Recommended Fonts for Programming?

Question

What fonts do you use for programming, and for what language/IDE? I use Consolas for all my Visual Studio work, any other recommendations?

Answer 1

Either Consolas (download) or Andale Mono (download). I mostly use Andale Mono. I wrote an article about programming fonts a long time ago, I think Consolas wasn't even out yet.

http://www.deadprogrammer.com/photos/fonts.gif

I find that typing Illegal1 = O0 is a good test of suitability.

Answer 2

I've really fallen in love with Droid Sans Mono.

Answer 3

I really really like DejaVu Sans Mono. It is very clean and easy on the eyes.

Answer 4

+1 for Monaco

alt text http://img.skitch.com/20080908-nmjji28uerreqpprs1h86gxna9.png

Just beautiful and I find I can read it for hours on end.

Answer 5

I use Consolas for everything, including Notepad++, SQL Studio, Eclipse, etc. I wish there was a Mac version. Also, if you notice, the text area field on Stack Overflow uses Consolas, so we have some other fans out there as well :p

Answer 6

I like Envy Code R.

Answer 7

+1 for Monaco, although this blog post is making me think about switching to Inconsolata.

I'm curious as to what point size y'all use, I use the TextMate default size of 12pt.

Answer 8

I use Bitstream Vera Sans Mono, but you need to activate ClearType to get it readable .

I like the 'Illegal1 = O0' readablility test, mentioned earlier in this thread, thanks for that.

Answer 9

Anarch, 32 points, ofcourse. Code with style!

anarch http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/1584/ss42po1.jpg

Answer 10

For UltraEdit and anything for that matter, I use the good old Courier New.

alt text http://www.identifont.com/samples/microsoft/CourierNew.gif

I've found Consolas to difficult to read with it's over anti-aliasing.

Answer 11

I use Lucida Console for years and never find anything better.

However I tried a few times Consolas fonts and simply -- I prefer Lucida Console.

Answer 12

I like Terminus for some command line stuff, at least scrolling log files and irssi/irc (TTF versions available). Screenshot of the terminus.ttf in action below (PuTTY on Windows XP with ClearType enabled).

Screenshot of the terminus.ttf in action below (PuTTY on Windows XP with ClearType enabled). http://misc.nybergh.net/pub/fonts/terminus/2008-09-08_terminus_ttf_in_gnu_nano_putty_windows_xp_cleartype_screenshot.png

Answer 13

I use Consolas on my mac, BTW; here's a link to download the consolas TTF files if you want to install this (Mac/Win/Linux).

/mp

Answer 14

I don't use Consolas, though it does look good on LCD, but sometimes I'm not on LCD, like when I'm giving presentations and then it looks crap.

My current font of choice for programming is the Liberation Mono font.

Oh man, just discovered why the text on Stack Overflow looks like crap, it forces Consolas which is a cleartype font, and on my current setup which didn't have cleartype enabled, it looks very bad.

Going to make a bugreport on uservoice.

Answer 15

I have been using the Dina - http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Jibz/Dina/index.html - font for awhile now for text editing and it seems to be doing the job nicely.

Answer 16

ProFont. Am I the only one still using it?

Answer 17

A excellent CodeProject article that list 33 fonts for programming (With examples of each)

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/work/FontSurvey.aspx

Answer 18

I like Fixedsys in Visual Studio. It's a classic. No anti-aliasing blur.

Answer 19

I'm amazed nobody has mentioned Pragmata. It's the BMW of programming fonts. Condensed, readable, and the pinnacle of simple elegance.

alt text http://www.fsd.it/fonts/imm/pr_abc.gif

There is now a fundraising project going on for PragmataPro (which covers a larger portion of Unicode than Pragmata) to make it available for free under a Creative Commons license!

Answer 20

I use Inconsolata with UltraEdit on Windows. With TextMate (on the Mac) I prefer Monaco (it's the default font).

