4 ms·
Ask HN: Do you program in black or white?
I just switched from Eclipse to TextMate a month ago. With that change I also wanted to try out coloured text on black background.
Interestingly it’s a huge improvement for me. I seem to be much more focussed. It’s also really pleasing to look at code now.
Did you have similar experiences? In which colours do you program?
- pavelludiq 18y agoI cant stand light backgrounds, i prefer dark ones(but not black). This is the vim colorscheme im using: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1778 http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1778 I like it a lot!
- nailer 18y agoThere's a great VibrantInk port for vim around too.
- Laurentvw 18y agoI recently switched from a black & white scheme to a colored scheme. As of now I'm enjoying a black-greyish background with some nifty colors. IMO, colored code makes the process much more fun. I'm not sure if it makes me more productive though, but I wouldn't rule it out. Small screenshot: http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2102/219/106/340100047/n340100047_68221_5999.jpg http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2102/219/106/34...
- jballanc 18y agoI've been using dark/black backgrounds for literally years. The question that most interests me now is warm vs cool colors for syntax highlighting. Without realizing it, I had been using primarily warm tones for a long time. Then, I installed MacVim and started using the default dark bg theme, which uses cool tones... I kinda like it!
- hbien 18y agoI started out with dark backgrounds because of vim + Linux. The default terminal was black. Now I use the dark background w/ color text for all my editors/IDEs. I tried switching to the white background for a week, but it really hurt my eyes. I had to switch back after a few days.
- PieSquared 18y agoSame experience here. I start having difficulty coding when the background is too bright, or even when the text is too bright on a black background (I had the text be a light gray for nearly a year, and I never really realized it wasn't white. Then when I looked at white on black code, it looked very bright and unpleasant to read.)
- brianto2010 18y agoReally? I never had that problem. I started out using Notepad++'s default coloring (black on white). Then I switched to Vim and used a dark background. Switching between dark and light background has never been a problem for me. Could you elaborate more on your situation? Did you always use a dark background? What are the conditions around where you code? Light grey on black for me is still too hard to see. I prefer pure black and white. On the Windows Command Prompt, I set the default color to 0F instead of the default. My concern is not so much with a dark/light scheme, but with color contrast. Currently, I use Vim with a dark colorscheme ('desert') and I love it. My friend, Aaron, also uses a dark colorscheme. However, my other friend, Brian C., has an affinity for light backgrounds. Whenever I show him code on any dark colorscheme, his first response is to make it white. Then again, that is his normal setup; that is what he always deals with.
- PieSquared 18y agoI coded at first a few years ago with the normal Eclipse-type scheme, but then when I switched to Linux+Vim and later Linux+Emacs I've always used a black background with light gray text. I'm probably just not used to coding on light backgrounds, since I haven't done it in a long while - if I did it for a few hours, I'd probably adjust. I just haven't really had the need to do so.
- MrRage 18y agoI've got to put a vote in for white backgrounds. I find dark background terribly hard to read, especially with colored text. White backgrounds have a higher contrast with the text. I also turn the brightness down on my monitors, so I don't feel it's too blinding. I also can't stand it if the syntax highlighting is too colorful. I like some coloring for reserved words, type names, comments, and string literals. Other than that black on white. What I find more important that color schemes is having a nice font. If you're on Windows, and not using Consolas, you're missing out big time. Consolas is actually designed to look good with sub-pixel rendering. If you can't use Consolas, Bitstream Vera Sans Mono is a nice second.
- brandonkm 18y agoI actually program with a navy blue background in some languages and a white background in others. With ruby, python I have a blue background in vim and with xhtml, css, and javascript I use a white background.
- awt 18y agoI like a white background. The color schemes for black backgrounds always seem to be off for one color or another.
- notaddicted 18y agoI use light background. I feel like I have to. Any time I switch from light text to dark text it takes time for my eyes to adjust. So when I'm looking up documentation etc everything need to be the same. Even the bar at the top bothers me. SO I use the black on white.
- zacharydanger 18y agoSee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawthorne_effect
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- dejb 18y agoInteresting point. So perhaps the implicit suggestions is to randomise your backgrounds and colour schemes to improve productivity. Maybe if you told others that it was part of an experiment and the results were 'being monitored' it might work for a while. Otherwise I don't think so.
- MaysonL 18y agoStrange - I've been using black (lately w syntax coloring) text/white background since I was first able to (early '80s - VT100 days) after using white on black for most of the 70's.
