5 ms·

IMO ligatures makes it easier to recognize common symbols used in programming languages and also doesn't affect readability much. Maybe I am younger, but I don'

IMO ligatures makes it easier to recognize common symbols used in programming languages and also doesn't affect readability much. Maybe I am younger, but I don't see the problem here.

wildrhythms 4y ago
I don't like it because it tends to combine two distinct characters into one (visually). A great example is '<=' being transformed into '≤' (Pragmata Pro[1] does this) I expect to see two characters, but instead I see one and expect to see a syntax error. [1] https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/
- np_tedious 4y ago
  You expect that exactly because (like me) you've been seeing it for a long time. I suspect the age correlation parent suggested is a big factor
  - pmarreck 4y ago
    I don't know about this claimed correlation- I'm 50 and love ligatures
    - AeroNotix 4y ago
      It's almost like there are different people who like different things and it's impossible to turn a subjective thing into an objective thing.
      - alrlroipsp 4y ago
        Nah, I heard someone on the internet saying it was an age thing.
- angio 4y ago
  Also it's incredibly annoying when a language uses `<=` for something that's not a comparison. Julia was right in allowing developers use unicode for variables and operators, so if you want ≤ you simply use that directly (or type \leq in your editor).
- kibwen 4y ago
  Note that PragmataPro offers both ligature and non-ligature styles.
brokenkebab2 4y ago
It's not about age. I'm rather oldschool, and I like programming ligatures very much. When => intended to imitate thick arrow, seeing thick arrow instead is reasonable, I think
- rbanffy 4y ago
  True, but <> in Perl is called the diamond while, in other languages it means “not equal”. If we take ligatures seriously, we’d need them to be language-aware to select the appropriate concept. And for a font to have to be aware of all languages that can express ideas with it is a violent violation of the separation of concerns principle. If languages opt to make “≠” equivalent to “!=“, match all styles of open/close quotes, and enable me to attribute a value to a variable using an arrow, that’s great. In the meantime, I’m not sure they are a net positive in all cases and fear they may drive unfortunate syntax choices for people who design languages.
  - toastal 4y ago
    PureScript and Haskell <> is concat in most Preludes. However, both languages allow you create your own infix operators and you can use Unicode.
  - brokenkebab2 4y ago
    >If we take ligatures seriously, we’d need them to be language-aware to select the appropriate concept. It's possible in Emacs: to enable relevant ligatures for an active mode.

IMO ligatures makes it easier to recognize common symbols used in programming languages and also doesn't affect readability much. Maybe I am younger, but I don't see the problem here.

wildrhythms 4y ago

I don't like it because it tends to combine two distinct characters into one (visually). A great example is '<=' being transformed into '≤' (Pragmata Pro[1] does this) I expect to see two characters, but instead I see one and expect to see a syntax error. [1] https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/

np_tedious 4y ago
You expect that exactly because (like me) you've been seeing it for a long time. I suspect the age correlation parent suggested is a big factor
- pmarreck 4y ago
  I don't know about this claimed correlation- I'm 50 and love ligatures
  - AeroNotix 4y ago
    It's almost like there are different people who like different things and it's impossible to turn a subjective thing into an objective thing.
    - alrlroipsp 4y ago
      Nah, I heard someone on the internet saying it was an age thing.
angio 4y ago
Also it's incredibly annoying when a language uses `<=` for something that's not a comparison. Julia was right in allowing developers use unicode for variables and operators, so if you want ≤ you simply use that directly (or type \leq in your editor).
kibwen 4y ago
Note that PragmataPro offers both ligature and non-ligature styles.

brokenkebab2 4y ago

It's not about age. I'm rather oldschool, and I like programming ligatures very much. When => intended to imitate thick arrow, seeing thick arrow instead is reasonable, I think

rbanffy 4y ago
True, but <> in Perl is called the diamond while, in other languages it means “not equal”. If we take ligatures seriously, we’d need them to be language-aware to select the appropriate concept. And for a font to have to be aware of all languages that can express ideas with it is a violent violation of the separation of concerns principle. If languages opt to make “≠” equivalent to “!=“, match all styles of open/close quotes, and enable me to attribute a value to a variable using an arrow, that’s great. In the meantime, I’m not sure they are a net positive in all cases and fear they may drive unfortunate syntax choices for people who design languages.
- toastal 4y ago
  PureScript and Haskell <> is concat in most Preludes. However, both languages allow you create your own infix operators and you can use Unicode.
- brokenkebab2 4y ago
  >If we take ligatures seriously, we’d need them to be language-aware to select the appropriate concept. It's possible in Emacs: to enable relevant ligatures for an active mode.