Answer 21

Inconsolata 14pt in TextMate

Answer 22

I like Profont, I first came across it when Jeff blogged about programming fonts

Answer 23

I like Consolas too, but I also like Anonymous: http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymous.html

Answer 24

I use a proportional font too. They seem good for the same reasons they work in books and magazines: the more variation between characters, the easier it is for the brain to distinguish them; and you can fit more on the screen. Indentation still works fine: 6 leading spaces is still twice as wide as 3 leading spaces.

I use a version of Georgia that I hacked to make the lower case "l" look less like the digit "1", and put a slash through the zero.

Answer 25

Adding a vote for Consolas. It feels very easy on my eyes.

Answer 26

I never found a reason to stray from Courier New. I don't think I'd have a problem with any font so long as it's sans-serif. Mono-spaced fonts are nice for coding, too.

Answer 27

I think the anti-aliasing blur on Consolas is caused by monitors which do not have ClearType enabled. Consolas was designed for ClearType.

[Jeff A: indeed, you can see screenshots of this in a post I wrote on this topic.]

Answer 28

Two pages where there's a long list of programming fonts are these pages on keithdevens.com and lowing.org (dead link, but it's in the internet archive)

Some other discussions of programming fonts that may have more suggestions are the comments to this blog post on typographica and this topic on a text editor's forum.

Personally I like Triskweline:

alt text http://www.netalive.org/tinkering/triskweline/shot.gif

Answer 29

Instead of just chiming in with another vote for a particular font, I'd recommend reading these comparisons of programming fonts where you can learn a little more:

Jeff Atwood's excellent "round-up":
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000157.html

Another review of 5 fonts with nice screenshots:
http://blog.hamstu.com/2008/02/03/the-typography-of-code/

Answer 30

DejaVu Sans Mono (sometimes known as Panic Sans), size 11, anti-alised. Previously I only used fonts that weren't anti-aliased, but it just seems to work for this font.

Answer 31

Back in my Mac LC days I swore by Monaco 9pt, mostly for it's slashed 0. I never quite got used to the default line-height though.

monaco sample http://www.k8zt.com/ham_fonts/monaco.jpg

It's a little hard to track down in the original non-OS-X version.

Answer 32

Verdana - Variable width and easy to read on screen at small sizes.

Answer 33

Consolas. Italic for comments. Only way. Nahh just kidding, the best programming font is this! Here's your first C program:

The image link must not be working, tell me in a comment http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8008/picture1iqv.png

Recommended for high readability.

Answer 34

Raize Font

The Raize Font is a clean, crisp, fixed-pitched sans serif screen font that is much easier to read than the fixed pitched fonts that come with Windows. Ideally suited for programming, scripting, html writing, etc., the Raize Font can be used in any IDE or text editor.

Answer 35

+1 for Consolas, together with a proper Color Scheme (I use the white one at the first screenshot)

Answer 36

I never found a reason to stray from Courier New. I don't think I'd have a problem with any font so long as it's sans-serif. Mono-spaced fonts are nice for coding, too.

Courier New has serifs.

Answer 37

Lucida Sans Typewriter

Answer 38

Monaco, 11pt, antialias, on Mac OS X. Looks ever better, and crisper on darker backgrounds.

alt text http://www.fabernitor.net/ayaz/monaco11pt.png

Answer 39

Another vote for Consolas. My favorite IDE font at the moment.

Answer 40

My favourite is ProggyClean at 11px. I've been using it for 2-3 years and it's great for getting lots on screen without being painful to read. It deserves even more attention than the couple of mentions it's had so far:

Proggy Clean http://www.proggyfonts.com/download/example_proggy_clean.gif

The site has many variations including slashed zeroes, bold for function marks etc:

Proggy Square http://www.proggyfonts.com/download/example_proggy_square_bp.gif

(As an aside, my most-loved favourite text editor, TextPad, allows you to have different fonts and font sizes for different file types, which is a really great feature.)

