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Ask HN - Your favorite programming font?

11 points by factorialboy ↗ HN
I'm undecided between Deja Vu Sans, Ubuntu Mono and Consolas.

What do you use?

28 comments

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logn
My first job as a programmer, I took over some guy's workstation who was using Comic Sans. I continued to use it for years. Quite an odd choice, but you grow to like it.
ctbeiser
Chocolat, on the mac, switches to comic sans when the trial runs out. Using it for a couple weeks before jumping to the full version, I can vouch for that it's actually surprisingly good for writing code. Much better than most proportional fonts.
anon3132
But does "surprisingly good" actually mean "good", or just "not as bad as every other proportional font"?
pspeter3
I think there is an editor out there that actually is free to use but only lets you use Comic Sans as punishment until you pay.
SirPalmerston
You're thinking about Chocolat. There's a free demo, after which the font switches to Comic Sans until you buy a license.

I used Comic Sans with that app for a week before jumping to Sublime Text 2. :)

pspeter3
I use Ubuntu Mono. Consolas is a little weird to me and Deja Vu Sans Mono just lacks character. I like Droid Sans Mono a lot too.
cowsaysoink
Ubuntu Mono on Ubuntu and Consolas on Windows. Both of them look so much better on their own platform.
pspeter3
I would agree with this a lot. Context matters. On the macbook air I have work, I kept the default font.
titraxx
Consolas is pretty good on Microsoft Windows. There is also Proggy font or Profont.
magicarp
Have always stuck with Monaco.
saurabh
Terminus 10pt. I am done with fiddling around with fonts.
anon3132
All opinions aside: it doesn't matter that much what font you use. Use whatever you feel comfortable with. Switching fonts won't magically make you a better programmer.
dcoupl
I've been using Inconsolata for the past few months and really liking it. RubyMine does not support it at the moment, but it works great in Terminal, Sublime Text 2, Textmate, etc. Inconsolata is freely available here: http://levien.com/type/myfonts/inconsolata.html
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[dead] efghth4546
If it's monospaced, I'm good. Far more important is the colour of my chair, it must be red or I simply can't get anything done.
meej
Consolas and Monaco.
lumberjack
Terminus 11pt

Note that fonts don't work well on every resolution and font size so you should instead experiment a bit with font size too. A single unit of difference can turn a ugly font into a pleasant one.

nvmc
ProggyTinySZ or Profont.

Initially used them to maximize screen real estate many years ago. Still use them for their superior readability (ProggyTinySZ being the one of the most readable fonts I have ever used).