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First off, I was not being facetious, I really wanted to know what you recommend, I'd try it out and if it was a better match for programming than Consolas I'd adopt it immediately, if you have nothing to offer to the conversation other than incivility (which I certainly wouldn't expect you to exhibit face to face in person so why do it here?) then may I suggest a two word phrase that starts with four letters and involves sex and travel which kid sister rules deny me from typing as I so want to right now.
Secondly it doesn't take an optician to look at just these characters "1l0oO" in Courier New versus a programming specific font and not see the immediate problem a programmer faces using it, likely a child would see it as a problem immediately. It also doesn't take an optician to look at courier new versus consolas in the image I linked to and immediately see that Consolas is easier to read, faster to comprehend and more legible than the other. I bet you if you showed a printout of that page with just the text of the two fonts and asked a random group of as many people as you care to which is easier to read they would overwhelmingly choose Consolas.
I've spent years with poor eyesight and decades programming for far more hours in a row than is good for me, I've gotten pretty good at recognizing anything that is standing between me and getting a mountain of work done in as little time as possible.
Personal preferences are sometimes illogical and hard to shake, however there is certainly never any harm in taking a look at the alternatives out there and I think I've provided solid reasons why people should, we're programmers supposedly we employ logic and thought and reflection to what we do not zealots that must stick to some dogma handed down on high and inviolate or hide bound traditionalists that must at all costs stick to some set of imaginary rules.
"It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it."
-Sam Levenson
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the fruits of your success will be in direct ratio to the honesty and sincerity of your own efforts in keeping your own records, doing your own thinking and, reaching your own conclusions.
..surviving in autumn..in love with spring..
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John C wrote: What do you suggest then
The Proggy-Type fonts are great. As long as you use them in precisely the size they are meant to. These are fixed-size fonts, and windows will do horrible things to them if it tries to stretch them.
Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable, let's prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all. Douglas Adams, "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"
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Every time I come across mention of monospaced fonts especially for programming, I give them a try. I keep coming back to Courier New. I really like the way Proggy Clean looks, but I don't use it because it doesn't scale well (if I need to enlarge for easier discussion about code with someone else.)
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No, not the poster, the font.
I've tried Hyperfont and Crystal, but Anonymous is the best.
Google it.
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It looks like it can't decide if it wants to be serif or sans-serif...
Despite everything, the person most likely to be fooling you next is yourself.
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Yeah, I was just looking at it (in 7 point) and I noticed that too. But that seems common; even Consolas and the Proggies have serifs on the i and j. The lowercase l as well, but that's a good thing -- distinct from vertical bar |
However, the l is still too similar to the 1.
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Proggy is too small and it comes only in a handful of sizes, so Consolas it is. Plus, it looks great with cleartype on LCD (my main machine), on CRT Courier New is the better choice.
The only flaw of Consolas is a lack of slashed zero (you gotta tell your O from 0).
Unfortunately, people who make fonts (typographists and graphic designers) don't do programming, they are in completely different domains of creativity, otherwise somebody would have made the right stuff by now.
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Variable width? "Don't care"??? You people call yourself programmers?
If it can't be easily chiseled into a block of granite, it's not worth coding in.
Faith is a fine invention
For gentlemen who see;
But microscopes are prudent
In an emergency!
-Emily Dickinson
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I always use "Terminal" myself. Easier for my aging eyes to read.
-CB
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Been using it for some years, but I've settled with Proggy Clean Slashed Zero.
We are a big screwed up dysfunctional psychotic happy family - some more screwed up, others more happy, but everybody's psychotic joint venture definition of CP blog: TDD - the Aha! | Linkify!| FoldWithUs! | sighist
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I've been using Courier New up until today. I tried Consolas for a couple of hours both with and without ClearType enabled, and didn't like it at all. (I don't like ClearType, either. To me it isn't really all that "clear.")
Since Chris was nice enough to provide links in the poll, I've now switched to Proggy Clean SZ, myself.
Grim
MCDBA, MCSD, MCP+SB
SELECT * FROM users WHERE clue IS NOT NULL
(0 row(s) affected)
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In apps which only allow TrueType, use Fixedsys Excelsior. When you scale you see pixelation... Mmmm.....
"There's a good and a bad side of a battery. We were very good at the negative." - James Hetfield
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The DOS box properties dialog just says "Raster fonts", I use 7x12.
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... very suitable for it.
"Cookies are delicious delicacies." - Mozilla Foundation
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... in a colour scheme with lots of pink.
This statement is false.
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Lends itself to limp wrists?
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Absolutely definitely no way should anyone ever write any code at all of any sort in any language using Courier New, or any serif'ed font.
If I ruled the world this would be my first Law, and second and third, just to make the point.
Serifs are for the printed page not screens with pixels. (<- genuine point!!!)
STOP USING COURIER NEW - NOW.
You think I'm just a crank but I'm right, and one day you'll see the light and agree.
Code written with serifs smells funny *and* is more buggy.
If I ever see code written in Courier New I re-write it in Bitstream just to make sure.
Adam
PS I've toned down my usual level or ire on this subject so I hopefully come across all reasonable and balanced. You should hear me when I really get going.
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adambl wrote: You think I'm just a crank
you got that part right, at least.
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You know of a sans serif typeface with easily distinguishable uppercase "I" and lowercase "L"? Oh, I see... Comic Sans MS.
P.S. Bear in mind that those bars at the top and bottom of I are serifs; Comic Sans and Tahoma aren't truly sans serif.
modified on Monday, June 30, 2008 2:13 PM
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I doubt the fact the code with serifs is more buggy. Come on, its just a bunch of letters. You get just as much bugs with consolas
However I do agree that code is easier to read with a sans-serif font.
WM.
What about weapons of mass-construction?
"What? Its an Apple MacBook Pro. They are sexy!" - Paul Watson
My blog
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Envy Code R is really a good font: thank god for this poll - it changed my life!!!
He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes. He who does not ask a question remains a fool forever. [Chineese Proverb]
Jonathan C Dickinson (C# Software Engineer)
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I tried it a while back when someone here mentioned it. I didn't like it.
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