Answer 41

Until I found ProggyTiny, I always made my own fonts using Softy. It's surprisingly easy, and might increase your productivity if you're annoyed by some features of your current font (like "Q is too similiar to 0").

Answer 42

I'm going to make some enemies with this, but I actually use -- gasp -- a non-monospace font! I occasionally switch back to a monospace to disambiguate something, but mostly find that a good clean sans-serif font is easiest to read and doesn't waste screen estate.

An IDE with good syntax colouring helps.

Answer 43

Bitstream vera sans, a Gnome font. I find its much clearer than Consolas, which is pretty good too.

Answer 44

I second Consolas, Inconsolata, DejaVu Sans Mono, and Droid Sans Mono, with my preference going towards the Droid one.

Answer 45

Neep Alt 13/17 is very good.

Answer 46

I use Terminuse in almost everything (Eclipse, putty and other terminals): http://fractal.csie.org/~eric/wiki/Terminus_font

I must say that I don't get it why most people use small fonts like 9pt, do you have 14" monitors or what?

For me the best way is to use font size that makes my monitor display at most one 30-40 line method, this way I need to create smaller methods :)

Answer 47

I use MonteCarlo, which is based on ProFont but has a bold face too. That way IDEs/editors that use bold as part of their syntax highlighting leave your text still properly fixed width.

java example http://bok.net.nyud.net/MonteCarlo/images/java-example.png quick brown fox example http://bok.net.nyud.net/MonteCarlo/images/screenshot-small.gif

Like ProFont, Proggy & others, its quite small (& being bitmap based, obviously doesn't scale), but I like a small font for coding and its still extremely clear and easy on the eyes.

Answer 48

I love consolas, especially with italics for comments. The little italic curlicues are so cute :P

Answer 49

Tahoma is very readable.

If you need it larger then use Verdana.

Answer 50

ProFont is a great font for code, Consolas a 2nd runner up. You could always go retro with a little Terminal font for a little nostalgia (customize the background color to black and foreground font to green for the full effect!).

Answer 51

In bash and vim I use Lucida Typewriter, but in Kate, Scintilla, Eclipse, and Netbeans I (currently) use Lucida Casual, i.e., a proportional font. Ten years ago I started using proportional fonts in Visual Studio (MS Comic Sans) and it works very well for me. Colored syntax highlighting in said IDEs provides excellent readability and for text-heavy languages like HTML and LaTeX a proportional font is a natural choice.

Answer 52

@modesty:

I wish there was a Mac version.

You can install the font on a Mac. I use it all the time, everywhere, without any problem. The only thing to pay attention for is to set nomacatsui when working with GVIM, or better yet, switch to MacVim.

Answer 53

Another vote up for Dina. As long as you use it at its optimum size (9 pt), it looks great.

Answer 54

For quite some time I've been using ProFont, mainly because it allows a lot of lines fit into a given height (a lot more than say Consolas or others). Consolas is not bad either, though...

Answer 55

I have to agree with Kevin Kenny, Proggy fonts all the way, though I prefer Proggy Clean. But either way you have to go with a font that clearly shows the difference between the number 0 and the letter O. Which the preview font here doesn't really show that.

Answer 56

I like consolas too.

Answer 57

I'm on PanicSans 12pt w/ AA on TextMate, but loving Inconsolata on Terminal/vim... (debating changing my TM font to this one... but point size 14pt) :)

Answer 58

Consolas for me as well

Answer 59

I never considered changing my font, I have always been happy with Courier. This thread has truely opened my eyes, if only I could upvote it!

Went with Droid Sans Mono.

Answer 60

I just tried Consolas and Envy - Envy seems "too narrow" to my eyes, but Consolas looks great (I am on a mac). Thanks for the tips !

Answer 61

Courier New for me as well, it's well spaced.

Answer 62

Another vote for Consolas for code editing, and Dina for console output.

Answer 63

Consolas, works great for various font sizes, and I can't find anything better.

Answer 64

I like Consolas myself, but when it comes to monospaced fonts there are quite a few other options to choose from:

Answer 65

Consolas - recently switched over to it and it's lovely.

