Author Topic: What is your preferred font? (Read 107063 times)

Eóin · « **Reply #75 on:** May 12, 2010, 05:04 PM »

It's because like Python, F# uses indentation to control scope.

To be honest though, I'd take curly brackets over the alternatives any day

f0dder · « **Reply #76 on:** May 12, 2010, 05:52 PM »

Eóin: how on earth can you live with a variable width font for coding? BLASPHEMER! Hell, for coding, anything else than Dina is blasphemy in my eyes.
-f0dder (September 05, 2009, 03:51 PM)
Funny you should say that. I always thought so, but now I wonder if that's just a habit learned from the days of 80 column screens. And recently, messing around with an Autoit3 script in SCite, I was struck by how much easier the proportional fonts are to read than the monospaced ones are at similar sizes (trying both Consolas and Dina).
-daddydave (May 12, 2010, 04:07 PM)

I personally find monospaced fonts a lot easier to read when dealing with code - can't put my finger on what exactly makes it that way, but it's not exclusively being able to line things up.

To be honest though, I'd take curly brackets over the alternatives any day
-Eóin (May 12, 2010, 05:04 PM)

Indeed - it's amazing that people designing languages these days make such fscked up decisions as using indentation (and specific indentation requirements) to control scope O_o

40hz · « **Reply #77 on:** May 12, 2010, 06:15 PM »

I personally find monospaced fonts a lot easier to read when dealing with code - can't put my finger on what exactly makes it that way, but it's not exclusively being able to line things up.
-f0dder (May 12, 2010, 05:52 PM)

Funny. I always thought that too. (It's definitely not just about lining things up.)

I used to suspect it was from coding "to card" and (later on) to either a CRT terminal or a standardized input form. But there's lots of people who (mercifully) never had to deal with that nonsense that have said much the same thing.

Maybe it's some sort of gestalt or perceptual psych thing where:

monospace font = machine code and

proportional font = human language?

Dunno...

Interestingly enough, many editors will tell you that a lot more typos get caught when a manuscript uses a monospaced font like Courier than they do when it uses a proportional font like Times.

Apparently there's something going on that your brain mentally fills in, glosses over, or corrects more when it's reading proportional fonts.

40hz · « **Reply #78 on:** May 12, 2010, 09:27 PM »

It's user selectable. I like it. Others may not.

-MilesAhead (May 11, 2010, 06:10 PM)

MilesAhead - how does that work?

I'm looking at the font and I don't see the lowercase-e minus the crossbar character.

(And how are you selecting it? A user-selectable character within a font? That's a new one for me.)

Curt · « **Reply #79 on:** May 13, 2010, 06:24 AM »

it's user-selectable if you like it or not. For some reason Miles does.

select if you like it...:

I don't. How can you possibly LIKE this, Miles???!

Eóin · « **Reply #80 on:** May 13, 2010, 08:13 AM »

Actually I downloaded the font, that only happens at the smaller sizes. So I suspect it's a bug, possibly the font is only really intended for print.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #81 on:** May 13, 2010, 02:13 PM »

it's user-selectable if you like it or not. For some reason Miles does.

select if you like it...:
(see attachment in previous post)
I don't. How can you possibly LIKE this, Miles???!
-Curt (May 13, 2010, 06:24 AM)

I think it's very smooth.
Just look through the list of fonts Windows puts on your machine by default, click them in an editor, and add up how many you can't even read. I bet it's at least half.

edit: one thing I do like about it, for readme files and that type of stuff, you can read it clearly without making it so large the editor window has to take up 80% of the screen. It's less likely to kick in word wrap if it's enabled in an editor.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #82 on:** May 13, 2010, 02:14 PM »

afa the 'c' and 'e' if you look closely you can see the hint of a crossbar. But yeah your mind would probably go from context to figure what what it should be. I'd feel better if it was fixed. But I think it's worth fixing.. unlike a lot of stuff in my fonts folder.

