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Top Programming Fonts

439 points by fogus 15y ago

swah 15y ago
Related: http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-monospace-or-fixed-width-fonts-to-use-for-programming?q=monospace+fonts http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-monospace-or-fixed-wi...
davidw 15y ago
-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1
arapidhs 15y ago
is the proggy font free? great article some new discoveries for me in there.
telemachos 15y ago
I love Inconsolata, but there's just one thing about it: the curly quotation marks. If you have that same quibble, good news: Inconsolata-dz[1]. Inconsolata with straight quotes. [1] http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-double-quotes-inconsola/ http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-dou...
- JonnieCache 15y ago
  You're right, that is annoying. Thanks for the link.
- nickburdick 15y ago
  Awesome link, I've been using Inconsolata for years and had the exact same issue.
- gurraman 15y ago
  I love the straight quotes, but I'm experiencing increased vertical space between lines in the terminal as well. Seems like the author has the same "problem" judged by the screenshots posted.
- mgurlitz 15y ago
  There's another Inconsolata derivative named "Inconsolata-g" with straight quotes, dotted zeros, and other small fixes to make it a "programmer's font." http://leonardo-m.livejournal.com/77079.html http://leonardo-m.livejournal.com/77079.html
- Ruudjah 15y ago
  This is why Inconsolata beats every font. Because there's a 'mistake' in it, and it can be fixed because of the licensing. This stuff gets me very excited.
- leif 15y ago
  it's also got pretty poor unicode support, which bugs me just a little
Derbasti 15y ago
I find Droid Sans Mono really good, although it could use better distinction between Zero and Oh.
- daviddavis 15y ago
  Agreed. I use this font in vim at work because (believe or not) it seems to be the sharpest on my crappy LCD monitor at work. I was using Bitstream Vera Sans Mono before though which I love.
- Wickk 15y ago
  +1 for DSM. I use the solarized vim/terminal color scheme so from syntax highlighting I can tell the difference between the O and 0 but I can see why it would be a problem.
- brcrth 15y ago
  Here's a version with slashed zero (there's also another version with dotted zero from the same author): http://blog.cosmix.org/2009/10/27/a-slashed-zero-droid-sans-mono/ http://blog.cosmix.org/2009/10/27/a-slashed-zero-droid-sans-...
  - Derbasti 15y ago
    Amazing! Thank you!
wladimir 15y ago
He forgot my favorite programming font, Terminus. It's pretty popular in Linux development. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminus_%28typeface%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminus_%28typeface%29
- gnuvince 15y ago
  Terminus is awesome, it's a shame so many "top programming fonts" forget it.
  - technomancy 15y ago
    I switched over to antialiased fonts a while ago, but every so often I feel the urge to go retro and switch back to Terminus for a few weeks.
    - wladimir 15y ago
      You could use the TTF version of Terminus with anti-aliasing.
      - zerd 15y ago
        I tried that, but it didn't look good. I used to use antialiased fonts, but switched to Terminus to get a lot more info on the screen. I tried making all of the antialiased fonts in the article smaller, but then they lost their good looks. Same with antialiased terminus.
- wging 15y ago
  Looking at the fonts he did select, it's clear why Terminus gets no mention: it's significantly different aesthetically, with squarer edges and more straight lines, etc., from his preferred fonts.
  - archangel_one 15y ago
    But his number 10 is Courier, which he basically says he doesn't like; surely it ranks higher than that. I'd say it's not entirely dissimilar to Proggy as well.
llimllib 15y ago
I've been happy with Mensch: http://robey.lag.net/2010/06/21/mensch-font.html http://robey.lag.net/2010/06/21/mensch-font.html , A font based of Apple's Menlo.
- carlosedp 15y ago
  Very nice font. Just replaced Vera Sans Mono with it on my VIM configuration. Great tip.
- drats 15y ago
  I use Mensch too, but let's not credit Apple too much considering Menlo in turn was a fairly minor tweak of the Bitstream Vera Sans Mono. To do so would be almost as annoying as people claiming Apple created Webkit out of the blue rather than starting from an open source project, or that they created their kernel out of the blue, or their OS tools, or windowing operating systems in general were created by them, or the personal computer or the smart phone or the tablet. Apple is very good at polishing things, at integration, supply chains and marketing; extremely good, and they even have a very good record on fonts - but don't listen to Jobs' story on this or you will think we would still be using the command line for everything - however they get orders of magnitude too much credit when it comes to innovation.
hbrouwer 15y ago
I used to use Menlo, now trying Consolas.
- john2x 15y ago
  I tried Consolas on a Mac but it wasn't aligning right. :(
SlyShy 15y ago
I like to use Code Envy R: http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-coding-font-released http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-cod... . It's legible at 8pt, which lets me fit big amounts of code even on smaller screens.
- deleted 15y ago
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- rezaprima 15y ago
  Just nit picking, but your misspelling of Envy Code R (I read it as "envy coder") to Code Envy R gave me a deja-vu. And I found your comment at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287909 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287909. You are not alone there, though :)
drtse4 15y ago
I'm still using Envy Code R after reading about it on some blog: http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-coding-font-released http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-cod... Perfect for terminal and coding.
kristiandupont 15y ago
I say this every time this discussion comes up but I do feel it bears repeating: I switched away from monospaced a while ago and I am never going back. I encourage you to try something like Verdana for a week just to see how it feels.
- dagw 15y ago
  Well I've just tried it for 10 minutes, and I have to say it seems to work better that i initially expected/feared. So you might not be as crazy as you sound :) I might actually give it a few days and see what happens.
  - seabee 15y ago
    This will affect you differently depending on what language you use and whether you like to align things in columns. Think of how some people format C functions, with each parameter on a new line aligned at the open paren. Personally I find that kind of alignment unnecessary and creates too much busywork. Proportional fonts prevent you from even trying. (Unless your editor supports elastic tabstops, but since very few do this is moot.) FWIW, I program in Georgia, until I find a serif font I like better. EVERYONE comments on it.
    - adriand 15y ago
      I have tab and column alignment OCD. I can't even read other people's code without getting a terrible itch to realign things. I think a proportional font would either drive me crazy or, on the other hand, might be kind of good for me.
      - Stormbringer 15y ago
        It's the dirty little secret of the "we hate tabs crowd" - they have to keep everybody in monospaced fonts otherwise their conspiracy to force programmers to repeatedly bash their space bars falls apart. All joking aside, the choice of font should reflect what it is that you are trying to do with the text. In theory a serifed font is more readable if you are reading the entire text, whereas a sans serif font is supposedly better for skimming through looking for something in particular. (so on a web page with an article, the article text should be serifed, and the sidebar menu should be sans serif) An application of this might be that if you are printing out a codebase in order to read it in entirety for the first time, you should use a font with serifs. whereas if the codebase is relatively familiar to you, but you are printing it out and going bug hunting or reviewing the code, use a sans serif font.
