I'd argue that you could learn to read code carefully, understand what it's doing, and write good code without losing the convenience of syntax highlighting. U

I'd argue that you could learn to read code carefully, understand what it's doing, and write good code without losing the convenience of syntax highlighting. Unless the color scheme you were using really was so garish that it hindered your ability to improve your skills as a software engineer, in which case you could probably find a more subtle color scheme that would give you the same benefits as turning it off did. I've heard great things about the solarized color schemes. I use wombat myself.