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  3. What is the best font for programming?

What is the best font for programming?

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  • H Hans Dietrich

    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

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    Vikram A Punathambekar
    wrote on last edited by
    #37

    Nice, long-forgotten links, Hans :) I've been using a heavily-modified version of Zenburn for 2+ years now, in both VS and SQL Server Management Studio. Very pleasing on the eyes.

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

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    • C Christian Graus

      Well, sure. BUT, there's a ton of fonts out there, which would satisfy that problem. Just setting the colour scheme and font size, will do that. To suggest there's an optimal programming font, is the height of ignorance.

      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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      Johann Gerell
      wrote on last edited by
      #38

      Well, that lies in the eyes of the beholder, and so on, yada-yada.

      Christian Graus wrote:

      To suggest there's an optimal programming font, is the height of ignorance.

      Isn't that more ignorant? ;)

      -- Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time - Bertrand Russel

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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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        AspDotNetDev
        wrote on last edited by
        #39

        Christian Graus wrote:

        you tube videos that slander me

        Link?

        Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

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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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          Antonino Porcino
          wrote on last edited by
          #40

          I totally agree on having code on black background: much less strain for the eye and the quality of the display used is less important. For those who have always programmed on white background it's difficult to turn to black, but once switched it's forever. I also agree the importance of having proper designed fonts. In my 20 year programming experience I've always drawn myself the fonts I used for coding. I did that in DOS and do now in Windows. In Visual studio I designed a bitmap font that is two pixel wide in x and y so that it has a bold appearance making code very readable even on high resolution displays. Unfortunately bitmap fonts are no longer supported Windows/.NET so some modern editors won't accept bitmap fonts anymore; in this case I use a custom font derived from "Consolas bold" making it 75% wide than normal (so that it doesn't wast too much space in horizontal) Here is an example of Visual studio with my bitmap fonts And here an example of C Sharp Develop and custom Consolas Bold 75% wide

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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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            Plamen Dragiyski
            wrote on last edited by
            #41

            CaptainSeeSharp wrote:

            I kind of like fonts that remind me of programming in DOS, however fixedsys and terminal are too big.

            That highly depends on your resolution. Since I use 1680x1050, fixedsys (the original, not the TrueType one) seems to be quite good. You may try Courier New - it can be resized. However if you are using very small resolution - you may try some smaller bitmap fonts. For 640x480: 3x5 would be good. You are a programmer, it will be not difficult for you to make your own font :)

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            • A AspDotNetDev

              Christian Graus wrote:

              you tube videos that slander me

              Link?

              Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

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              H Offline
              HimanshuJoshi
              wrote on last edited by
              #42

              Click[^]

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              • H HimanshuJoshi

                Click[^]

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                AspDotNetDev
                wrote on last edited by
                #43

                Hilarious! A shame that annoying computer generated voice made me completely uninterested in what was actually being said, or I might have learned something.

                Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

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                • C Christian Graus

                  Well, sure. BUT, there's a ton of fonts out there, which would satisfy that problem. Just setting the colour scheme and font size, will do that. To suggest there's an optimal programming font, is the height of ignorance.

                  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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                  Jecc
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #44

                  There may not be an optimal font, but there are fonts meant specifically to be tailored for programmers. For example, the Proggy Programming Font family: http://www.proggyfonts.com/index.php?menu=download[^] (I recommend Proggy Clean Slashed Zero Bold Punct) Or the Dina Programming Font: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/index.html[^] [Just read your comments below] I'd go about criticising his lack of Google skills instead.

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                  • A AspDotNetDev

                    Some of my fondest memories of my early programming involve white on a blue background, but I rather like the default colors/fonts for C# in Visual Studio. Whatever you do, just make sure to choose a fixed width font, which further helps scan through code.

                    Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

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                    Russell Jones
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #45

                    I'm a huge fan of proportional spaced fonts, makes the whole thing read better for me

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                    • A AspDotNetDev

                      Hilarious! A shame that annoying computer generated voice made me completely uninterested in what was actually being said, or I might have learned something.

                      Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

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                      Lost User
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #46

                      aspdotnetdev wrote:

                      or I might have learned something.

                      No, just confirmation of what a jerk CSS is. Only someone so totally unable to argue his case coherently needs to create something like this video, where he puts a load of lies into the mouth of his protagonist in order to try and show his superiority.

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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.

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        c2423
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #47

                        Hey Christian, I watched the video and it was hilarious. But I'm not sure I took it quite the way that it was intended by CSS... Chris

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                        • A AspDotNetDev

                          Hilarious! A shame that annoying computer generated voice made me completely uninterested in what was actually being said, or I might have learned something.

                          Visual Studio is an excellent GUIIDE.

                          H Offline
                          H Offline
                          HimanshuJoshi
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #48

                          aspdotnetdev wrote:

                          Hilarious!

                          was that supposed to be funny? I thought captain was "cereal"

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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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                            C Offline
                            ChrisHinde
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #49

                            I like Inconsolata an use it frequently. On another note (to all that has participate in this thread): Calling people idiots etc is not solving anything. Why can't you (as group) just keep to constructive criticism?? Or is this another community heading the same way as YouTube and other communities where people slander, call other idiots and ignorant etc, just because they don't agree.. Is this not a community where people should help each other in different ways (as becoming better programmers/developers/technicians/people)?? I wish you all the best..

                            Why do as everyone else, When Everybody else does it.

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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.

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              MatthysDT
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #50

                              Christian Graus wrote:

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

                              I'm not picking sides here, but you would most probably respond negatively towards anything he posts. I find nothing wrong with the OP, some font's read easier, albeit for programming or for ebooks, and there's nothing wrong in asking fellow-programmers which font they prefer, if any.

                              Doggy treat[^]

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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)[^]

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                MatthysDT
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #51

                                Haha, just for kicks, I changed my VS2008 default font to one of our barcode fonts. It crashed, hard, restarts, crashes, restarts, crashes, restarts, crashes.... Luckily, I had another session open in which the font changes hadn't yet taken affect, so at least I was able to change it back. Probably would have wasted a LOT of time if that wasn't the case. :laugh:

                                Doggy treat[^]

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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
                                  Hooga Booga
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #52

                                  I'm partial to the Dina font. Very clear with good distinguishment (is that a word?) between 1/l, 0/O, etc. Take a look here <Font Survey: 42 of the Best Monospaced Programming Fonts[^] >

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                                  0
                                  • 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
                                    Jcmorin
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #53

                                    I like Consolas, compact and easy to ready....

                                    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)[^]

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                                      L Offline
                                      lancsDavid
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #54

                                      dunno. but it reminds me of a thread some guy had started about the best font for resumes, in which some applicant said 'dingbats' - adding that if they can't take the time to decipher it they can't be that bothered about u (he was joking, obviously)

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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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                                        Nish Nishant
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #55

                                        Christian Graus wrote:

                                        There are no fonts created FOR programming

                                        Not true CG, there are quite a few created just for that. Though, other than Consolas, I haven't really tried any of the others.

                                        Regards, Nish


                                        Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                                        My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

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                                        0
                                        • 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.

                                          N Offline
                                          N Offline
                                          Nish Nishant
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #56

                                          Ok, just saw that a few others have already mentioned Consolas.

                                          Regards, Nish


                                          Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
                                          My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link

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