lt 15y ago
I've been using Anonymous Pro: http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html mentioned in a followup to that article: http://hivelogic.com/articles/anonymous-pro-programming-monospace-font/ http://hivelogic.com/articles/anonymous-pro-programming-mono...
- buster 15y ago
  Wow, thanks! I've been looking at some of the fonts (mainly Inconsolas-dz, Anonymous Pro, Droid and Vera) and this is a great font. Love it!
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- ludwig 15y ago
  Well, there's APL. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AplLanguage http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AplLanguage
cschmidt 15y ago
I use Pragmata as my programming font. It isn't free, but I've used it every day for years, so it certainly has justified its cost. Visiting his site, I see there's now a pro version, so I'll have to upgrade. http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm
- NickPollard 15y ago
  That's a really impressive font actually. I don't suppose there's any kind of trial version you're aware of? I don't want to splash out that kind of money unless I'm sure I'll keep using it.
  - cschmidt 15y ago
    No I don't think so. There is the basic set that you could get as a trial. I really love it, but as these comments show font choice is very much a personal thing.
joshuacc 15y ago
Inconsolata looks like it is nice for Mac users, but on Windows 7 with Cleartype enabled (the default) it is the blurriest font I've ever seen, regardless of what size I used. Consolas, on the other hand, is exceedingly crisp.
- FiReaNG3L 15y ago
  Thanks for confirming this, I installed some of those and oh my they were ugly. I'll stick with Verdana for now :(
getonit 15y ago
I don't wish to troll, but I see this a lot and I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone needs to give this any more thought than 'monospace, next question?', despite many explanations each time. Can someone shed some light on any advantages they feel are of a reasonably significant importance, and why? I mean, I can see plenty of advantages, but they're all so negligible they're not worth even the time it takes to change font, IMHO. ...and do please note the IMHO - I'm asking, not telling :)
- timtadh 15y ago
  I only use monospace fonts with well differentiated Ls and 1s. This is a pretty important issue to me as I was constantly making dumb mistakes, and in general it improves readability. On another note, you probably change the default font when writing a major document in a word processor (unless your using LaTex in which case Computer Modern is often the way to go). Changing your coding font is exactly like that. People like to customize and give their system a personal flavor. Changing fonts and syntax colors is just one part of customizing a system.
  - eswat 15y ago
    This was my main reason for finding the right monospace font for me too, and to easier differentiate O and 0—I prefer a bar across the zero instead of a dot. But now that I’ve been using Inconsolata for years, it has become my final choice* so I won’t need to waste my time hunting and comparing for a better font. Done deal. * http://patrickrhone.com/2010/11/05/final-choices/ http://patrickrhone.com/2010/11/05/final-choices/
- icegreentea 15y ago
  90% of it is really just how purdy it is. Picking the 'right' font will make you feel better when you stare at it all day. It's like how functionally, you could compose a 6000 word essay in comic sans, but really rather not. But in other cases, depending on your display size/setup, I guess there will be advantages to certain fonts. Now, mind you, the 10 on this list are all 'good' so you won't really see it between them, but certain monospaced fonts have letters/symbols that are more easily confused with each other... like single quote, versus the thing under the tilde (whatever its called >.<)
turbohz 15y ago
I've tried many monospaced fonts. For a long time I was a ProFont guy. But I recently switched to Liberation Mono, and I just LOVE it. EDIT: pic or didn't happen > http://i.imgur.com/UAag3.png http://i.imgur.com/UAag3.png
barrkel 15y ago
I'm still using 7pt Dina, a monospace bitmap font, in all console windows and my IDEs - all except Visual Studio 2010, that is, which doesn't properly support bitmap fonts (leading me to avoid using it whenever possible).
- unfasten 15y ago
  > ... all except Visual Studio 2010 ... I'm also a fan of Dina and it's been the first change I make to any IDE or programming text editor I use since I found it years ago. I recently came across this when I started using IntelliJ IDEA and needed a TTF font: http://chrisrickard.blogspot.com/2010/03/dina-font-for-visual-studio-2010.html http://chrisrickard.blogspot.com/2010/03/dina-font-for-visua... . Quote from the page: *bonus* I found that this font can also be used with any .NET application (WPF or Windows Forms) that normally can't handle raster fonts. Screenshot: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n07tuwMNUu8/S603jWw9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Mvf02caNr74/s1600/DinaVS2010.png http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n07tuwMNUu8/S603jWw9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAK... And for anyone else curious here's the original font: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/
- proexploit 15y ago
  I too use Dina (based of Proggy). I tried a lot of different fonts and there's a few on this top 10 list that wouldn't work for me but since I found Dina, I haven't searched for another font or made another change.
LBarret 15y ago
using proggy.
ujjvala 15y ago
Why out of nowhere is this old article brought up ?
- whatswtlogin 15y ago
  Just to annoy you... that's the reason. It worked! I can't be1ieve it!
  - brupm2 15y ago
    Awesome
Adrock 15y ago
If you're interested in programming fonts, I wrote a few posts doing some programmatic comparisons: http://1overn.com/category/fonts/ http://1overn.com/category/fonts/
kahawe 15y ago
I tried comparing several of the example screenshots next to each other and apart from them being different sizes and some are a bit more bold than others, I just can not tell any (significant) difference and cannot see any benefit one might have over the other. Can someone enlighten me what the buzz is about here and why should I switch to Verdana or some monospaced font?
whatknott 15y ago
I'm kind of obsessed with my coding fonts. To find some new ones check out my stackoverflow question... http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485174/programming-fonts http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485174/programming-fonts
MikeTaylor 15y ago
It's got to be 6x13, every single time. There really is no other choice. http://mirtchovski.com/p9/fonts/6x13.png http://mirtchovski.com/p9/fonts/6x13.png
- ScottBurson 15y ago
  I'm a committed 6x10 user. 6x13 wouldn't give me enough lines on the screen.
- marshray 15y ago
  Glad I'm not the only one who actually likes blocky bitmap monospace fonts for programming. I wish I could say why though. It just feels nice and computer-y. Maybe the pixels remind me of bits.
- sedachv 15y ago
  I keep trying others and always end up going back to 6x13. It's the perfect font when working on a notebook. At work I have a larger display that sits farther away, and am running windows. Consolas is easier on the eyes there with two Emacs buffers side-by-side (at "108" Emacs font height). I came across the 5x13 font (https://github.com/chneukirchen/5x13 https://github.com/chneukirchen/5x13) and wanted to try it on my netbook. For some reason spaces come out as hatched boxes for me. The font itself looks promising but needs many changes (some of which I've figured enough out to make; but I don't know what to do with the space).
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yamilg 15y ago
