I have been writing code for a few years now and as most developers using Visual Studio I got used to the standard Courier font. It has been there for years. I also use linux, where Courier is not as ubiquitous, and there are quite a few alternatives. This has challenged me to search for an alternative font in Windows (and also admittedly Courier is just plain ugly). So here are a few options I checked for myself that you may want to give a try:
The standard Courier New font
Microsoft own Consolas
Lucida Console (included in Windows and on Mac)
The DejaVu Mono form the freely available DejaVu fonts
Google’s Droid Sans Mono
Envy Code R by Damien Guard
These are just a few samples I’ve gathered and looked at before picking my favourite. And so about a month ago I switched to Envy Code R. It is nice, clean and pretty. Not a big deal at first sight. Took a bit of time to get used to but in the end it has made a big difference. Suddenly – every file I open just simply looks better – the code appears prettier and I feel more positive about the same old ugly, smelly code I do my best to improve. But it doesn’t stop there. Since the aesthetics changed, my attitude improved I am being more productive and creative.
Interestingly enough few days ago, in one of the books I’m reading, I found more solid confirmation that my instinct was right:
Aesthetic considerations are merely an emotional response. That couldn’t possibly affect cognitive processing. Could it? Yes it can. In fact, additional studies have shown exactly that: positive emotions are essential to learning and creative thinking.
Pragmatic Thinking & Learning by Andy Hunt, p. 66
(a very good read BTW)
Now go and select your favourite coding font and boost your productivity.
For some more inspirations make sure you also check out:
- Damien’s posts on coding fonts @ http://damieng.com/blog/tag/coding-fonts
- Coding Horror: Programming Fonts @ http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000157.html