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Ask HN: What is your default font for coding and terminal?

• frakt0x90 4y ago
  The only IDE I've every changed the default font in is Teradata SQL Assistant because the comma was one pixel different from the period and it would confuse me constantly. I'm always a little surprised people are so into coding fonts.
• Wildgoose 4y ago
  Go Mono and also Iosevka (a fairly narrow font). I also historically used Bitstream Vera Sans, (and occasionally still do). https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/go-mono https://fontlibrary.org/en/font/go-mono
• Tolexx 4y ago
  I currently use jetbrains font on vscode. It's quite good. The bold font-weight and font-size of 15 are the settings I use. https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/ https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/
• hprotagonist 4y ago
  Menlo or something that looks like it. I’m pretty boring.
• ElSinchi 4y ago
  Hack font https://sourcefoundry.org/hack/ https://sourcefoundry.org/hack/ Thread closed
  • PaulHoule 4y ago
    One of those fonts that puts the 0 in 3270.
  • azemetre 4y ago
    I use this font everywhere as well (alacritty, neovim, vscode, etc), I think I've been using it since it was first posted on HN maybe 7 years ago? It's a great font, especially with the differences between O, 0, l, L, I. My eyesight is bad so I typically have large font sizes (24 for text, 22 for glyphs/icons). One thing I never want to do is "stress" my eyes by having a hard time reading.
• t0bia_s 4y ago
  Iosevka: https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka
  • soneca 4y ago
    Another vote for Iosevka. I learned about it here on HN. It is great because it is narrow but very clear and easy to read (and free). I like narrow because I like to use side-by-side panels in VSCode, so it fits more characters per line for readable font sizes. Incredible font.
    • t0bia_s 4y ago
      I love it even for film subtitles. Easy to read and not too much "technical" as other mono fonts.
• LarryMade2 4y ago
  my terminal font is OCR-A gotta have that retro-tech style.
• grafelic 4y ago
  Dina Font, always Dina Font https://www.dcmembers.com/jibsen/download/61/ https://www.dcmembers.com/jibsen/download/61/
• speedgoose 4y ago
  These days, I use Comic Code for coding and JetBrainsMono for the terminal. https://tosche.net/fonts/comic-code https://tosche.net/fonts/comic-code https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/ https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/
• Hamuko 4y ago
  ProFontIIx for terminal, Source Code Pro for text editor.
• yewenjie 4y ago
  Iosevka with Nerd Fonts patched.
• timeon 4y ago
  SF Mono
• kirbyfan64sos 4y ago
  JetBrains Mono! Used to use Roboto Mono, because I liked how close it was to a standard sans-serif font, but JB Mono is similarly spaced and has the advantage of built-in ligatures and such.
  • ledgerdev 4y ago
    Wow JBM is very nice, love ligatures and it's so easy to read. Thanks for mentioning it.
  • mbirth 4y ago
    Also, JBM is available almost everywhere, e.g. it comes with several mobile apps.
  • dschuessler 4y ago
    Genuine question: What's the appeal of ligatures? I never got the point. I want to see exactly what's in the document. With ligatures I have to translate what I see back to what I get. It seems like unnecessary cognitive load to me.
• r4vik 4y ago
  Source code pro: https://adobe-fonts.github.io/source-code-pro/ https://adobe-fonts.github.io/source-code-pro/
  • lucky_cloud 4y ago
    I use the "Sauce Code Pro" variant which includes a bunch of glyphs: https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-fonts/SourceCodePro https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-...
    • flylikeabanana 4y ago
      Similarly, the Hasklig font is just Source Code Pro with ligatures.
• ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  Terminal: Courier Xcode (Code editor): Victor Mono Regular (Heard about it here): https://rubjo.github.io/victor-mono/ https://rubjo.github.io/victor-mono/
  • zabil 4y ago
    I use Victor Mono too. I like the compact spacing in this font. It works well when I increase my editor font size when sharing screen with my colleagues.
    • ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
      I like the ligatures (<=, !=, etc.).
• DHPersonal 4y ago
  I like using IBM Plex Mono. https://github.com/IBM/plex https://github.com/IBM/plex • https://www.ibm.com/plex/ https://www.ibm.com/plex/
• tcfunk 4y ago
  I've been using FiraCode for a year or so and like it pretty well https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode
  • w0m 4y ago
    ditto. One of the first things installed when I get a new devbox now.
• aeyes 4y ago
  Source Code Pro
• ajross 4y ago
  Grumpy curmudgeon here still using DejaVu (and it's Vera Sans ancestor before that). I'm sure there's lots of good choices, but DejaVu is great, it's everywhere and it's free. Just don't see a lot of value in shopping around.