I'm in love with Meslo https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font works great both on my iTerm as well as in TextMate. What makes this font special is the L/M/S variations in the leading (line height). Give it a try, you won't regret!
- sudonim 15y ago
  I agree. I switched to Meslo too (based on Menlo). Menlo LG S DZ which has a dot in the middle of the 0. Looks like the dot comes from Mensch. https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font/issues/1 https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font/issues/1
- bittersweet 15y ago
  I'm trying this out at the moment (14 pt S DZ) but the current line marking in VIM for example looks weird because there is more whitespace on the bottom of the characters than at the top. Other than that it is a welcome improvement to Menlo regular.
- kinofcain 15y ago
  This is perfect! Eclipse has its lines of text set-solid which is seven brands of evil, so the "M" version of Meslo is a godsend.
- funkyboy 15y ago
  It looks slightly more airy than menlo. I'll try it on for a week. One day is not enough to decide.
yellowbkpk 15y ago
All of these fonts look cool, but in Eclipse on Linux (and other GTK-based text editors), the font renderer adds a few pixels to the width for bold text, which screws up the monospacing. Has anyone been able to figure out a way to disable this? Example from Eclipse: http://i.imgur.com/F3PhS.png http://i.imgur.com/F3PhS.png
- xbryanx 15y ago
  There is some discussion on this bug report, and a possible temporary fix. https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=69253 https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=69253
rdmlx 15y ago
Proggy Clean, at http://www.proggyfonts.com http://www.proggyfonts.com
ukaszg 15y ago
to me, the best font ever is http://www.netalive.org/tinkering/triskweline/ http://www.netalive.org/tinkering/triskweline/ not mentioned in the article, but I highly recommend it. its avaliable ONLY in 10pt and only with Latin1 characters. But its so readable and beautiful I dont care :P
patrickg 15y ago
I experiment with this a lot, my fonts folder is full of fixed width fonts. But I somehow always go back to Monaco (11pt) white on black background. This is using TextMate, non anti-alias. (Example: http://tinypic.com/r/2hnayq8/7 http://tinypic.com/r/2hnayq8/7 ) Perhaps TextMate is too limited in this respect (it doesn't handle proportional fonts well).
- delackner 15y ago
  I searched through this whole thread looking for 'alias' to see if anyone else also can't stand anti-aliased fonts for coding, and I see that there are a few of us. I also always end up back with Monaco, but 10pt black on white. Perfectly readable and easy on the eyes.
pestaa 15y ago
I went with Terminus ( http://terminus-font.sourceforge.net/shots.html http://terminus-font.sourceforge.net/shots.html ), never looked back. I wanted to add this as a comment below the article just like the author asked, but it doesn't appear for me (using Chrome dev).
kwantam 15y ago
Several others here have suggested my favorite font already, the standard 6x13 "Fixed" bitmap font. Pretty much every Linux machine has a version of this, but most modern Debians (and probably others) that ship with fontconfig have bitmapped fonts turned off by default for programs that use fontconfig for their font info (i.e., not xterm, but gnome-terminal, usually gvim, et cetera). If you want to use Fixed and other bitmapped fonts and they're just not there, take a look in /etc/fonts/conf.d for a file named (something like) 70-no-bitmaps.conf, a symblink to the same filename in /etc/fonts/conf.avail. If you remove the symblink from /etc/fonts/conf.d and instead ln -s /etc/fonts/conf.avail/70-yes-bitmaps.conf \ /etc/fonts/conf.d fontconfig will cache bitmapped fonts for you. Then you'll just have to get it to update your cache with fc-cache -f -r -v and you should be able to use bitmapped fonts like Fixed. You can look for other bitmapped fonts on your system with fc-list ":scalable=false" family pixelsize which prints out the family name and the sizes for which the bitmaps are available. set guifont=Fixed\ Medium\ Semi-Condensed\ 10 makes gvim look precisely like a terminal for me.
- afc 15y ago
  Completely agree, that's the font I love. I tried Inconsolata briefly in my xterm window but ... I don't know, I didn't like it. I guess it's a subjective thing, but I dislike anti-aliased font, I prefer the crisp look of my fixed bitmap font. :-)
- windsurfer 15y ago
  What if you have a high DPI monitor? Isn't that too hard to see?
  - kwantam 15y ago
    My desktop's monitor is about 100 dpi and it looks fine. I have a laptop with a 125dpi screen and a netbook with a 150dpi screen, and it looks fine there, too. Just tried it under a Debian chroot on my phone (N900) and it was tiny but very readable on the 250DPI screen as well. As this is entirely subjective, the answer for some people might be that it's unusable above 75dpi, while for me it's fine up to >3x that.
Luyt 15y ago
In this article only fixed-width fonts are presented, while there are ever more and more developers using proportional fonts nowadays—because they're much easier to read. On my unix system, for example, I use Vera Sans: http://www.michielovertoom.com/pictures/luyt-desktop.png http://www.michielovertoom.com/pictures/luyt-desktop.png On my windows system I use Comic Sans to code, but I haven't got a screenie ready ;-)
martincmartin 15y ago
Am I the only one who programs in a proportional font? It's helpful for the same reason it's helpful in print: the letters are more distinguished from each other so the brain recognizes them more quickly, and you can fit more text into the same space. I use a modified version of Georgia which adds a slash through the zero and changes the l (ell) to look less like the 1 (one).
- oinksoft 15y ago
  Variable-width fonts help with natural language, to detect phonemes or even words. Unfortunately, we are mostly dealing with machine language, where audio is not so important, so character-by-character reading is the norm.
mlntn 15y ago
Liberation Mono would be a good addition to the list. https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/ https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/
RexRollman 15y ago
Although I am not a programmer, I do prefer monospaced fonts, and my favorite right now is the bitmap font Tamsyn. I recently discovered it via the Arch Linux wiki and I now have it set up as the font for my Xterm windows (set via .Xdefaults). My favorite TTF monospaced font has got to be Consolas, which I use in Windows as the font for Foobar2000 and Notepad2 (I keep everything in plain text).
- maxer 15y ago
  i use notepad++ with Consolas under the zenburn theme, for clarity its the best, especially with long coding days
scorpion032 15y ago
Somehow, Inconsolata how much ever loved by so many people, is definitely not my taste. Droid Sans Mono works the best for me. I have heard many Python programmers with the same taste.
pootify 15y ago
I've been using Meslo LG DZ (dotted zero), which is a custom version of Menlo tweaked for better vertical spacing. Looks great at 13pt in TextMate / MacVim. https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font
modernerd 15y ago
I switched to PragmataPro[1] two months ago and love it. (Anti-aliasing turned off in iTerm2, with Vim and the Solarized colour scheme.[2]) When you stare at code all day, it's worth spending the time to make it as pleasant and legible an experience as you can. [1]: http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm [2]: http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized
- antihero 15y ago
  Don't think I could justify spending €170 on a font though, especially if it's not billable to a client.
- eropple 15y ago
  Solarized is nice, but PragmataPro is vomitous. There's such a thing as too compact, and man does that qualify. I use Consolas at 16pt, but I also do most of my work on a 2560x1600 monitor. Consolas at 14pt on my laptop.
  - deleted 15y ago
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antihero 15y ago