- raquo 18y ago#222 for background, something like #eee for common text, and light pale colors for vars/stings/etc. I found that #fff text on #000 bg hurts even more than plain black-on-white. Also, overhighlighting kills my ability to focus - I use at max. 4 colors
- astrec 18y agoBlack background, green text. I've never managed to move past the televideo terminal!
- PStamatiou 18y agoBeen using Cobalt theme in Textmate (dark blue) for years myself.
- there 18y agoi had a vt510 connected to an openbsd machine in my bedroom about 10 years ago and did most of my unix work with it. since it can't display colors, i setup mutt, vim, tin, epic, etc. to only use bold/underline/reverse attributes for highlighting instead of different colors. 10 years later and i'm now using openbsd on a laptop and typing in an xterm instead of a vt510, but i still only use bold/underline/reverse in all of those terminal apps. however, i did switch from grey text on a black background on the vt510 to black text on a white background in xterm, but that's probably just because it's the default on openbsd.
- dylanz 18y agoBlack Background, White Text. If I SSH into a remote machine, I'm still in my normal environment. Another reason I use VIM as well. If I need to get fancy, I can SCP my .vimrc in as well.
- gjm11 18y agoBlack background, light-coloured text, not too much Angry Fruit Salad, very small fonts to fit as much as possible on the screen. Easier on the eyes, plus it happens to be what I'm used to.
- alain94040 18y agoOn Eclipse and Xcode it's black text (or colored for keywords) on white background. I haven't programmed on a black background since the early 90s on the Apple II. I remember making the switch, at first I was shocked. By now, I'm completely used to it. http://fairsoftware.net http://fairsoftware.net : where geeks are their own boss
- mrtron 18y agoTerminal I go dark - Textmate I go light. Maybe I should switch to dark - it is a bit nicer on the eyes I think. Edit: Switched over Textmate to a dark theme, and I am glad for the reminder. I don't know why on this new machine I didn't have it set that way!
- Freaky 18y agoDark on light, always. Specifically, I use #0d2a3a as my background; a nice dark blue I find a bit more pleasing than just black.
- briansmith 18y agoI program in shades of gray.
- wenbert 18y agoI use the ZenBurn colors. http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000682.html http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000682.html Very easy to read. And not boring.
- colonhyphenp 18y agoI started using the Railscast TextMate theme a few months ago and have been quite satisfied - it's got a dark grey-ish brown background. http://railscasts.com/about http://railscasts.com/about
- tdavis 18y ago:colorscheme desert
- stevedekorte 18y agoI prefer black on grey for editor windows and gray on black for terminal windows.
- burke 18y agoI strongly prefer light on dark, but hated pretty much every emacs theme I found. A couple days ago, I ported a friend's "IR Black" vim theme to emacs. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but: http://github.com/burke/color-theme-ir-black/blob/master/screenshot.png http://github.com/burke/color-theme-ir-black/blob/master/scr... EDIT: Upon further investigation, I believe this color theme originated from http://blog.infinitered.com/entries/show/6 http://blog.infinitered.com/entries/show/6 .
- s3graham 18y agoI didn't realize it for quite some time, but what I actually use is: - dark means "brain: use vim keys" (:colo darkblue) - light means use arrow/CUA keys, a la most "normal" applications. (ps, please add <ul>/<ol> formatting)
- johngunderman 18y agoIt depends on the language I am programming in. Java - white (Eclipse) Python - Black (gedit) Lisp - White (emacs) Ruby - White (TextEdit) C/C++ - Black (gedit) I have noticed that certain text editors have dark themes I like, whereas other dark themes just hurt my eyes. I have no true preference, only what I am used to.
- russell 18y agoI use black or syntax coloring on gray or ivory background. My eyes are old and the contrast with colors on black is too low for me to read easily. I prefer the off white background because pure white is too bright.
- hs 18y agogreen on black
- pietro 18y agoI use Visual Studio with the Vibrant Ink color scheme from TextMate, and I've had the same experience. I find it surprisingly pleasant.
- Goladus 18y agoI don't like white or black backgrounds, though I prefer white to black in a typical windowed environment. If my editor has the full screen it doesn't matter, but I don't like menus and other windows being a lot brighter than the editor. It's either distracting, or it's a jarring readjustment every time I have to change windows. If it weren't for syntax highlighting, I'd prefer slight color variations, with not much preference towards dark-on-light or light-on-dark. If I have a lighter background I usually prefer the text to be black. If I have a darker background I usually prefer the text to be slightly colored. In web terms, an example would be "99DD99" text on "303030" background, or "99DD99" background with black text.