  • thanatos519 4y ago
    Me too! DejaVuSansMono Nerd Font and when I want serifs, GoMono Nerd Font.
• johnmorrison 4y ago
  I've been using JetBrains Mono recently, switching over from SF Mono on MacOS and Fira Code on Windows. SF Mono looks great and Fira Code has nice ligatures, but JBM has the best of both and a really nice shape. https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/ https://www.jetbrains.com/lp/mono/
• ha1zum 4y ago
  D2Coding by Naver, it's a narrow font but not looking crazy like other narrow fonts
• ElectronBadger 4y ago
  Hack. Both in Sublime Text and urxvt terminals. And as a i3 system font. And as a fixed font for Firefox and Thunderbird.
• kitsunesoba 4y ago
  For IDEs and text editors, I use Dank Mono[0] 14pt. On my personal machine, my terminal font is Cozette[1] 13pt, while on my company machine it's Dank Mono[0] 14pt. In the past I've also used SF Mono[2], Fira Code[3] and Anonymous Pro[4] among others. [0]: https://philpl.gumroad.com/l/dank-mono https://philpl.gumroad.com/l/dank-mono [1]: https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette https://github.com/slavfox/Cozette [2]: https://developer.apple.com/fonts/ https://developer.apple.com/fonts/ [3]: https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode [4]: https://www.marksimonson.com/fonts/view/anonymous-pro https://www.marksimonson.com/fonts/view/anonymous-pro
  • platz 4y ago
    I cannot stand the trend for the cursive s in programming fonts, but maybe I'm just boomin'
• DaveYoakum 4y ago
  Monaco. I’m old.
• usr1106 4y ago
  I used to spend a lot of time fiddling with visual properties of my desktop in the past. Nowadays I just install Xubuntu, add i3 and mostly use it as it is. So the terminal happens to be white on black and the Emacs black on white. I don't think about it, but apply the rule they give for healthier sitting: The next position is the healthiest one (meaning switch often). I don't even know whether my terminal and my Emacs (main tools besides the browser) use the same font or not. Why would that interest me as long as I can read both? Sometimes when something has changed on a new installation (UI people want to do continuous improvement...) it might look ugly at first. After 3 days I don't notice it anymore. Hardly ever that I would spend any time to change it back as it has always been. If you present online (other than slides) you should know the shortcuts to change the fontsize. And possibly change your cursor and selection color to make them recognizable for remote attendees.
  • throwingrocks 4y ago
    So which font do you use?
    • usr1106 4y ago
      I wrote I don't know. Whatever was there by the installation procedure described. (I am at sick leave at the moment. The PC is off not to hinder recovery. The phone is on to raise the feeling...).
    • usr1106 4y ago
      I you are still reading this. I booted my PC and checked. Terminal font says DejaVu Sans Mono Book. Emacs says DejaVu Sans Mono. I don't know how this font lookup works and I don't want to spend my time on investigating, I guess both use /usr/share/fonts/truetype/dejavu/DejaVuSansMono.ttf
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• Gualdrapo 4y ago
  I'm forking envypn[0] to make some characters more recognizable or just give them some personality (a and g, for example), and doing a slanted version. Slow process since I'm not using any graphical editor whatsoever but editing it "by hand". Hope to release it soon though. [0] https://github.com/hicolour/envypn-font https://github.com/hicolour/envypn-font
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
• swozey 4y ago
  I use HackGen35 Console it's a composite of Hack and GenJyuu-Gothic. It has a brew cask. https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask-fonts/blob/master/Casks/font-hackgen-nerd.rb https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask-fonts/blob/master/...
• ofou 4y ago
  Fira Code with ligatures brew tap homebrew/cask-fonts brew install --cask font-fira-code
• nishs 4y ago
  PragmataPro. https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ https://fsd.it/shop/fonts/pragmatapro/ Modularly spaced and monospaced; true bolds and italics; ligatures. It is more condensed than most system fonts. The full set is €199, and I've found it worth it. You can buy individual fonts too.
• rav3ndust 4y ago
  Terminal: Alacritty Font: Envy Code R A nice combination in Vim on my minimal Arch setup.
• nikanj 4y ago
  My default font is ”whatever they have selected as default”. I’m not nearly competent enough as an UI designer to pick better fonts than the person working for Apple / Microsoft / Jetbrains. I trust their judgement.
• sweettea 4y ago
  Verily Serif Mono (plus a few modifications). I find serif fonts much easier to read, and this one is the most non-monospace-like font I've ever found. (I've modified it to have a visually heavier semicolon and a visually lighter underscore, so my code is easier to read.)