I rather like CG Mono as a pixel font.
sktrdie 15y ago
FixedSys is not on the list, what a shame.
tmcw 15y ago
Switched around for a long time, then realized that the coolest thing about Kod was the default font, so I stole it for vim: The M+ Fonts: hugely recommended - http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/ http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/
- pbreit 15y ago
  Me, too! I far prefer the density but it's probably ruining my eyes. Also, on TextMate you have to adjust the line height.
Semiapies 15y ago
I've been slowly shifting from Proggy to Consolas; it was easier once I embraced larger font sizes (I have 20/20 vision, and I'd like to keep that!). At that point, Consolas became a balm for the eyes.
- jimmyjazz14 15y ago
  I had not realized how a font could be so much easier on ones eyes until I started using Consolas for everything. I seriously feel more productive now which I did not expect.
res0nat0r 15y ago
I've been a big fan of smoothansi for a long time. It's part of the artwiz project. http://codeblog.palos.ro/2008/02/08/smoothansi-font-best-for-programming/ http://codeblog.palos.ro/2008/02/08/smoothansi-font-best-for... http://artwizaleczapka.sourceforge.net/ http://artwizaleczapka.sourceforge.net/
aidenn0 15y ago
I mostly like inconsolata, but it doesn't keep my favorite part of deja-vu: the lowercase ell. I never ever confuse the ell with the one as it is so distinct. Inconsolata does this by removing the baseline on the one, which works, but I much prefer the deja-vu way of things.
vch 15y ago
Liberation Mono on Ubuntu works great for me. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/820/screenshotsr.png/ http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/820/screenshotsr.png/
Jach 15y ago
I'm a fan of courier, though my favorite became Bitstream Vera Sans Mono some time ago after I was searching through my fonts for a better font. I like it a lot because it makes it easy to distinguish between O and 0, and l and 1.
- roadnottaken 15y ago
  Me too. I think this is default on the Ubuntu terminal. I liked it so much I brought it over to my Windows computer at work and use it with Putty.
Athtar 15y ago
This is not directly related to fonts but for anyone using Visual Studio, this might be helpful: http://studiostyl.es/ http://studiostyl.es/ It's a website that collects Visual Studio color schemes, so that people can download and install them rather than spending hours customizing their IDE to look like they want it to. Assuming they like one of the available schemes, of course.
ginsweater 15y ago
This is the article that introduced me to monofur, which I dearly love even though it seems fairly unpopular. Take a look[1] and you'll either think that lowercase L is a terrible idea or exactly the thing to distinguish it from the number 1. The rounded friendliness distinguishes it from all the other fonts I use; now when I see monofur (in the zenburn color scheme), it says "programming time" to my brain. [1] http://www.dafont.com/monofur.font http://www.dafont.com/monofur.font
roadnottaken 15y ago
I love Hacker News. Where else would you get 100+ comments on an article about typefaces?
praptak 15y ago
Every second spent on "programming font" choice is a second wasted. Every single second. Twiddling fonts is to programming what applying flame decals is to car racing. If the font doesn't become transparent to you after uhm, about 5 seconds of focusing at the code then you should permanently switch to iPads as you have no business doing any real computing.
- mcav 15y ago
  Unless you'd otherwise be spending your time doing something else unproductive, in which case it doesn't matter.
- to3m 15y ago
  You reckon? I started out using FixedSys, since it was the default on the editor I was using at the time - PFE, I think. And since taking the time to switch to the X 6x13 font (which I happened to encounter towards the end of my time at university), I must have saved enough time scrolling horizontally through other people's code to break even. I have dicked about a bit trying out other programming fonts, it's true, but having had success the once from doing this, why not double check?
- orjan 15y ago
  I think a better analogy is "Twiddling fonts is to programming what choosing a helmet is to car racing". An ill-fitting helmet will probably do the job just as well as a good fitting helmet, but why be uncomfortable? That said, I agree that there's a limit to how much effort you should put into font selection -- find one that you like and that works for your purposes and leave it at that.
aurynn 15y ago
My favourite font for coding, that which I use everywhere I can, is monofur. Reading it is like visual candy. It also looks really good on Linux - the AA seems to work out quite well. Edit for hey, reading the article that mentions monofur is a good idea too. :)
summitpush 15y ago
Trying out Consolas with iTerm2. Wish it was a little more easily portable.
- deleted 15y ago
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whackedspinach 15y ago
Droid Sans Mono makes for a great programming font. It’s got a bit of flair, and stands out among the other monospace fonts I’ve listed, and its only real flaw is the lack of a slashed zero. I use Droid Sans Mono with slashed zeros on my Arch Linux box. I find that I can get it up to a rather large font size (I don't see well) and it still looks really good. Download link http://www.cosmix.org/software/files/DroidSansMonoSlashed.zip http://www.cosmix.org/software/files/DroidSansMonoSlashed.zi... Arch Linux AUR link: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40418 https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40418
andyford 15y ago
The lowercase 'e' in Monofur is a deal breaker. Too reminiscent of italics. And the mixed baseline numerals don't help either. Otherwise it's pretty nice. Of the 10, Inconsolata deserves to be #1.
adambyrtek 15y ago
It has been submitted at least three times already, and you can find more comments there: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=615088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=615088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1058946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1058946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=613371 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=613371
joshaidan 15y ago
hmm... why are all programming fonts terminal style, or monospace fonts? Well I guess it's to ensure proper indentation and alignment of lines of code. I guess that explains why code looks horrible when you copy and past it into an HTML page without changing the font. hmm... thinking out loud.
nikcub 15y ago
consolas is an excellent font for both terminal and editing. if you would like to install it for OS X or UNIX, I have extracted the TTF as well as the OS X installer package and placed them into a repo here: https://bitbucket.org/nik/consolas/ https://bitbucket.org/nik/consolas/ (the Microsoft license allows this if you have a license for Office, Windows Vista+ or Visual Studio)
fictorial 15y ago
I am a big fan of the M+ fonts [1], especially "M+ 1mn" at 24pt. Here's a screenshot of iTerm2 on Mac OS X: http://i.imgur.com/PjfOY.png http://i.imgur.com/PjfOY.png [1] http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-en.html http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-...
faruken 15y ago
I prefer Menlo.
ars 15y ago
I've been using Dina - it's designed as a programmers font. http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/
radiosnob 15y ago
From my experience,a lot programmers get set in their ways. For example, I just stuck with using the standard Console font for my IDE when I installed it years ago. Then I came across this article, or one similar, and messed around with different fonts and sizes. The difference it made was surprising. I feel like it definitely has made an improvement in how I work. I would recommend people try testing new fonts, layouts, etc at least once a year. the aesthetics is just as important as the content, even when coding.

