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Ligatures obscure the underlying text, which is a problem when you actually edit it. It is okay to have light ligatures where the original text is retained but

Ligatures obscure the underlying text, which is a problem when you actually edit it. It is okay to have light ligatures where the original text is retained but refined in style but many fonts with ligatures do too much [1], like rendering `!==` as two lines and a slashed stroke in between (come on, who on earth did think this is a good idea???). I would rather have a Unicode symbol support and automatic symbol substitution instead. [1] https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKE2QBSUQAEv_dQ.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DKE2QBSUQAEv_dQ.jpg

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
> come on, who on earth did think this is a good idea??? Me. It’s the 21th century. It’s bad enough I have to use monospaced fonts because people can’t properly tabulate. I will at least have proper symbols rather than weird combination of glyphes.
- lifthrasiir 4y ago
  I too want proper symbols, but not ASCII approximations disguised by inconsistent ligatures.
  - WastingMyTime89 4y ago
    Writing my previous comment, it suddenly downed on me that I could actually be using a proportional font with ligatures and things would look even better. I need to try.
- madeofpalk 4y ago
  You don't have to use a monospace font to write code.
d_tr 4y ago
I am not a fan of ligatures either. The "compose" key would be another option to insert various Unicode glyphs and it exists already. Unfortunately, with monospace fonts many of these glyphs do not look nice to me due to the width constraint. Maybe a "multispace" font would be nicer while still preserving the grid alignment.
spicybright 4y ago
Because people can have preferences to make things work better for them, and there's nothing wrong with that. Software engineering is one of the few professions where you can use a hammer you designed yourself that fits your hand perfectly and is optimal for the task at hand. Changes like this don't mean you're forcing other people to use your weird shaped nails, tho.
- lifthrasiir 4y ago
  Of course. You can use Comic Sans for programming or whatnot if you really want (and there is actually a good reason, including dyslexia). But it is generally frowned upon because the font was never designed for that purpose and its use mostly indicates that the user is clueless about typography. Likewise excessive ligatures have their places, but there is a good reason to avoid them when you frequently have to edit them.

WastingMyTime89 4y ago

> come on, who on earth did think this is a good idea??? Me. It’s the 21th century. It’s bad enough I have to use monospaced fonts because people can’t properly tabulate. I will at least have proper symbols rather than weird combination of glyphes.

lifthrasiir 4y ago
I too want proper symbols, but not ASCII approximations disguised by inconsistent ligatures.
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  Writing my previous comment, it suddenly downed on me that I could actually be using a proportional font with ligatures and things would look even better. I need to try.
madeofpalk 4y ago
You don't have to use a monospace font to write code.

d_tr 4y ago

I am not a fan of ligatures either. The "compose" key would be another option to insert various Unicode glyphs and it exists already. Unfortunately, with monospace fonts many of these glyphs do not look nice to me due to the width constraint. Maybe a "multispace" font would be nicer while still preserving the grid alignment.

spicybright 4y ago

Because people can have preferences to make things work better for them, and there's nothing wrong with that. Software engineering is one of the few professions where you can use a hammer you designed yourself that fits your hand perfectly and is optimal for the task at hand. Changes like this don't mean you're forcing other people to use your weird shaped nails, tho.

lifthrasiir 4y ago
Of course. You can use Comic Sans for programming or whatnot if you really want (and there is actually a good reason, including dyslexia). But it is generally frowned upon because the font was never designed for that purpose and its use mostly indicates that the user is clueless about typography. Likewise excessive ligatures have their places, but there is a good reason to avoid them when you frequently have to edit them.