
Cosmic Sans Neue Mono: Programming Font - etler
https://github.com/belluzj/cosmic-sans-neue
======
crazygringo
Wow. It look really, really nice. And the "irregular" handwriting effect is
just subtle enough that it adds just a bit of nice "texture". A friendly-
looking monospaced font is not something I ever expected to see! The spacing
and balance is perfect.

It looks great, I'm tremendously impressed, and could easily see this become a
standard font for showing code excerpts in blogs etc., especially.

Plus, pretty hilarious name. :)

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Poiesis
Texture, you say? Try this on for size: [http://www.comicbookfonts.com/Code-
Monkey-Constant-p/cl343.h...](http://www.comicbookfonts.com/Code-Monkey-
Constant-p/cl343.htm)

It's not free, but both a) reasonably priced and b) dirt cheap during their
annual sale (that Andy Ihnatko has written about at length).

It's not for everyone, but it's a "Comic Sans Mono" (if you will) that's
actually not aesthetically displeasing. I use it occasionally for code, just
for fun.

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kapitalx
"co _S_ mic sans" for everyone else who also read it as 'comic'

~~~
nvr219
Yeah I was disappointed when it wasn't a monospaced comic sans :(

~~~
sjwright
Better still, monospaced Brush Script. Because eyeball pain.

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kennywinker
Every time programming fonts comes up, I always have to plug using
proportional fonts. For me, anyway, it increases readability in any language
that isn't super symbol-heavy (Obj-C, for example).

Xcode theme using Times New Roman:
[http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kweyqtEkg41qzsc93o1_500.pn...](http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kweyqtEkg41qzsc93o1_500.png)

Download link:
[https://gist.github.com/coryalder/811771](https://gist.github.com/coryalder/811771)

Not for everyone, of course, and definitely not for all langauges, but still
worth mentioning.

~~~
viraptor
Holy kerning Batman... Maybe I'm too sensitive to this, but this text
rendering engine is BAD. It says "SPA WNING". Below in SPAWNED wn is
overlapping. "(sha)red" has similar problems. Lowercase "cce" however is way
too wide apart.

I can see how people may like the idea, but it looks like xcode was never
tested with proportional fonts...

~~~
kennywinker
That screenshot is pretty old, from Xcode 3, back when I first switched to
TNR. I have no eye for kerning, so it didn't bother me then, but it looks a
bit better in Xcode 5:
[http://i.imgur.com/rRxUpDY.png](http://i.imgur.com/rRxUpDY.png) (included
quoted text "CHARACTER SPAWNING" so it can be a/b compared).

~~~
edvinbesic
The comment is the only thing that looks super legible on that screenshot.

~~~
kennywinker
Not sure if this is a critique of my font choice, or of objective c?

~~~
dxm
The comment is the only thing in a monospace font. It's a criticism, and a
valid one, of your choice of programming font. Nobody in their rightest of
minds programs in Times New Roman. I'm convinced you must be trolling us.

~~~
Stratoscope
I agree about Times New Roman. Yuck. I use Georgia for a programming font, and
it's much more readable.

Yes, it is a proportional font too. But I can assure you that I am in my right
mind and am not trolling you.

~~~
limmeau
I also use proportional fonts for Java to make the code look like it's taken
from an algorithms textbook. Also, idiomatic Java as produced by IDEs usually
doesn't align variables, so the code looks OK as long as the space characters
themselves all are of the same width.

The C++ code I work with usually has more strenuous alignments which are only
possible to get right in monospace fonts.

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MichaelGG
Doesn't seem to render well on Windows:

[http://i.imgur.com/IthgtiK.png](http://i.imgur.com/IthgtiK.png)

Same results in Word and in VS using a non-dark theme at 10 and 11pt. At 12,
the extra pixel at the top of the a goes away, but is back at 14.

Also, VS doesn't bold it in the drop-down, which I think means it doesn't
detect it as a monospaced font.

Any suggestions?

~~~
moondowner
I have problems on Windows too. First I install the regular one, and when I'm
installing the bold version it asks me whether I want to overwrite the
previously installed one.

I guess they are not specified well so Windows installs only one of the two
font files. So in your case you have only the regular version of the font.

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MartinCron
I totally appreciate diversity and choice in fonts ("programming" or
otherwise) but I just can't get over the fussy lowercase k. It draws my eye to
it and I can't see anything else.

~~~
dpcan
For me it was the lower-case i. I'm still good with Courier New

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gaoshan
Since we're talking fonts (and I don't especially care for this one) how about
Menlo? Based on Bitstream Vera Sans Mono, it's available on Mac. No Mac? Check
out the nearly identical DejaVu Sans Mono. Here is a cool visual comparison[1]
of the two.

[1][http://typophile.com/files/menlovsdejavusansmono_6131.png](http://typophile.com/files/menlovsdejavusansmono_6131.png)

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OedipusRex
I get the idea but the "wibbly-wobbly handwriting-like fuzziness that makes it
unassumingly cool" part makes me wonder why?

If you wanted to go for that "cool" look set your background to black and your
font color to greed.

~~~
dfrey
> and your font color to greed.

Not sure if this is an unintentional typo or a suggestion for those working in
the financial industry.

~~~
metermaid
I'm interpreting it as a portmanteau of green and red, which, set on black,
are the predominant choices of hackers and terminals on movies and TV shows.

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nahname
Nothing beats Inconsolata, IMO.