439 points by fogus 15y ago

swah 15y ago

Related: http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-monospace-or-fixed-width-fonts-to-use-for-programming?q=monospace+fonts http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-monospace-or-fixed-wi...

davidw 15y ago

-misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--13-120-75-75-c-60-iso10646-1

arapidhs 15y ago

is the proggy font free? great article some new discoveries for me in there.

telemachos 15y ago

I love Inconsolata, but there's just one thing about it: the curly quotation marks. If you have that same quibble, good news: Inconsolata-dz[1]. Inconsolata with straight quotes. [1] http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-double-quotes-inconsola/ http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-dou...

JonnieCache 15y ago
You're right, that is annoying. Thanks for the link.
nickburdick 15y ago
Awesome link, I've been using Inconsolata for years and had the exact same issue.
gurraman 15y ago
I love the straight quotes, but I'm experiencing increased vertical space between lines in the terminal as well. Seems like the author has the same "problem" judged by the screenshots posted.
mgurlitz 15y ago
There's another Inconsolata derivative named "Inconsolata-g" with straight quotes, dotted zeros, and other small fixes to make it a "programmer's font." http://leonardo-m.livejournal.com/77079.html http://leonardo-m.livejournal.com/77079.html
Ruudjah 15y ago
This is why Inconsolata beats every font. Because there's a 'mistake' in it, and it can be fixed because of the licensing. This stuff gets me very excited.
leif 15y ago
it's also got pretty poor unicode support, which bugs me just a little

Derbasti 15y ago

I find Droid Sans Mono really good, although it could use better distinction between Zero and Oh.

daviddavis 15y ago
Agreed. I use this font in vim at work because (believe or not) it seems to be the sharpest on my crappy LCD monitor at work. I was using Bitstream Vera Sans Mono before though which I love.
Wickk 15y ago
+1 for DSM. I use the solarized vim/terminal color scheme so from syntax highlighting I can tell the difference between the O and 0 but I can see why it would be a problem.
brcrth 15y ago
Here's a version with slashed zero (there's also another version with dotted zero from the same author): http://blog.cosmix.org/2009/10/27/a-slashed-zero-droid-sans-mono/ http://blog.cosmix.org/2009/10/27/a-slashed-zero-droid-sans-...
- Derbasti 15y ago
  Amazing! Thank you!

wladimir 15y ago

He forgot my favorite programming font, Terminus. It's pretty popular in Linux development. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminus_%28typeface%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminus_%28typeface%29

gnuvince 15y ago
Terminus is awesome, it's a shame so many "top programming fonts" forget it.
- technomancy 15y ago
  I switched over to antialiased fonts a while ago, but every so often I feel the urge to go retro and switch back to Terminus for a few weeks.
  - wladimir 15y ago
    You could use the TTF version of Terminus with anti-aliasing.
    - zerd 15y ago
      I tried that, but it didn't look good. I used to use antialiased fonts, but switched to Terminus to get a lot more info on the screen. I tried making all of the antialiased fonts in the article smaller, but then they lost their good looks. Same with antialiased terminus.
wging 15y ago
Looking at the fonts he did select, it's clear why Terminus gets no mention: it's significantly different aesthetically, with squarer edges and more straight lines, etc., from his preferred fonts.
- archangel_one 15y ago
  But his number 10 is Courier, which he basically says he doesn't like; surely it ranks higher than that. I'd say it's not entirely dissimilar to Proggy as well.

llimllib 15y ago

I've been happy with Mensch: http://robey.lag.net/2010/06/21/mensch-font.html http://robey.lag.net/2010/06/21/mensch-font.html , A font based of Apple's Menlo.

carlosedp 15y ago
Very nice font. Just replaced Vera Sans Mono with it on my VIM configuration. Great tip.
drats 15y ago
I use Mensch too, but let's not credit Apple too much considering Menlo in turn was a fairly minor tweak of the Bitstream Vera Sans Mono. To do so would be almost as annoying as people claiming Apple created Webkit out of the blue rather than starting from an open source project, or that they created their kernel out of the blue, or their OS tools, or windowing operating systems in general were created by them, or the personal computer or the smart phone or the tablet. Apple is very good at polishing things, at integration, supply chains and marketing; extremely good, and they even have a very good record on fonts - but don't listen to Jobs' story on this or you will think we would still be using the command line for everything - however they get orders of magnitude too much credit when it comes to innovation.

hbrouwer 15y ago

I used to use Menlo, now trying Consolas.

john2x 15y ago
I tried Consolas on a Mac but it wasn't aligning right. :(

SlyShy 15y ago

I like to use Code Envy R: http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-coding-font-released http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-cod... . It's legible at 8pt, which lets me fit big amounts of code even on smaller screens.

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rezaprima 15y ago
Just nit picking, but your misspelling of Envy Code R (I read it as "envy coder") to Code Envy R gave me a deja-vu. And I found your comment at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287909 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1287909. You are not alone there, though :)

drtse4 15y ago

I'm still using Envy Code R after reading about it on some blog: http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-coding-font-released http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-preview-7-cod... Perfect for terminal and coding.

kristiandupont 15y ago

I say this every time this discussion comes up but I do feel it bears repeating: I switched away from monospaced a while ago and I am never going back. I encourage you to try something like Verdana for a week just to see how it feels.

dagw 15y ago
Well I've just tried it for 10 minutes, and I have to say it seems to work better that i initially expected/feared. So you might not be as crazy as you sound :) I might actually give it a few days and see what happens.
- seabee 15y ago
  This will affect you differently depending on what language you use and whether you like to align things in columns. Think of how some people format C functions, with each parameter on a new line aligned at the open paren. Personally I find that kind of alignment unnecessary and creates too much busywork. Proportional fonts prevent you from even trying. (Unless your editor supports elastic tabstops, but since very few do this is moot.) FWIW, I program in Georgia, until I find a serif font I like better. EVERYONE comments on it.
  - adriand 15y ago
    I have tab and column alignment OCD. I can't even read other people's code without getting a terrible itch to realign things. I think a proportional font would either drive me crazy or, on the other hand, might be kind of good for me.
    - Stormbringer 15y ago
      It's the dirty little secret of the "we hate tabs crowd" - they have to keep everybody in monospaced fonts otherwise their conspiracy to force programmers to repeatedly bash their space bars falls apart. All joking aside, the choice of font should reflect what it is that you are trying to do with the text. In theory a serifed font is more readable if you are reading the entire text, whereas a sans serif font is supposedly better for skimming through looking for something in particular. (so on a web page with an article, the article text should be serifed, and the sidebar menu should be sans serif) An application of this might be that if you are printing out a codebase in order to read it in entirety for the first time, you should use a font with serifs. whereas if the codebase is relatively familiar to you, but you are printing it out and going bug hunting or reviewing the code, use a sans serif font.

lt 15y ago

I've been using Anonymous Pro: http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html mentioned in a followup to that article: http://hivelogic.com/articles/anonymous-pro-programming-monospace-font/ http://hivelogic.com/articles/anonymous-pro-programming-mono...

buster 15y ago
Wow, thanks! I've been looking at some of the fonts (mainly Inconsolas-dz, Anonymous Pro, Droid and Vera) and this is a great font. Love it!

