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Programming colours

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  • A AspDotNetDev

    Your question gave me an idea. I have some coworkers that like to keep code comments to a minimum, and I like to keep them to a maximum. Maybe I should recommend that they use a white background and white text for code comments. :-\

    Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

    L Offline
    L Offline
    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #30

    You do know that those are the colors of the french war banner?

    1 Reply Last reply
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    • W W Balboos GHB

      We've been through color suggestions before.
      It's a matter of personal taste.

      "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

      "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert

      "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Mycroft Holmes
      wrote on last edited by
      #31

      ow that hurt!

      Never underestimate the power of human stupidity RAH

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • L LloydA111

        It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

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        L Offline
        L Offline
        loctrice
        wrote on last edited by
        #32

        I'm so used to using the defaults (and those defaults always changing) that I have no idea :D I always made it a point to be able to do anything without a ton of tools. I also don't get used to custom settings because I find that it's distracting if I end up using something without those settings. I always appreciate syntax highlighting, but I honestly couldn't tell you the color or font that even my current IDE uses. If it colors it , then I'm good with it. p.s. You can change the fonts? Wow...

        If it moves, compile it

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        • L LloydA111

          It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

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          A Offline
          A Offline
          Alan Burkhart
          wrote on last edited by
          #33

          For coding I like a white background and the typical color scheme (blue keywords, etc). I have my own plain text editor I wrote ages ago and while I generally use black on white, I sometimes get in a "dark" mood. One button click and it's green text on a black background, with selections dark blue on light goldenrod. I rarely use the dark theme for more than a day, though. Changing the backcolor to Whitesmoke instead of white can also provide some eye relief. As to fonts, I prefer Lucida Console 12pt.

          XAlan Burkhart

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          • B Big Daddy Farang

            _Maxxx_ wrote:

            The most legible text is yellow on blue

            Is that for monitors? I remember something different for printed on paper.

            BDF I often make very large prints from unexposed film, and every one of them turns out to be a picture of myself as I once dreamed I would be. -- BillWoodruff

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #34

            Yes, for monitors. I remember sme study back in the day testing which colors gave best results over long periods and yellow on blue won out. (this was back when 256 colors was a luxury, so different shades may be better in these days of 64k+ shades

            MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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            • L LloydA111

              It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

              =====
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              ===

              P Offline
              P Offline
              pt1401
              wrote on last edited by
              #35

              Dark backgrounds, not too much contrast. Specifically, I use Sublime Text 2 editor, Soda Dark theme.

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              • L LloydA111

                It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                =====
                \ | /
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                |
                |-----|
                | |
                |_ |
                _) | /
                _) __/_
                _) ____
                | /|
                | / |
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                |-----|
                |

                ===

                B Offline
                B Offline
                BillWoodruff
                wrote on last edited by
                #36

                Hi Lloyd, Assuming you can specify your own color preferences/scheme in NotePad+, you might experiment with the incredible on-line "related colors" generator, Color Scheme Designer, which I've mentioned, before, on 'Free Tools,' here on CP: [^]. I remain in "awe" of the knowledge of "color spaces," and human vision problems related to various forms of eye impairment, or color blindness, expressed in that site's functionality, which I consider a work of "genius." Also, in "awe," that it's, imho, a true "web application:" I have examined its underlying JavaScript code to some degree, and it appears almost all client-side, to me ... so far. I personally have switched over to using the Consolas font, from using Arial, for my programming editing font in Visual Studio. My eyes like it. best, Bill

                ~ Confused by Windows 8 ? This may help: [^] !

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                • L LloydA111

                  It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                  =====
                  \ | /
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                  |
                  |-----|
                  | |
                  |_ |
                  _) | /
                  _) __/_
                  _) ____
                  | /|
                  | / |
                  | |
                  |-----|
                  |

                  ===

                  V Offline
                  V Offline
                  Vikram A Punathambekar
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #37

                  I use modified versions of Zenburn everywhere - VS, Notepad++, the custom editor at work.... Font is always Consolas.

                  Cheers, विक्रम "We have already been through this, I am not going to repeat myself." - fat_boy, in a global warming thread :doh:

                  B 1 Reply Last reply
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                  • V Vikram A Punathambekar

                    I use modified versions of Zenburn everywhere - VS, Notepad++, the custom editor at work.... Font is always Consolas.

                    Cheers, विक्रम "We have already been through this, I am not going to repeat myself." - fat_boy, in a global warming thread :doh:

                    B Offline
                    B Offline
                    BillWoodruff
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #38

                    fyi: Zenburn is available for Visual Studio here: [^]. best, Bill

                    ~ Confused by Windows 8 ? This may help: [^] !

