{"id":175,"date":"2013-04-06T20:50:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-07T01:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/homepages.uc.edu\/~yaozo\/wordpress\/?p=175"},"modified":"2013-04-06T20:50:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-07T01:50:00","slug":"top-10-programming-fonts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/2013\/04\/06\/top-10-programming-fonts\/","title":{"rendered":"TOP 10 PROGRAMMING FONTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY, 17 MAY 2009 \u2022\u00a0PERMALINK<\/a><\/p>\n

Update:<\/strong>\u00a0This post was written back in 2009, and much has changed since then. I\u2019ve also written a few subsequent posts about alternative programming fonts, like\u00a0this one about Anonymous Pro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a typeface geek, and when it comes to selecting a font I\u2019ll stare at all day, I tend to be pretty picky. Recently, when I discovered that a friend was using a sub par typeface (too horrible to name here) for his Terminal and coding windows, my jaw dropped, my heart sank a little, and I knew it was due time for me to compose this article.<\/p>\n

What follows is a round-up of the top 10 readily-available monospace fonts. Many of these fonts are bundled along with modern operating systems, but most are free for download on the web. A few, notably Consolas, are part of commercial software.<\/p>\n

A NOTE ABOUT ANTI-ALIASING<\/h3>\n

In the past, we\u2019ve had to decide between tiny monospace fonts or jagged edges. But today, modern operating systems do a great job of anti-aliasing, making monospace fonts look great at any size. It\u2019s not 1990 anymore. Give your tired eyes a break and bump up that font size.<\/p>\n

If you have any doubt that anti-aliased fonts are apropos for code, note that even the venerable BBEdit \u2014 which for years has shipped with un-aliased Monaco 9 set as the default \u2014 has made the jump. The app now ships with a specially licensed version of the Consolas font from Ascender, bumped up in size, and with anti-aliasing on by default.\u00a0Panic<\/a>includes a special anti-aliased font (Panic Sans, which is actually just a version of Deja Vu Sans Mono) with its popular\u00a0Coda<\/a>\u00a0application.<\/p>\n

Unless otherwise noted, I\u2019ve used a larger size font, 15-point in fact, for the examples here to illustrate their legibility at larger sizes and with anti-aliasing turned on.<\/p>\n

10. COURIER<\/h3>\n

All systems ship with a version of Courier (sometimes Courier New), and unfortunately, many have it set as the default font for terminal and editor windows. It does the job, but it\u2019s a bit dull and boring, lacking style and class. I don\u2019t recommend this font if you have any other choice \u2014 and fortunately, you do. If you use this font, please bump the size and turn on anti-aliasing.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Courier
\nFigure 1\u00a0Courier New<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

9. ANDALE MONO<\/h3>\n

A bit better than the Courier family, Andale Mono is still relegated to the \u201cdefault font\u201d category as it ships with some systems, and you wouldn\u2019t want to download or use it if it wasn\u2019t already there. The character-spacing is a bit too clumsy and the letters are a bit too wide for my tastes.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Andale
\nFigure 2\u00a0Andale Mono<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

8. MONACO<\/h3>\n

Monaco is the default monospace font on the Mac and has been since its inclusion in\u00a0System 6<\/a>. It\u2019s a solid, workhorse font that really shines at smaller font sizes with anti-aliasing turned\u00a0off<\/em>. I loved this typeface back when my eyes could tolerate staring at a 9-point font for hours, but those days are behind me. This font looks great at 9 or 10-points (Figure 4), and doesn\u2019t look too shabby anti-aliased at higher sizes (Figure 3).<\/p>\n

As far as I know, you can only get Monaco as a part of Mac OS, but there are alternatives, so keep reading.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Monaco\"
\nFigure 3\u00a0Monaco<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"Monaco
\nFigure 4\u00a0Monaco 9-point, without anti-aliasing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

7. PROFONT<\/h3>\n

Profont<\/a>\u00a0is a Monaco-like bitmap font available for Mac, Windows, and Linux (there\u2019s also a\u00a0modified version for Mac OS X called ProFontX<\/a>\u00a0by a different author). They\u2019re best at smaller sizes, and make a great alternative to Monaco if you\u2019re on a non-Mac platform and want really tiny fonts and the eyestrain that goes along with them.<\/p>\n