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ludwig 15y ago
Well, there's APL. http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AplLanguage http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AplLanguage

cschmidt 15y ago

I use Pragmata as my programming font. It isn't free, but I've used it every day for years, so it certainly has justified its cost. Visiting his site, I see there's now a pro version, so I'll have to upgrade. http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm

NickPollard 15y ago
That's a really impressive font actually. I don't suppose there's any kind of trial version you're aware of? I don't want to splash out that kind of money unless I'm sure I'll keep using it.
- cschmidt 15y ago
  No I don't think so. There is the basic set that you could get as a trial. I really love it, but as these comments show font choice is very much a personal thing.

joshuacc 15y ago

Inconsolata looks like it is nice for Mac users, but on Windows 7 with Cleartype enabled (the default) it is the blurriest font I've ever seen, regardless of what size I used. Consolas, on the other hand, is exceedingly crisp.

FiReaNG3L 15y ago
Thanks for confirming this, I installed some of those and oh my they were ugly. I'll stick with Verdana for now :(

getonit 15y ago

I don't wish to troll, but I see this a lot and I can't for the life of me figure out how anyone needs to give this any more thought than 'monospace, next question?', despite many explanations each time. Can someone shed some light on any advantages they feel are of a reasonably significant importance, and why? I mean, I can see plenty of advantages, but they're all so negligible they're not worth even the time it takes to change font, IMHO. ...and do please note the IMHO - I'm asking, not telling :)

timtadh 15y ago
I only use monospace fonts with well differentiated Ls and 1s. This is a pretty important issue to me as I was constantly making dumb mistakes, and in general it improves readability. On another note, you probably change the default font when writing a major document in a word processor (unless your using LaTex in which case Computer Modern is often the way to go). Changing your coding font is exactly like that. People like to customize and give their system a personal flavor. Changing fonts and syntax colors is just one part of customizing a system.
- eswat 15y ago
  This was my main reason for finding the right monospace font for me too, and to easier differentiate O and 0—I prefer a bar across the zero instead of a dot. But now that I’ve been using Inconsolata for years, it has become my final choice* so I won’t need to waste my time hunting and comparing for a better font. Done deal. * http://patrickrhone.com/2010/11/05/final-choices/ http://patrickrhone.com/2010/11/05/final-choices/
icegreentea 15y ago
90% of it is really just how purdy it is. Picking the 'right' font will make you feel better when you stare at it all day. It's like how functionally, you could compose a 6000 word essay in comic sans, but really rather not. But in other cases, depending on your display size/setup, I guess there will be advantages to certain fonts. Now, mind you, the 10 on this list are all 'good' so you won't really see it between them, but certain monospaced fonts have letters/symbols that are more easily confused with each other... like single quote, versus the thing under the tilde (whatever its called >.<)

turbohz 15y ago

I've tried many monospaced fonts. For a long time I was a ProFont guy. But I recently switched to Liberation Mono, and I just LOVE it. EDIT: pic or didn't happen > http://i.imgur.com/UAag3.png http://i.imgur.com/UAag3.png

barrkel 15y ago

I'm still using 7pt Dina, a monospace bitmap font, in all console windows and my IDEs - all except Visual Studio 2010, that is, which doesn't properly support bitmap fonts (leading me to avoid using it whenever possible).

unfasten 15y ago
> ... all except Visual Studio 2010 ... I'm also a fan of Dina and it's been the first change I make to any IDE or programming text editor I use since I found it years ago. I recently came across this when I started using IntelliJ IDEA and needed a TTF font: http://chrisrickard.blogspot.com/2010/03/dina-font-for-visual-studio-2010.html http://chrisrickard.blogspot.com/2010/03/dina-font-for-visua... . Quote from the page: *bonus* I found that this font can also be used with any .NET application (WPF or Windows Forms) that normally can't handle raster fonts. Screenshot: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n07tuwMNUu8/S603jWw9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAKs/Mvf02caNr74/s1600/DinaVS2010.png http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n07tuwMNUu8/S603jWw9ZVI/AAAAAAAAAK... And for anyone else curious here's the original font: http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/
proexploit 15y ago
I too use Dina (based of Proggy). I tried a lot of different fonts and there's a few on this top 10 list that wouldn't work for me but since I found Dina, I haven't searched for another font or made another change.

LBarret 15y ago

using proggy.

ujjvala 15y ago

Why out of nowhere is this old article brought up ?

whatswtlogin 15y ago
Just to annoy you... that's the reason. It worked! I can't be1ieve it!
- brupm2 15y ago
  Awesome

Adrock 15y ago

If you're interested in programming fonts, I wrote a few posts doing some programmatic comparisons: http://1overn.com/category/fonts/ http://1overn.com/category/fonts/

kahawe 15y ago

I tried comparing several of the example screenshots next to each other and apart from them being different sizes and some are a bit more bold than others, I just can not tell any (significant) difference and cannot see any benefit one might have over the other. Can someone enlighten me what the buzz is about here and why should I switch to Verdana or some monospaced font?

whatknott 15y ago

I'm kind of obsessed with my coding fonts. To find some new ones check out my stackoverflow question... http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485174/programming-fonts http://stackoverflow.com/questions/485174/programming-fonts

MikeTaylor 15y ago

It's got to be 6x13, every single time. There really is no other choice. http://mirtchovski.com/p9/fonts/6x13.png http://mirtchovski.com/p9/fonts/6x13.png

ScottBurson 15y ago
I'm a committed 6x10 user. 6x13 wouldn't give me enough lines on the screen.
marshray 15y ago
Glad I'm not the only one who actually likes blocky bitmap monospace fonts for programming. I wish I could say why though. It just feels nice and computer-y. Maybe the pixels remind me of bits.
sedachv 15y ago
I keep trying others and always end up going back to 6x13. It's the perfect font when working on a notebook. At work I have a larger display that sits farther away, and am running windows. Consolas is easier on the eyes there with two Emacs buffers side-by-side (at "108" Emacs font height). I came across the 5x13 font (https://github.com/chneukirchen/5x13 https://github.com/chneukirchen/5x13) and wanted to try it on my netbook. For some reason spaces come out as hatched boxes for me. The font itself looks promising but needs many changes (some of which I've figured enough out to make; but I don't know what to do with the space).