• prirun 4y ago
  My eyesight isn't so hot because of chronic shingles in my left eye. On a 13" 2015 MBP: SF Mono Medium 18pt, antialias disabled, Use bold fonts enabled. Light beige text on a chalkboard green background. Character spacing .911, line spacing 1. Took a bit of experimenting to settle on this but has been great.
• amelius 4y ago
  Iosevka Term Regular https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka https://github.com/be5invis/Iosevka
  • sam_lowry_ 4y ago
    Gosh, this is my favourite too!
  • spiffytech 4y ago
    I love that Iosevka is narrow (fitting more code panes on my screen) yet still makes all the glyphs clearly distinct.
    • majewsky 4y ago
      I switched to Iosevka after I started learning Japanese, because the exact 1:2 aspect ratio of Latin characters means that square-shaped CJK characters align perfectly with the monospace grid.
    • leephillips 4y ago
      Personal thanks: in search of more horizontal space I installed it, and it does the trick nicely. I installed the "fixed" variant because I don’t want ligatures in the terminal. This is a sophisticated font with many variants, stylistic options, and compendious Unicode coverage.
  • jdknezek 4y ago
    Iosevka is delightful once you get used to its density. I use a custom build of Iosevka with cues from Atkison Hyperlegible[1] that works really well even at tiny font sizes. [1]: https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont
• ericbarrett 4y ago
  For VS Code: FiraCode with ligatures enabled (yes I'm one of those weirdos) For the terminal: Inconsolata.
  • iamwpj 4y ago
    Big fan of both Inconsolata and Fira Code. If I'm not using one, I'm using the other as my default.
• jart 4y ago
  Pragmata Pro
• BaudouinVH 4y ago
  B 612 because it was designed for the cockpit of Airbus planes. Would feel even better if it wasn't a google font.
  • mbirth 4y ago
    Uhh, it's available as TTF files from GitHub. https://b612-font.com https://b612-font.com
• platz 4y ago
  How does PragmataPro vs Iosevka compare? I use Iosevka, but am curious about PragmataPro
  • polyterative 4y ago
    Iosevka was less legible at 14/16 but more at below 12 for me. I daily drive PragmataPro now
  • 1983054104 4y ago
    I like the design and ideas of PragmataPro but it's too confusing for me. The $19 version seems very restricted but it's not clear enough what is missing. I use "Iosevka SS08" which has the narrowness that I love in Iosevka, and the SS08 version has some details from PragmataPro.
• Toutouxc 4y ago
  I'm just posting this for all of us who don't care one bit or are content with the defaults. :) I know an ugly font when I see one, but whatever JetBrains IDEs, macOS' Terminal and Xcode use is fine by me.
• amelius 4y ago
  Offtopic. Something seems wrong with HN. My newest comments don't show up under "threads". And curiously when I click on "threads" my karma counter is a few points lower than when I click on a random comment thread.
  • amelius 4y ago
    (it works now)
• None4U 4y ago
  Iosevka
• m0llusk 4y ago
  Courier 10 pitch
• mklein994 4y ago
  Cascadia Mono/Code, depending if I feel like having ligatures: https://github.com/microsoft/cascadia-code https://github.com/microsoft/cascadia-code It has the option to enable cursive italics, which is disabled by default. Been using it for over a year. No complaints.
• maxique 4y ago
  DM Mono! https://fonts.google.com/specimen/DM+Mono https://fonts.google.com/specimen/DM+Mono
• rvdginste 4y ago
  I used the Terminus bitmap font until a year ago because I found it really clear and sharp even on small sizes. Since bitmap fonts are not that well supported anymore, I switched to JetBrains Mono for both terminal and IDE. I started using JetBrains Mono in my IDEs as soon as it came out.
  • sam_lowry_ 4y ago
    I migrated from Terminus to Iosevka Regular Mono for the same reason. For many years, Terminus was kicking the ass for Mac and Windows users that watched over my shoulder ;-)
• wodenokoto 4y ago
  Super boring answer, but … On Mac: the Apple one. On PC: the VS Code one. They are pleasant to look at. I never have l1I problems and I don’t think ligatures are appropriate in monospace scenarios as I find it quite important for me as a reader of code to know what each individual character is.
• tsuujin 4y ago
  Victor Mono. I went through a bunch of fonts recently looking for that right fit and Victor ended that search nicely. https://rubjo.github.io/victor-mono/ https://rubjo.github.io/victor-mono/
• TheChaplain 4y ago
  Deja Vu Sans Mono I've tried many but that one is just unbeatable.