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • L LloydA111

                      It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                      =====
                      \ | /
                      \|/
                      |
                      |-----|
                      | |
                      |_ |
                      _) | /
                      _) __/_
                      _) ____
                      | /|
                      | / |
                      | |
                      |-----|
                      |

                      ===

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      cmger
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #39

                      I use VS 2008 and VS 2010 both with R# 7.0 and its' default syntax highlighting. Cheers, cmger

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • V Vark111

                        HEY! How did you guess my IDE color scheme so accurately? :~

                        W Offline
                        W Offline
                        W Balboos GHB
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #40

                        I"ve been watching you.   Carefully.     Discreetly. For a long time. Look hard at your screen.   Perhaps you've noticed something not quite right about the reflection?     Don't pay it any mind.

                        "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

                        "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert

                        "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • L LloydA111

                          It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                          =====
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                          |
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                          _) | /
                          _) __/_
                          _) ____
                          | /|
                          | / |
                          | |
                          |-----|
                          |

                          ===

                          L Offline
                          L Offline
                          Lost User
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #41

                          I like the 'bespin' set in notepad++

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • T TheGreatAndPowerfulOz

                            If the screen were "inactive" like a piece of paper, then I'd say black on white would be ok. But since it's active, like a lightblub, or a shiny piece of paper, then I think white on black is better (or at least light on dark).

                            If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
                            You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
                            Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein

                            A Offline
                            A Offline
                            Alan Balkany
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #42

                            I do this too for less eye strain; black background and turquoise letters. Different colors for keywords.

                            "Microsoft -- Adding unnecessary complexity to your work since 1987!"

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • L LloydA111

                              It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                              =====
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                              _) | /
                              _) __/_
                              _) ____
                              | /|
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                              ===

                              D Offline
                              D Offline
                              danito234
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #43

                              I find a dark grey background with black foreground easy on the eyes. On a related note, I have found the f.lux utility useful when working at night, you may want to take a look here http://stereopsis.com/flux/[^]

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L LloydA111

                                It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                                =====
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                                _) | /
                                _) __/_
                                _) ____
                                | /|
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                                |-----|
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                                ===

                                S Offline
                                S Offline
                                Sasha Laurel
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #44

                                I preferred the darker colors for a while too. Eventually I got tired of it though because it was essentially turning my monitor into a mirror and I could always see myself and behind me in the monitor. I've grown to enjoy a lower contrast environment with syntax highlighting that is not too bright or extra colorful. This seems to be less strenuous on my eyes. I use a grey background with black text, blue keywords. Strings and comments are red and green respectively, but I've chosen more mellow, lower contrasting colors for these. For XML/Xaml editing I've been transitioning from the standard red, and blue on white (I consider it hostile) to a lower contrast purple and light blue on grey. The bindings/markup extensions in xaml become red, orange, and green, and the inner text is a brick red color (just like String constants in code).

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L LloydA111

                                  It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                                  =====
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                                  _) __/_
                                  _) ____
                                  | /|
                                  | / |
                                  | |
                                  |-----|
                                  |

                                  ===

                                  N Offline
                                  N Offline
                                  Naoya Yamaguchi
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #45

                                  Changing the IDE's text editor background color alone without also changing things like IDE's menu and toolboxes? That would probably make one's eyeballs a bit busy, having to adjust to different level of brightness. If I can not change things around it, I won't change it.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • L LloydA111

                                    It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                                    =====
                                    \ | /
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                                    |-----|
                                    | |
                                    |_ |
                                    _) | /
                                    _) __/_
                                    _) ____
                                    | /|
                                    | / |
                                    | |
                                    |-----|
                                    |

                                    ===

                                    M Offline
                                    M Offline
                                    Member 4608898
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #46

                                    I find stark white too glary. I normally use some light colour. Also helps when people have hidden text written in white. As for cmd prompts, I choose all sorts of combinations.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • L LloydA111

                                      It's been asked by others before, but I'm going to ask again. Which colours do you use for your editor/IDE? I normally use a white background with blue as the keyword colour and green for strings, and a shade of red for integers/hex values. But I've got a new editor (Notepad++) and I've been playing around with the various default themes it comes with and I quite like some of the "darker" themes. E.G. black or dark grey background and one theme even has a pale khaki green which surprisingly looks quite good. And then I started to think, perhaps certain colours are more better for programming than others. I know that some research was done a while ago which concluded that people doing maths are generally "better" or able to remember sequences of numbers better if they are written down/displayed on screen using different colours. Any thoughts on which colours to use? I'm thinking darker colours for at least the background are less strenuous on your eyes. Edit: Oh and also, which fonts do you use? I normally use things like Courier (Sometimes I can only use Courier, particularly when working on Linux with a terminal) but sometimes fonts that are "smooth" are much more pleasing on the eye.

                                      =====
                                      \ | /
                                      \|/
                                      |
                                      |-----|
                                      | |
                                      |_ |
                                      _) | /
                                      _) __/_
                                      _) ____
                                      | /|
                                      | / |
                                      | |
                                      |-----|
                                      |

                                      ===

                                      H Offline
                                      H Offline
                                      hbwhypw
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #47

                                      我是使用eclipse,eclipsecolortheme.feature感觉不错!一般我都是使用Sunburst主题,它的语法高亮我最喜欢。

                                      1 Reply Last reply
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