3 ms·
Writing code in a dark mode for as long as I can remember, I thought that I'd always prefer light text on dark background when reading text on a screen, but eve
by zambal 7y ago
Writing code in a dark mode for as long as I can remember, I thought that I'd always prefer light text on dark background when reading text on a screen, but eventually I realized that I prefer dark text on light background for almost everything, except reading code. I like using syntax highlighting and for me colorful text on a light background, no matter the quality of the color theme, is harder to read than the inverse.
- wayoutthere 7y agoI do too — probably because most of my early coding was done over telnet / ssh and those almost always have white on black text. Agree that colored text contrasts better on a black background too.
- thrower123 7y agoThe reverse is probably why I have always preferred light-mode color schemes - I got my start with VB6 and then VC++ 6, where everything was black on white or black on light grey.
- discreteevent 7y agoThis stuff is very subjective but for me if you have to use something like jsx where there is a lot of structure/punctuation then dark mode does make it easier to spot that mismatched bracket. But overall I prefer light mode because I can scan across pages of code much quicker and find what I want. The broader layout is more apparent to me. For the same reason I definitely prefer to read long form text in light mode. Which means that I would have to switch between dark and light mode anyway (even if most web content was switchable to dark mode). So it's light mode for me with at most #F5F5F5 background for code
- ballenf 7y agoMaybe light mode is better for code review and dark for code writing. Subject to personal preference.
- ballenf 7y agoMy first coding was done on paper: printing out the code, hand marking it up. Drafting a few new lines and then inputting them and re-running. I still miss that way of doing development, probably more out of nostalgia than actual productivity.