• phunehehe0 4y ago
  Quinze https://www.programmingfonts.org/#quinze https://www.programmingfonts.org/#quinze I was on a quest to find the narrowest font and Quinze was the answer. It's something like 20% narrower than Iosevka, which is already quite narrow. I love Iosevka but to me nothing beats maximizing the area of the characters (readability) while minimizing their width (fitting more characters on a line). That means sacrificing the number of lines on the screen, which I solve by splitting when needed. In fact this font is so narrow that when I attempted to force its use in all monospace text in the browser, readability took a hit instead of improving. This is because at the same height Quinze is much smaller than "normal" fonts. In my coding setup I use a huge font size so it's no problem.
• glmeece 4y ago
  I've tried a lot of different monospaced fonts, but I've settled on these 3: IDE: • Cascadia Mono - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/cascadia-code https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/terminal/cascadia-c... • CaskaydiaCove Nerd Font (as a fallback) - https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-fonts/CascadiaCode https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-... Terminal: • Hack Nerd Font - https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-fonts/Hack https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-...
  • beej71 4y ago
    I also use Hack Nerd Font.
• polyterative 4y ago
  Pragmata Pro
• theandrewbailey 4y ago
  Nouveau IBM https://www.dafont.com/nouveau-ibm.font https://www.dafont.com/nouveau-ibm.font Before that, I used Cousine. I probably still do in some places. https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Cousine https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Cousine
• valbaca 4y ago
  macOS, iTerm, Menlo Menlo isn't the perfect font, but it's good enough and I wasted way too much time trying to find the perfect font. So to force myself from fiddling with fonts, I just stick with Menlo (This is also the same reason why I prefer macOS over Linux for my OS: forces me to fiddle less with customization because it has less). JetBrains Mono is quite nice as well. I don't always switch it off when using JetBrains products.
  • kitsunesoba 4y ago
    > This is also the same reason why I prefer macOS over Linux for my OS: forces me to fiddle less with customization because it has less Similar here, although it has more to do with the defaults on macOS being generally decent and needing less fiddling with. I can have a brand new Mac ready for productive work in half an hour tops without any maintenance of dotfile repos or config transfer. Fine tuning things to a fully preferred state takes a little longer, but it's not even remotely critical and can be pushed off until I have some downtime due to being blocked.
    • thiht 4y ago
      Agree. I know I use Menlo on macOS but I’ve never needed to change it. Same for Consolas when I used Windows, these fonts are just sane defaults. On any Linux I tried, the default mono fonts were always so awful it would trigger my fiddling nerve. They’re either too wide or too thin or too round, they never seem to get the perfect balance of Menlo or Consolas
      • kitsunesoba 4y ago
        It's been improving in a lot of distros recently but it used to be that the default proportional font on most Linux distros was Vera Sans or DejaVu sans which always drove me nuts because of how wide the glyphs of those fonts are compared to just about any UI font used in commercial operating systems in the past two or three decades. It was enough of a peeve that when it came to Linux distros, I used to be inclined toward Ubuntu and Ubuntu variants for the simple fact that they had Ubuntu Sans, a much better UI font, preinstalled.
• rudilee 4y ago
  I use Input sans condensed for all programming languages because I prefer non squeezed display for wide characters, except for Go lang, which I used Input mono condensed instead since the auto formatter use space as comments offsets https://input.djr.com/ https://input.djr.com/
• btach 4y ago
  I've been pretty happy with Fantasque Sans Mono.
• majso 4y ago
  InconsolotaGo NF for Terminals and Consolas for IDE
• not_a_throwaw12 4y ago
  Berekely Mono https://berkeleygraphics.com/typefaces/berkeley-mono https://berkeleygraphics.com/typefaces/berkeley-mono
• maxhille 4y ago
  Fantasque Sans
• anon2020dot00 4y ago
  Consolas looks good and is the default for VS code on Windows
• GNOMES 4y ago
  Huge fan of Ubuntu Mono (UbuntuMono Nerd Font Mono)
• vermaden 4y ago
  I usually switch between these: - Consolas - IBM Plex Mono - Monaco - Monofur - Ubuntu Mono - -*-clean-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-iso8859-2
• deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
• lackbeard 4y ago
  Menlo on MacOS, Ubuntu Mono on Linux.
• sys_64738 4y ago
  Whatever the default Windows Terminal font is.
• jaskyle 4y ago
  Comic Sans
  • HKH2 4y ago
    Comic Mono
• agnivade 4y ago
  Hack (https://sourcefoundry.org/hack/ https://sourcefoundry.org/hack/) in editor, and Monospace Regular in terminal.
• klavinski 4y ago
  Julia Mono: https://juliamono.netlify.app/ https://juliamono.netlify.app/ By far the best monospaced font I have seen, discovered on HN. Before that, I used Ligconsolata (Inconsolata with ligatures).
• dschuessler 4y ago
  I settled on SF Mono long ago.