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yamilg 15y ago

I'm in love with Meslo https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font works great both on my iTerm as well as in TextMate. What makes this font special is the L/M/S variations in the leading (line height). Give it a try, you won't regret!

sudonim 15y ago
I agree. I switched to Meslo too (based on Menlo). Menlo LG S DZ which has a dot in the middle of the 0. Looks like the dot comes from Mensch. https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font/issues/1 https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font/issues/1
bittersweet 15y ago
I'm trying this out at the moment (14 pt S DZ) but the current line marking in VIM for example looks weird because there is more whitespace on the bottom of the characters than at the top. Other than that it is a welcome improvement to Menlo regular.
kinofcain 15y ago
This is perfect! Eclipse has its lines of text set-solid which is seven brands of evil, so the "M" version of Meslo is a godsend.
funkyboy 15y ago
It looks slightly more airy than menlo. I'll try it on for a week. One day is not enough to decide.

yellowbkpk 15y ago

All of these fonts look cool, but in Eclipse on Linux (and other GTK-based text editors), the font renderer adds a few pixels to the width for bold text, which screws up the monospacing. Has anyone been able to figure out a way to disable this? Example from Eclipse: http://i.imgur.com/F3PhS.png http://i.imgur.com/F3PhS.png

xbryanx 15y ago
There is some discussion on this bug report, and a possible temporary fix. https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=69253 https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=69253

rdmlx 15y ago

Proggy Clean, at http://www.proggyfonts.com http://www.proggyfonts.com

ukaszg 15y ago

to me, the best font ever is http://www.netalive.org/tinkering/triskweline/ http://www.netalive.org/tinkering/triskweline/ not mentioned in the article, but I highly recommend it. its avaliable ONLY in 10pt and only with Latin1 characters. But its so readable and beautiful I dont care :P

patrickg 15y ago

I experiment with this a lot, my fonts folder is full of fixed width fonts. But I somehow always go back to Monaco (11pt) white on black background. This is using TextMate, non anti-alias. (Example: http://tinypic.com/r/2hnayq8/7 http://tinypic.com/r/2hnayq8/7 ) Perhaps TextMate is too limited in this respect (it doesn't handle proportional fonts well).

delackner 15y ago
I searched through this whole thread looking for 'alias' to see if anyone else also can't stand anti-aliased fonts for coding, and I see that there are a few of us. I also always end up back with Monaco, but 10pt black on white. Perfectly readable and easy on the eyes.

pestaa 15y ago

I went with Terminus ( http://terminus-font.sourceforge.net/shots.html http://terminus-font.sourceforge.net/shots.html ), never looked back. I wanted to add this as a comment below the article just like the author asked, but it doesn't appear for me (using Chrome dev).

kwantam 15y ago

Several others here have suggested my favorite font already, the standard 6x13 "Fixed" bitmap font. Pretty much every Linux machine has a version of this, but most modern Debians (and probably others) that ship with fontconfig have bitmapped fonts turned off by default for programs that use fontconfig for their font info (i.e., not xterm, but gnome-terminal, usually gvim, et cetera). If you want to use Fixed and other bitmapped fonts and they're just not there, take a look in /etc/fonts/conf.d for a file named (something like) 70-no-bitmaps.conf, a symblink to the same filename in /etc/fonts/conf.avail. If you remove the symblink from /etc/fonts/conf.d and instead ln -s /etc/fonts/conf.avail/70-yes-bitmaps.conf \ /etc/fonts/conf.d fontconfig will cache bitmapped fonts for you. Then you'll just have to get it to update your cache with fc-cache -f -r -v and you should be able to use bitmapped fonts like Fixed. You can look for other bitmapped fonts on your system with fc-list ":scalable=false" family pixelsize which prints out the family name and the sizes for which the bitmaps are available. set guifont=Fixed\ Medium\ Semi-Condensed\ 10 makes gvim look precisely like a terminal for me.

afc 15y ago
Completely agree, that's the font I love. I tried Inconsolata briefly in my xterm window but ... I don't know, I didn't like it. I guess it's a subjective thing, but I dislike anti-aliased font, I prefer the crisp look of my fixed bitmap font. :-)
windsurfer 15y ago
What if you have a high DPI monitor? Isn't that too hard to see?
- kwantam 15y ago
  My desktop's monitor is about 100 dpi and it looks fine. I have a laptop with a 125dpi screen and a netbook with a 150dpi screen, and it looks fine there, too. Just tried it under a Debian chroot on my phone (N900) and it was tiny but very readable on the 250DPI screen as well. As this is entirely subjective, the answer for some people might be that it's unusable above 75dpi, while for me it's fine up to >3x that.

Luyt 15y ago

In this article only fixed-width fonts are presented, while there are ever more and more developers using proportional fonts nowadays—because they're much easier to read. On my unix system, for example, I use Vera Sans: http://www.michielovertoom.com/pictures/luyt-desktop.png http://www.michielovertoom.com/pictures/luyt-desktop.png On my windows system I use Comic Sans to code, but I haven't got a screenie ready ;-)

martincmartin 15y ago

Am I the only one who programs in a proportional font? It's helpful for the same reason it's helpful in print: the letters are more distinguished from each other so the brain recognizes them more quickly, and you can fit more text into the same space. I use a modified version of Georgia which adds a slash through the zero and changes the l (ell) to look less like the 1 (one).

oinksoft 15y ago
Variable-width fonts help with natural language, to detect phonemes or even words. Unfortunately, we are mostly dealing with machine language, where audio is not so important, so character-by-character reading is the norm.

mlntn 15y ago

Liberation Mono would be a good addition to the list. https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/ https://fedorahosted.org/liberation-fonts/

RexRollman 15y ago

Although I am not a programmer, I do prefer monospaced fonts, and my favorite right now is the bitmap font Tamsyn. I recently discovered it via the Arch Linux wiki and I now have it set up as the font for my Xterm windows (set via .Xdefaults). My favorite TTF monospaced font has got to be Consolas, which I use in Windows as the font for Foobar2000 and Notepad2 (I keep everything in plain text).

maxer 15y ago
i use notepad++ with Consolas under the zenburn theme, for clarity its the best, especially with long coding days

scorpion032 15y ago

Somehow, Inconsolata how much ever loved by so many people, is definitely not my taste. Droid Sans Mono works the best for me. I have heard many Python programmers with the same taste.

pootify 15y ago

I've been using Meslo LG DZ (dotted zero), which is a custom version of Menlo tweaked for better vertical spacing. Looks great at 13pt in TextMate / MacVim. https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font https://github.com/andreberg/Meslo-Font

modernerd 15y ago

I switched to PragmataPro[1] two months ago and love it. (Anti-aliasing turned off in iTerm2, with Vim and the Solarized colour scheme.[2]) When you stare at code all day, it's worth spending the time to make it as pleasant and legible an experience as you can. [1]: http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm http://www.fsd.it/fonts/pragmatapro.htm [2]: http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized

antihero 15y ago
Don't think I could justify spending €170 on a font though, especially if it's not billable to a client.
eropple 15y ago
Solarized is nice, but PragmataPro is vomitous. There's such a thing as too compact, and man does that qualify. I use Consolas at 16pt, but I also do most of my work on a 2560x1600 monitor. Consolas at 14pt on my laptop.
- deleted 15y ago
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antihero 15y ago

I rather like CG Mono as a pixel font.

sktrdie 15y ago

FixedSys is not on the list, what a shame.

tmcw 15y ago

Switched around for a long time, then realized that the coolest thing about Kod was the default font, so I stole it for vim: The M+ Fonts: hugely recommended - http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/ http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/

pbreit 15y ago
Me, too! I far prefer the density but it's probably ruining my eyes. Also, on TextMate you have to adjust the line height.