daddydave · « **Reply #83 on:** May 14, 2010, 05:02 AM »

And recently, messing around with an Autoit3 script in SCite, I was struck by how much easier the proportional fonts are to read than the monospaced ones are at similar sizes (trying both Consolas and Dina).
-daddydave (May 12, 2010, 04:07 PM)

One thing I noticed about the SciTEforAutoit3 defaults is that they use an awful lot of boldface and italic. Turned all that off, and Dina looks 100% better and I think I'll stick with it for a while.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #84 on:** May 14, 2010, 02:56 PM »

I tried the Dina ttf. Seemed very hard to read. For now I went back to default courier new. Just for chuckles I tried the Book font. Really weird to look at code with a handwriting style font.

Semi-off topic but since you mention Scite, one thing that drives me nuts is editors that make it difficult to find navigation keys in the help. So many now it's trial and error how to delete a line other than selecting and deleting. Seems like if the programmer comes from Delphi it's Control-Y but if he's grounded in MS languages it's Control-L. Just seems like the last thing documented, if at all, is the actual hotkeys to use the thing.

Edvard · « **Reply #85 on:** May 16, 2010, 06:09 AM »

Tried Dina, didn't like it for some reason.
I remember the capital 'M' being really out-of place looking because the middle appears to go lower than the baseline.

For standard user interface stuff (desktop icons, menus, etc.), I've gotten real cozy with Eurostile. The square-ish look is easy to read while retaining the monospace techy vibe.
For everything else, there's DejaVu and ArtWiz

Curt · « **Reply #86 on:** May 16, 2010, 08:27 AM »

For everything else, there's .... ArtWiz

-Edvard (May 16, 2010, 06:09 AM)

Are you serious, or is it some far out kind of joke?

MilesAhead · « **Reply #87 on:** May 16, 2010, 11:31 PM »

Tried Dina, didn't like it for some reason.
I remember the capital 'M' being really out-of place looking because the middle appears to go lower than the baseline.

For standard user interface stuff (desktop icons, menus, etc.), I've gotten real cozy with Eurostile. The square-ish look is easy to read while retaining the monospace techy vibe.
For everything else, there's DejaVu and ArtWiz

-Edvard (May 16, 2010, 06:09 AM)

Eurostile does look nice for plain text. Even the smaller sizes are very legible.

Edvard · « **Reply #88 on:** May 17, 2010, 10:47 AM »

For everything else, there's .... ArtWiz
-Edvard (May 16, 2010, 06:09 AM)
Are you serious, or is it some far out kind of joke?
-Curt (May 16, 2010, 08:27 AM)

Hehe, there's a time and place for pixel fonts, and ArtWiz fonts are some of the best.

adi_barb · « **Reply #89 on:** May 21, 2010, 06:20 PM »

What do you think about this font dedicated to celebrities, having famous people with each letter? Celeb Faces Font

Curt · « **Reply #90 on:** May 21, 2010, 06:36 PM »

... There are no Reviews for 'Celeb Faces' yet.
-famouswhy.com

It may be interesting for very short period of time only. Let's say, in ten years from now, only a minority will know who characters like X-Zibit, Kim Kardashian, Halle Bery, Paris Hilton, Usher, ever were.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #91 on:** May 21, 2010, 06:46 PM »

Unless they have Ed Grimley I don't even want to look don't you know!

adi_barb · « **Reply #92 on:** May 21, 2010, 06:54 PM »

... There are no Reviews for 'Celeb Faces' yet.
-famouswhy.com

It may be interesting for very short period of time only. Let's say, in ten years from now, only a minority will know who characters like X-Zibit, Kim Kardashian, Halle Bery, Paris Hilton, Usher, ever were.

-Curt (May 21, 2010, 06:36 PM)

... maybe things like this font keeps their fame forever even after 10-20 years from now.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #93 on:** May 21, 2010, 10:26 PM »

... There are no Reviews for 'Celeb Faces' yet.
-famouswhy.com

It may be interesting for very short period of time only. Let's say, in ten years from now, only a minority will know who characters like X-Zibit, Kim Kardashian, Halle Bery, Paris Hilton, Usher, ever were.

