http://winterdom.com/2007/11/vs2008colorschemes [update] And my friend just reminded me of more color schemes here: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/VisualStudioProgrammerThemesGallery.aspx

                                    Best wishes, Hans


                                    [Hans Dietrich Software]

                                    modified on Friday, November 27, 2009 2:24 AM

                                    V 1 Reply Last reply
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                                    • C CaptainSeeSharp

                                      I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                                      Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

                                      B Offline
                                      B Offline
                                      Brady Kelly
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #32

                                      All my elements have a unique colour as well, still on a white background, but that's beside the point. The best programming font ever is Consolas.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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                                      • C Christian Graus

                                        He's an idiot. And he's taken to creating you tube videos that slander me. "I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming. " This is ridiculous, I am sorry. The font that suits you, is a personal choice. There are no fonts created FOR programming, or universally the BEST for programming.

                                        Christian Graus Driven to the arms of OSX by Vista. Read my blog to find out how I've worked around bugs in Microsoft tools and frameworks.

                                        B Offline
                                        B Offline
                                        Brady Kelly
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #33

                                        Many fonts have been created for programming.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • C CaptainSeeSharp

                                          I've just rediscovered the beauty of color on black for programming environment. More information can be expressed with this type of color scheme. I like how numbers, strings, operators, identifiers all have a unique color that makes things much easier to sort through. The massive reduction of strain on the eyes is good also. Now I am looking for the best font to go with it. For those who customize their programming environment, what font do you use? What color scheme do you use? What is the best? I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big. I'm looking for something really really great that is specifically designed for programming.

                                          Watch the Fall of the Republic (High Quality 2:24:19)[^]

                                          B Offline
                                          B Offline
                                          Brady Kelly
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #34

                                          Jeff Atwood has quite a few blog posts, if you Google for them on fonts and colour schemes. Here is one with some examples of good coding fonts (and one very bad example). http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000969.html[^]

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