Answer 66

Consolas and Courier New under Windows, Inconsola under *nix. I really miss the old IBM terminal fonts, though. The one from green/orange terminals.

Answer 67

Don't forget the colours!

For some reason Delphi 7 in Twilight does not render Droid Sans Mono well, but in Visual Studio with an orange on black theme it is excellent. Deja Vu Sans Mono is the best all rounder. I use it almost everywhere. Consolas would be excellent apart from its ugly Q glyph.

One other thing I have found since I entered the world of work is that even though I have great eyesight I like to keep my code font around 12 or 13pt size both to reduce eye strain and to make sure I can't put too much text on screen. It's sort of an incentive to keep code blocks vertically short.

I note that this edit box does not respect my browser's default monospaced font. It's giving me Monaco (I'm on OSX). Monaco is horrible. It's glyphs have poorly angled elements and it's capitals are not well proportioned.

Oh, and it almost doesn't matter on Windows because your font will not look right anyway. /me dons flame retardent suit

Answer 68

Lucida Console every time.

I've never found a font that can pack as many lines of code onto the screen at the same point size without looking cramped.

And it looks nice too.

Answer 69

I just recently switched from Bitstream Vera Sans Mono to Inconsolata, but reading the answers here, I'm going to give Consolas a chance for a bit. Looks really nice so far.

Answer 70

arial is best

Answer 71

Monaco 10pt for me.

Answer 72

I've been hanging on to this link for more than a year, it's an article entitled "Five great programming fonts". The five are good fonts, but the article includes comments with a dozen more interesting answers.

http://forums.programming-designs.com/viewtopic.php?pid=3338

Answer 73

I recommend Lucida Console for Windows users and Adobe Courier for Linux/Unix, with a size of 10pt these fonts looks great! and very legible

Edit:

I've been saying that using Lucida Console was a real good option, well, now I know Consolas :)

Answer 74

I use Inconsolata in both Linux and Mac OS X.

Answer 75

6x13. You can get two terminal or editor windows across a 1024x768 and three onto a 1600x1200 screen. A windows version of this font can be found Here.

Answer 76

I use ForMateKonaVe, which is a merge of Bitstream Vera Sans Mono and a half-width'd Konatsu. I use a lot of Japanese here and there and this is the best way to display it in TextMate.

Answer 77

Fixedsys Excelsior 2.00, Raize, and the usuals.

http://kaishaku.org/codefonts/

Answer 78

I prefer Consolas as well, and obviously cleartype helps when using other fonts.

Answer 79

Lucida Console isn't so good because the bold text takes up more room than the non-bold text. Consolas overcomes this.

Answer 80

try Lucida Grande.. Amazing!!

Answer 81

-2 for Bitstream Vera Sans Mono -- it has an dotted zero - released this font as an free download after an modification.
+2 for Prima Sans Mono -- lacks an dotted zero - need an free download for RapidShare to extend the font to an terminal.

Answer 82

I swear by DejaVu Sans Mono

Answer 83

monaco 12pt, is there any other way?

Answer 84

I use Bitstream Vera http://www.gnome.org/fonts/ for Visual Studio 2008 paired with the Darkness Theme because my eyes can't deal with white backgrounds.

Answer 85

Verdana - Once I realised that I didn't HAVE to use a mono-spaced font ;-)

Answer 86

Consolas I use it everywhere, I use it for everything. Advice: stick to it.

Answer 87

I've been using Anonymous, but I'll need to check out some of these other fonts.

Answer 88

I'd also have to add another vote for Android's "Droid Sans Mono". It's a very crisp, clear coding font.

Answer 89

I just use Courier New, or whatever monospace font I have available.

However, I sometimes like using sans-serif (currently Comic Sans MS) for comments in Notepad++. (However, I now tend more to switch everything to monospace just for consistency in spacing and such.)

Answer 90

I experimented with Myriad until I realised using a variable-width font was a fools game.