-Curt (May 21, 2010, 06:36 PM)

... maybe things like this font keeps their fame forever even after 10-20 years from now.
-adi_barb (May 21, 2010, 06:54 PM)

Speaking of fame, one of the strangest jazz sessions I ever attended was Nat Adderley. Before the music started they had these Post Office guys and a jazz DJ make this speech about these other jazz musicians whose images were being used for new postage stamps. Like, the guy who was about to play was just as famous. He just wasn't dead yet!!! Weird.

Edvard · « **Reply #94 on:** May 24, 2010, 10:09 PM »

@MilesAhead:
Allow me correct myself.
I just checked, and I'm using Euromode, not Eurostile.

Euromode is a similar font made by Corel that has shown up on many of the free font download sites, so I'm unsure about any license details.

Eurostile is a commercial font with quite a history and some folks like it just a little too much.

EDIT:
Aha! I found an open-license alternative.
The League of Movable Type's Orbitron:
http://www.theleague...om/fonts/12-orbitron

Orbitron was designed so that graphic designers in the future will have some alternative to typefaces like Eurostile or Bank Gothic. If you’ve ever seen a futuristic sci-fi movie, you have may noticed that all other fonts have been lost or destroyed in the apocalypse that led humans to flee earth. Only those very few geometric typefaces have survived to be used on spaceship exteriors, spacestation signage, monopolistic corporate branding, uniforms featuring aerodynamic shoulder pads, etc.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #95 on:** May 24, 2010, 10:47 PM »

The one I downloaded was a free font. If you look hard enough you can find it. I forget where I got it and don't want to spend the time. Already found it once.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #96 on:** May 24, 2010, 11:07 PM »

Here's an interesting one. Looks like there's no upper case characters. Still, it has kind of a cool look:

http://www.softpedia...Download-160055.html

One thing for sure, you don't need Bold with this!

tomos · « **Reply #97 on:** May 25, 2010, 04:14 AM »

Aha! I found an open-license alternative.
The League of Movable Type
[...]
-Edvard (May 24, 2010, 10:09 PM)

wow, nice site

with the motto "No more [BS]. Join the revolution"

Curt · « **Reply #98 on:** May 25, 2010, 09:07 AM »

Here's an interesting one. Looks like there's no upper case characters. Still, it has kind of a cool look:
http://www.softpedia...Download-160055.html
One thing for sure, you don't need Bold with this!
-MilesAhead (May 24, 2010, 11:07 PM)

It is hard for me to believe from the readme that the author is a Dane, since the font doesn't include any of the special Danish characters. Weird!

---

Aha! I found an open-license alternative.
The League of Movable Type
[...]
-Edvard (May 24, 2010, 10:09 PM)
wow, nice site with the motto "No more [BS]. Join the revolution"
-tomos (May 25, 2010, 04:14 AM)

I agree; nice site!
Also some of the fonts are fine; I've kept almost half of them ;-)

tomos · « **Reply #99 on:** May 25, 2010, 09:19 AM »

Here's an interesting one. Looks like there's no upper case characters. Still, it has kind of a cool look:
http://www.softpedia...Download-160055.html
One thing for sure, you don't need Bold with this!
-MilesAhead (May 24, 2010, 11:07 PM)

It is hard for me to believe from the readme that the author is a Dane, since the font doesn't include any of the special Danish characters. Weird!
-Curt (May 25, 2010, 09:07 AM)

Curt, are you familiar with Aller?

Dalton Maag design team designed a beautiful sans-serif Aller Sans, sponsored by Danish publishing company Aller (hence the name). The typeface was designed as part of the Danish School of Media and Journalisms new CI and is now available for free use and download

it's first on this list
- it's lovely printed, probably not a display font though (but I'm no expert in these things)