Semiapies 15y ago

I've been slowly shifting from Proggy to Consolas; it was easier once I embraced larger font sizes (I have 20/20 vision, and I'd like to keep that!). At that point, Consolas became a balm for the eyes.

jimmyjazz14 15y ago
I had not realized how a font could be so much easier on ones eyes until I started using Consolas for everything. I seriously feel more productive now which I did not expect.

res0nat0r 15y ago

I've been a big fan of smoothansi for a long time. It's part of the artwiz project. http://codeblog.palos.ro/2008/02/08/smoothansi-font-best-for-programming/ http://codeblog.palos.ro/2008/02/08/smoothansi-font-best-for... http://artwizaleczapka.sourceforge.net/ http://artwizaleczapka.sourceforge.net/

aidenn0 15y ago

I mostly like inconsolata, but it doesn't keep my favorite part of deja-vu: the lowercase ell. I never ever confuse the ell with the one as it is so distinct. Inconsolata does this by removing the baseline on the one, which works, but I much prefer the deja-vu way of things.

vch 15y ago

Liberation Mono on Ubuntu works great for me. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/820/screenshotsr.png/ http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/820/screenshotsr.png/

Jach 15y ago

I'm a fan of courier, though my favorite became Bitstream Vera Sans Mono some time ago after I was searching through my fonts for a better font. I like it a lot because it makes it easy to distinguish between O and 0, and l and 1.

roadnottaken 15y ago
Me too. I think this is default on the Ubuntu terminal. I liked it so much I brought it over to my Windows computer at work and use it with Putty.

Athtar 15y ago

This is not directly related to fonts but for anyone using Visual Studio, this might be helpful: http://studiostyl.es/ http://studiostyl.es/ It's a website that collects Visual Studio color schemes, so that people can download and install them rather than spending hours customizing their IDE to look like they want it to. Assuming they like one of the available schemes, of course.

ginsweater 15y ago

This is the article that introduced me to monofur, which I dearly love even though it seems fairly unpopular. Take a look[1] and you'll either think that lowercase L is a terrible idea or exactly the thing to distinguish it from the number 1. The rounded friendliness distinguishes it from all the other fonts I use; now when I see monofur (in the zenburn color scheme), it says "programming time" to my brain. [1] http://www.dafont.com/monofur.font http://www.dafont.com/monofur.font

roadnottaken 15y ago

I love Hacker News. Where else would you get 100+ comments on an article about typefaces?

praptak 15y ago

Every second spent on "programming font" choice is a second wasted. Every single second. Twiddling fonts is to programming what applying flame decals is to car racing. If the font doesn't become transparent to you after uhm, about 5 seconds of focusing at the code then you should permanently switch to iPads as you have no business doing any real computing.

mcav 15y ago
Unless you'd otherwise be spending your time doing something else unproductive, in which case it doesn't matter.
to3m 15y ago
You reckon? I started out using FixedSys, since it was the default on the editor I was using at the time - PFE, I think. And since taking the time to switch to the X 6x13 font (which I happened to encounter towards the end of my time at university), I must have saved enough time scrolling horizontally through other people's code to break even. I have dicked about a bit trying out other programming fonts, it's true, but having had success the once from doing this, why not double check?
orjan 15y ago
I think a better analogy is "Twiddling fonts is to programming what choosing a helmet is to car racing". An ill-fitting helmet will probably do the job just as well as a good fitting helmet, but why be uncomfortable? That said, I agree that there's a limit to how much effort you should put into font selection -- find one that you like and that works for your purposes and leave it at that.

aurynn 15y ago

My favourite font for coding, that which I use everywhere I can, is monofur. Reading it is like visual candy. It also looks really good on Linux - the AA seems to work out quite well. Edit for hey, reading the article that mentions monofur is a good idea too. :)

summitpush 15y ago

Trying out Consolas with iTerm2. Wish it was a little more easily portable.

deleted 15y ago
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whackedspinach 15y ago

Droid Sans Mono makes for a great programming font. It’s got a bit of flair, and stands out among the other monospace fonts I’ve listed, and its only real flaw is the lack of a slashed zero. I use Droid Sans Mono with slashed zeros on my Arch Linux box. I find that I can get it up to a rather large font size (I don't see well) and it still looks really good. Download link http://www.cosmix.org/software/files/DroidSansMonoSlashed.zip http://www.cosmix.org/software/files/DroidSansMonoSlashed.zi... Arch Linux AUR link: https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40418 https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=40418

andyford 15y ago

The lowercase 'e' in Monofur is a deal breaker. Too reminiscent of italics. And the mixed baseline numerals don't help either. Otherwise it's pretty nice. Of the 10, Inconsolata deserves to be #1.

adambyrtek 15y ago

It has been submitted at least three times already, and you can find more comments there: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=615088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=615088 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1058946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1058946 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=613371 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=613371

joshaidan 15y ago

hmm... why are all programming fonts terminal style, or monospace fonts? Well I guess it's to ensure proper indentation and alignment of lines of code. I guess that explains why code looks horrible when you copy and past it into an HTML page without changing the font. hmm... thinking out loud.

nikcub 15y ago

consolas is an excellent font for both terminal and editing. if you would like to install it for OS X or UNIX, I have extracted the TTF as well as the OS X installer package and placed them into a repo here: https://bitbucket.org/nik/consolas/ https://bitbucket.org/nik/consolas/ (the Microsoft license allows this if you have a license for Office, Windows Vista+ or Visual Studio)

fictorial 15y ago

I am a big fan of the M+ fonts [1], especially "M+ 1mn" at 24pt. Here's a screenshot of iTerm2 on Mac OS X: http://i.imgur.com/PjfOY.png http://i.imgur.com/PjfOY.png [1] http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-en.html http://mplus-fonts.sourceforge.jp/mplus-outline-fonts/index-...

faruken 15y ago

I prefer Menlo.

ars 15y ago

I've been using Dina - it's designed as a programmers font. http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/ http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/

radiosnob 15y ago

From my experience,a lot programmers get set in their ways. For example, I just stuck with using the standard Console font for my IDE when I installed it years ago. Then I came across this article, or one similar, and messed around with different fonts and sizes. The difference it made was surprising. I feel like it definitely has made an improvement in how I work. I would recommend people try testing new fonts, layouts, etc at least once a year. the aesthetics is just as important as the content, even when coding.