Courier New here, although I am going to try out Envy after seeing it here.

Answer 91

Nobody's mentioned it yet, so let me just mention DejaVu Sans Mono, which is a fork of Vera Sans Mono, and is included in most Linux distribs. It supports most of Unicode.

Answer 92

Yet another vote from me for Consolas. I use it since I learned about it from Jeff's blog post. Thanks to you for this advice. It made me improve an aspect of my daily programming life, which I didn't think about much before.

Answer 93

Bitstream Vera Sans Mono. [http://www.dafont.com/bitstream-vera-mono.font]

Answer 94

bitstream vera sans mono

Answer 95

Consolas for Visual Studio. It is the first thing I change when getting a new install setup. The second is inverting the main colors, white text on black background is much easier to stare at for hours in my opinion.

Black text on white background http://college-code.com/stackoverflow/black_on_white.PNG

Versus

White text on black background http://college-code.com/stackoverflow/white_on_black.PNG

The second one tends to make my eyes bleed less after long coding sessions. Could be my code however.

Answer 96

Consolas all the way.

Answer 97

Lucida Console or Lucida Sans Typewriter, as small as possible so I can maximize the amount of code on the screen. Occasionally Courier or Monaco (e.g. Monaco in TextMate).

Answer 98

I'm a happy user of ProFont originally available on the Mac, now available for everyone.

Answer 99

Any monospace font, really. I honestly don't find it matters too much past that.

Answer 100

If you're like me and only swear by serifs try Kourier with a K, a somewhat more compact Courier .

Answer 101

It must be noted that the text editor/IDE that you use determines how good a font will look. I love UltraEdit, but the only font it renders properly is Courier New. It blurs out about all other useful monospace fonts. However, Visual Studio does a great job rendering any font accurately.

Currently, I will vote Consolas. Though, I will try some of the others listed in the responses. Thank you. Btw, please post links to download!

Answer 102

I'm digging the DejaVu Sans Mono (it's supposed to be the same as Panic Sans) on my Mac.

Answer 103

+1 Verdana -- agree with pauldoo

A variable width font for coding is probably not to everyone's taste but I really like Verdana's legibility with ClearType.

Answer 104

I have been using Proggy Clean TT with Visual Studio for a couple of years now. I like the ability to choose a zero slashed font so when management decides to program instead of manage they don't confuse 0101 with 0101(zeros).

http://www.proggyfonts.com/

Answer 105

Consolas unless I'm runing over a slow RDP connection with font smoothing turned off, then Lucida Console.

Answer 106

Its already been said a few times but http://www.proggyfonts.com/ is just awesome. Im a big fan of the Proggy Clean Slashed Zero Bold Punctuation. I do most my work in c# so the bold punctuation is very nice for it.

Answer 107

I like ProFont TT >tweaked< It's clean and there is a clear difference between 1, l and I and 0 and O.It works best at 9pt. It doesn't scale up very well.

Answer 108

Verdana.
Easy to read, and, very imporetant, easy to distinguish similar characters like O and 0, ( and {, 1 and I and l etc.

Answer 109

Consolas for me. These were specially developped for LCD + MS hint engine. Also you might find ClearType tuner (MS PowerToy) a great addition as it gives you more control over how your fonts look.

Answer 110

For VS nothing beat Fixedsys.

Answer 111

I prefer Profont.

Answer 112

I actually bought The Sans Mono Condensed, which is (was) the goto code font in O'Reilly titles. It's by the same guy as did Consolas for Microsoft (but Consolas wasn't available when I bought it).

It's a really nice, tight, clear face - works really well on slides if you're doing that sort of thing as well.

Answer 113

I'd never heard of Droid Sans Mono before, but I installed it and tried it at 9 points, and I must say it's by far the highest quality mono font I've seen on Linux.

On my Mac it's Panic Sans all the way, using it at 11 or 12 points allow anti-aliasing that actually works on monospace, which I've never seen before.

Answer 114

Any sans-serif.