Font Survey: 42 of the Best Monospaced Programming Fonts

[Armando]

Another font thread.

The article isn't exactly new, but I went through it today and tried to find the best font (again... 3rd time in the last 2 years...) for coding.




After a year, I still find Consolas incredible, even at 8pt. Of course, some won't like its clear-type / anti-aliasing...

I admit I sometimes need a  "clear type" break... but, generally I prefer  "clear type" on my laptop LCD.
LCD's are not all the same -- mine has very "sharp" pixels (this could also be due to the graphical adapter I suppose... But I'm far from being an expert in that field).


Other monospaced that I use from time to  time :

Dina 8pt (I love it, but... sometimes my eyes need anti-aliasing. Go figure. It's also a bit wider than Consolas and so doesn't allow me to see long comments as well... )

Proggy Clean with Slashed Zero

[Jibz]

Another font thread.

The article isn't exactly new, but I went through it today and tried to find the best font (again... 3rd time in the last 2 years...) for coding.

-Armando (October 07, 2010, 11:17 PM)

That is a very nice comparison I think.

I admit I sometimes need a  "clear type" break... but, generally I prefer  "clear type" on my laptop LCD.
LCD's are not all the same -- mine has very "sharp" pixels (this could also be due to the graphical adapter I suppose... But I'm far from being an expert in that field).

-Armando (October 07, 2010, 11:17 PM)

A good point. If you spend a lot of your time looking at code/text in an editor, I believe it is important to take the time to try out a few fonts and see which ones work for you and for the monitor you are using. Also, try with different types of text -- some fonts work well for code but make it less pleasant to read a passage of text, some the other way around.

In my experience, the size of your screen, the resolution, and how cleartype looks on your particular hardware, can have a big impact on readability and on how much it stresses your eyes.

For instance, I am (still) using a 17" LCD at 1280x1024. On that, I like Consolas at 10 pt. At 9 pt it starts having some artifacts, like the dot over the i being off center, and at 8 pt some characters start getting 'smudgy', like m and w. Such things distract my eye when reading a line. But at 10 pt it's very good here .

A font like Dina was initially designed for 8 pt, because that was the size that happened to work best on my screen. The larger sizes were added because people with larger LCDs sometimes had trouble reading Dina at 8 pt. From the feedback I have gotten, they seem to work well, but Dina 10 pt looks huge on my little screen .

[phitsc]

I've been using Consolas for programming since its release and been very happy with it. The only problem I have with it is that I have to use it at 11 pt, as 10 is too small for me (while Courier New 10 is just about right). I wish Consolas had a 10.5 size.

[Armando]

That is a very nice comparison I think.

-Jibz (October 08, 2010, 01:35 AM)

Isn't it? 

A good point. If you spend a lot of your time looking at code/text in an editor, I believe it is important to take the time to try out a few fonts and see which ones work for you and for the monitor you are using. Also, try with different types of text -- some fonts work well for code but make it less pleasant to read a passage of text, some the other way around.

-Jibz (October 08, 2010, 01:35 AM)

Completely agree. That's why tend to switch between 3 or 4 fonts, depending on what I'm looking at. There's another one I sometimes use : Osaka Unicode. But I usually end up switching to Dina after a few hours.

For instance, I am (still) using a 17" LCD at 1280x1024. On that, I like Consolas at 10 pt. At 9 pt it starts having some artifacts, like the dot over the i being off center, and at 8 pt some characters start getting 'smudgy', like m and w. Such things distract my eye when reading a line. But at 10 pt it's very good here .

-Jibz (October 08, 2010, 01:35 AM)

Consolas looks amazing on my 1280x800 laptop LCD... At 8pt ! But you're right about the m and w. They aren't as clear as Dina's. But... My eyes and brain don't seem to bother.

I like small fonts (vertically AND horizontally) -- need to see as much as possible without having to scroll every second!

A font like Dina was initially designed for 8 pt, because that was the size that happened to work best on my screen. The larger sizes were added because people with larger LCDs sometimes had trouble reading Dina at 8 pt. From the feedback I have gotten, they seem to work well, but Dina 10 pt looks huge on my little screen .

-Jibz (October 08, 2010, 01:35 AM)

This morning I'm using Dina 8pt.

[Armando]

I've been using Consolas for programming since its release and been very happy with it. The only problem I have with it is that I have to use it at 11 pt, as 10 is too small for me (while Courier New 10 is just about right). I wish Consolas had a 10.5 size.

-phitsc (October 08, 2010, 02:25 AM)

Hmmmm.... 11 would definitely be too big on my screen. Maybe there's another one that'd fit the bill. Others that I like (but haven't used extensively)  :

- AdaptiveCode Regular 11 point
- Monospace 821 BT 10 point

[Armando]

I just compared Monospace 821 BT 10 point with Consolas 11 and 10... And it looks pretty good. Could almost replace a "Consola 10.5" (if it existed) in my book. Not as narrow a Consola 10, but less tall. And very clear. The only problem : no slashed zero.

AdaptiveCode Regular 11 point... Isn't free. There's a sophisticated feel to it, but I'm not sure I'd like it for long term usage anyway. Still worth trying.

[megar]

There is only one font better than Consolas, it is Consolas Sans Typewriter !

Liberation Mono is good, too. (and free !)
http://en.wikipedia....iki/Liberation_fonts