Profont (and ProFontX) is intended for use at 9-points with anti-aliasing turned off.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Profont\"
\nFigure 5\u00a0Profont 9-point, without anti-aliasing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

6. MONOFUR<\/h3>\n

Monofur<\/a>\u00a0is a unique monospace font that looks great anti-aliased at all sizes. It\u2019s a fun font with a distinct look that is vaguely reminiscent of Sun\u2019s\u00a0OPEN\u00a0LOOK<\/a>\u00a0window manager, which ran Solaris (aka SunOS) systems back in the late 80\u2019s. If you\u2019re looking for something a bit different, try this font, but make sure you have anti-aliasing turned on, even at small sizes.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Monofur\"
\nFigure 6\u00a0Monofur<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

5. PROGGY<\/h3>\n

Proggy<\/a>\u00a0is a clean monospace font that seems to be favored by Windows users, although it works fine on a Mac. It\u2019s a clean font intended to be used only at smaller points, and without anti-aliasing.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Proggy
\nFigure 7\u00a0Proggy Clean at 15-point (yes, 15-point), without anti-aliasing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

4. DROID SANS MONO<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Droid font family<\/a>\u00a0(available for download\u00a0here<\/a>) is a nice font family designed for use on the small screens of mobile handsets, like\u00a0Android<\/a>, and licensed under the Apache license.<\/p>\n

Droid Sans Mono makes for a great programming font. It\u2019s got a bit of flair, and stands out among the other monospace fonts I\u2019ve listed, and its only real flaw is the lack of a slashed zero.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Droid
\nFigure 8\u00a0Droid Sans Mono<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

3. DEJA VU SANS MONO<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0Deja Vu family of fonts<\/a>\u00a0are one of my favorite free font families, based on the excellent\u00a0Vera Font family<\/a>. The Deja Vu fonts have been updated with a wider range of characters while maintaining a similar look and feel to that of Vera.<\/p>\n

This was my go-to font family for many years. It looks great at any size with anti-aliasing turned on.<\/p>\n

Panic<\/a>\u00a0ships a font with it\u2019s Coda application called \u201cPanic Sans\u201d which is based on this font.\u00a0Gruber<\/a>\u00a0says via email that when he compared Panic Sans against Vera, he noted that \u201cPanic had noticeably crisper punctuation chars\u201d and that it seemed like they had improved the hinting on some characters as well.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Deja
\nFigure 9\u00a0Deja Vu Sans Mono<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

2. CONSOLAS<\/h3>\n

Consolas<\/a>\u00a0suddenly appeared on my Mac after I installed Microsoft Office, along with a handful of other new fonts from Microsoft.<\/p>\n

This font was designed by\u00a0Luc(as) de Groot<\/a>\u00a0for Microsoft\u2019s ClearType font family (there\u2019s a nice write-up with samples of each of the new Microsoft fonts\u00a0here<\/a>). Consolas is a commercial font, but is bundled with many Microsoft products, so there\u2019s a good chance you might already have it on your system.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll absolutely want to have anti-aliasing turned on if you\u2019re using Consolas, because it\u2019ll look terrible without it.<\/p>\n

Too bad it\u2019s not free \u2026 if it was, it would be #1 on this list.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Consolas\"
\nFigure 10\u00a0Consolas<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

1. INCONSOLATA<\/h3>\n

Inconsolata<\/a>\u00a0is my favorite monospaced font, and it\u2019s free. Shortly after discovering it, it quickly supplanted Deja Vu Sans Mono as my go-to programming font. I use it everywhere, from Terminal windows to code editors. It has a certain sublime style that\u2019s unique without being over the top, and it looks fantastic at both large and small sizes. I use this font when I show code samples in a presentation, and it\u2019s the font we use in Terminal and TextMate windows when filming\u00a0PeepCode screencasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Inconsolata is designed to be used with anti-aliasing enabled, but it\u2019s surprisingly legible even at very small sizes. A big thanks to\u00a0Raph Levien<\/a>for creating this font, and for making it\u00a0free<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Inconsolata\"
\nFigure 11\u00a0Inconsolata<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SUNDAY, 17 MAY 2009 \u2022\u00a0PERMALINK Update:\u00a0This post was written back in 2009, and much has changed since then. I\u2019ve also written a few subsequent posts… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zhuoyao.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}