~~~
thinkpad20
I was a big fan of inconsolata but I transitioned to Anonymous Pro, and then
Source Code Pro, which I've been using for a good while now. The three of them
make my top 3.

~~~
nahname
I tried Anonymous Pro because my team was working with Mark Simonson. Switched
back after a couple days. Haven't tried Source Code Pro. It looks very
promising.

~~~
thinkpad20
Definitely recommend it. Super readable (more so than Anonymous Pro), pleasing
to the eye, and they took real care with the symbols that resemble each other
(0O, 1l, etc). Also it has a bunch of different thickness levels, so for
example with Sublime Text which tends to render letters a little thick, I can
set it to the "Light" setting, while in iTerm I use "Regular".

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kunai
I don't know about you guys, but I use Helvetica Mono:
[http://www.linotype.com/1824-31635/helveticamonospaced.html](http://www.linotype.com/1824-31635/helveticamonospaced.html)

Yes, it's probably the most characterless, bland, insipid, and uninspired font
out there... but it's also the most perfect-looking. And, it's readable and
takes up less space than most others.

I'm surprised not more people use it.

~~~
groovy2shoes
Looks like a lovely font, but it's similar enough to Liberation Mono that I
can't justify spending money on it.

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carlesfe
Since everybody else is plugging in their monospaced fonts, here's mine:
DOS/EGA[1]

It's a ttf font which simulates the old DOS font which, in my opinion, is the
crispest and nicest looking font for a terminal. Try it out! (Just remember to
turn antialiasing off)

[1] [http://www.viste-family.net/mateusz/dos/en/dosega.htm](http://www.viste-
family.net/mateusz/dos/en/dosega.htm)

~~~
tonyta
Haha, I love it! Even though it hurts my head! Thanks!

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vinhnx
Love the font! I've been using Inconsolata-g for my Objective-C development
for a while now, but will try this.

Also, worth mentioning, here's the list of best programming fonts for those
who're interested : [http://www.slant.co/topics/67/~what-are-the-best-
programming...](http://www.slant.co/topics/67/~what-are-the-best-programming-
fonts)

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chrissnell
The lower-case "m" is just too much for me to handle:

See line 7, "summary":

[https://github.com/belluzj/cosmic-sans-
neue/blob/master/Spec...](https://github.com/belluzj/cosmic-sans-
neue/blob/master/Specimen/sublime11.png)

It doesn't match the rest of the characters and it's just too smushed-up for
my tastes.

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sharmi
The letters are too squashed together for my taste. I used to use inconsolata
but now switched to [http://pcaro.es/p/hermit/](http://pcaro.es/p/hermit/) .
It is a clean font with some personality thrown in. Does anyone else use
hermit?

~~~
daGrevis
You're never the only one, I'm using it too! :)

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Bjorkbat
Ah, coSmic sans.

For a moment I thought this was going to be some sort of parody, kinda like
that enterprise version of fizzbuzz someone wrote a while back.

I'm actually rather fond of this font given the first impression its bestowed
upon me.

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jimktrains2
Do you think it's wise to advertise this as a programming font when 0 (zero)
and O (cap oh) look so much alike? At least l (lower ell) and 1 (one)seem to
be different enough.

~~~
dhugiaskmak
Zero has a slash through it, capital o does not.

~~~
WatchDog
The first picture in the readme shows a zero with a slash, while the rest of
the pictures show a zero that looks like an O.

~~~
na85
No I think those are O's, not zeroes.

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theandrewbailey
Here's a plug for Cousine. I haven't liked another monospace font better, and
I go out of my way to set it up on every system I use.

[http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Cousine](http://www.google.com/fonts/specimen/Cousine)

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Pitarou
Can anyone tell me why the designer thought all those extra hooks and loops
were a good idea? (Check out the i, g, and k.)

To my eyes, they're just visual noise. Do they confer any benefit in long-term
use, or are they just whimsy?

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dangayle
Well, if that isn't disappointing. If you're going to name your font after the
greatest of all fonts, the incredible and nuanced Comic Sans MS, then you had
better deliver.

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10098
What's wrong with good old Courier New?

~~~
pattisapu
too thin...courier old is easier to read no?

~~~
10098
Depends on the person... Courier "old" is fixed size, I happen to prefer the
"new" version.

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gcr
I misread this as "Comic Sans" and thought this was a joke submission.

Boy was I wrong.

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ragsagar
Giving a break to Inconsolata, trying Cosmic Sans Neue for a change.

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brainburn
It's pretty nice, save for the 'k'.

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jokoon
each time I see a new font, it can hardly compete with consolas or menlo

even the old lucida console is better than all those free fonts.

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talles
Hey.... I like it.

Might try for a bit.

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jrochkind1
gorgeous font.

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jhprks
the title of this post is: "Comic Sans Neue Mono: Programming Font
(github.com)" for sec i really thought this was a new variant of comic sans
font but for programming, it turns out its actual name is cosmic sans.

~~~
etler
Oops, that was actually a typo, but it is loosely based/related to comic sans.
"The name comes from my realization that at some point it looked like the
mutant child of Comic Sans and Helvetica Neue. Hopefully it is not the case
any more."

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bcheung
dear god, why?

~~~
criswell
It's not Comic Sans, it's CoSmic Sans. My initial reaction as well.

