
New free monospace programming font by Mark Simonson: Anonymous Pro - bunglebooz
http://www.ms-studio.com/FontSales/anonymouspro.html
======
bouncingsoul
This font is not new. This re-release has been out over a year and its
predecessor (Anonymous) has been around almost ten. I've seen it in plenty of
"best programming fonts" articles.

That said, it is nice to have something different from the usual simple sans
model of most modern monospaces (e.g., Deja Vu Sans Mono, Consolas, and
Inconsolata). Anonymous has a lot of character – which either interests or
annoys you.

It's been my default in Vim for some months now.

~~~
psadauskas
I used it for a little bit, but as always, switched back to Envy Code R. At
12pt on my Mac Terminal, it renders with no anti-aliased blurriness.

[http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-
preview-7-cod...](http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-
preview-7-coding-font-released)

~~~
dtf
I find OS X makes nice fonts like Envy look bloated, bold and ugly when I
switch from Apple-prescribed black-on-white - where they look awesome - to my
preferred white-on-black scheme. I have to stick to bitmap fonts like
Terminus, SGIScreen and Dina when coding on Mac. Linux and Windows do not have
this problem.

------
jarin
Every couple of months I try a new programming font, but I always go back to
Inconsolata.

~~~
Emore
Me too. Here's a link for the unenlightened:
<http://www.levien.com/type/myfonts/inconsolata.html>

~~~
telemachos
It's my (self-appointed) job on HN to also remind people that if they love
Inconsolata, but hate the curly quotations, you can get straight-quote
Inconsolata-dz.

[http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-
dou...](http://nodnod.net/2009/feb/12/adding-straight-single-and-double-
quotes-inconsola/)

~~~
jarin
I didn't even notice the curly quotes until you pointed it out. I guess today
I'll either decide I don't care or get maddeningly frustrated and download
Inconsolata-dz :)

------
doty
I wonder what the world would be like if somebody designed a nice variable-
width font for typesetting code. It would be different than a font designed
for setting English, but I wonder if we wouldn't get the same benefits of
beauty and legibility.

I mean, it's kinda silly that we continue to program in fixed-width type,
given what modern software can do with setting type on the fly...

~~~
Shorel
The 'using spaces instead of tabs' issue seems to have something to do with
this.

~~~
__david__
It's more than that--I tend to lean towards words with the same number of
characters for variable names which helps make things line up. Variable width
would kill that too.

~~~
doty
Do you think that you use fixed width fonts because you use words like that,
or do you use words like that because you use fixed width fonts?

~~~
__david__
Well, clearly the fixed width font came first in computer programming. So
yeah, I'm sure I pick the words because I use a fixed width font.

Using a variable width font would pose many problems to the editor and you'd
have to have tabs on the "inside" of a line (as opposed to just having them on
the front). That isn't necessarily _bad_ , just much different from how I
currently currently code.

And aligning to a tab stop is not always what I want--you'd need a tab
character that didn't mean "go to the next tab stop" but instead meant "line
me up with the corresponding tab in the previous and next lines at the minimum
possible distance". That seems annoying and probably not worth it.

------
camwest
I wonder how this stacks up with Microsoft's Consolas font. I've been using it
as my default for a few years now.

~~~
nhebb
I don't know, but I love Consolas so much that I'd be hard pressed to try
anything else. I can set a small font size, lean back in my chair and still
read it clearly without squinting.

------
po
I've been using regular Anonymous for a while now. Now when I see it, I think
"That looks like my code." The "0" character being slashed the normal way and
staying inside the circle is a welcome change. If he was concerned with it
looking too much like a Ø character, he could have used a dotted zero I
suppose although these kinds of details are capable of spurring wars.

Anyway, it looks nice in everything I switched over... except Komodo Edit
which renders the line heights wrong at pts lower than 14. I'm willing to
blame that on the editor though.

Highly recommend it.

------
edanm
It took me years of programming (and even more years of being a computer user)
to realize that it's worth choosing a programming font. It honestly hadn't
occurred to me.

I've been using Monaco for a while, mostly because it's the "happiest" looking
font I've found. Going to be giving this font a test drive now.

------
rgiar
Another nice choice, on the sans-serif side, is an APL font from dyalog (even
if you're not an APL programmer). It has a certain old-school charm that
pleases me.

<http://www.dyalog.com/downloads/fonts/Apl385.ttf>

------
b3b0p
I've been a die hard programmer font snob for years and have been using
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono or Deja Vu Sans Mono. Mostly because it's free and
can be used on all platforms.

Then, Apple released Snow Leopard with Menlo. It had just enough small little
changes that at a slightly smaller point size it was easier to read. I fell in
love. I've actually now trained my self to really enjoy using 10 point
unaliased Monaco on small screens and enjoy it immensely as well.

~~~
SoftwareMaven
It's amazing how close Menlo and Deja Vu Sans Mono are. I like the lighter
punctuation in Deja Vu but the = character is clearer in Menlo. I like the
zero with a slash in Menlo, too.

~~~
spicyj
You know, Menlo is based on Deja Vu Sans Mono.

<http://typophile.com/node/58625#comment-351070>

------
rue
Hrm, the images on the site look fuzzy, could not stand to look at that for
long. The font is also a bit too…expressive? The round shapes are very
prominent. There seems to be some disproportion to some letters which makes
text look uneven to my eyes.

I use SGIscreen at 13px, no antialias.

 _Edit:_ not the best showcase but here is an old screenshot:
<http://files.kittensoft.org/vim_ruby.png>

~~~
bigfudge
Am I the only person to set a 20px+ programming font? I have pretty good
sight, but with a widescreen-ish macbook, you can easily get 120 chars in a
window at that size and it's much easier to scan code.

~~~
modoc
I have a 17" MBP and a 30" LCD and I happily use an 11px font (Monaco or
Manlo). 20px would seem silly to me, no offense. I have room for 120 chars,
120 lines, and plenty of space for tech design docs, API guides, terminals,
etc....

------
sh1mmer
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned monofur yet.
<http://eurofurence.net/monofur.html>

It's my favourite programming font because it's extremely readable but retails
a little flare.

~~~
Kateish
It's my default monospaced font as well. I've tried Inconsolata, Terminus,
Anonymous (Pro), etc. and though I could happily use most of them I find
monofur to be easy on my eyes, clear, and just a little Art Deco in feel if
not in history. Using it was a whim that's stuck with me for several years and
I'm happy I stumbled across it. It's spread to a few friends via the "what the
heck is that", "eh, might as well try it", "this is really nice!" cycle.

------
gojomo
What are some good, widely-available variable-width fonts that also help
distinguish commonly-confused characters (O, 0, I, l, 1, etc.)?

The verdana here at HN is reasonable, but what if I wanted an even stronger
distinction -- especially on the zeros -- without going fully monospace? I'm
thinking of a reference-info use case where precision is important, but code-
like alignment isn't.

------
metra
Why does the font matter? This is a serious question. I use the default font
on all of my editors and I've never had a problem. I can tell ohs from zeros
and els from ones, etc. And I don't care about different types of serifs or
other typographical nuances. Do most of the advantages come when using
alphabets besides English?

Why are custom programming fonts so popular?

~~~
cletus
Why is custom anything so popular?

People have different ways they like working, routines and aesthetics. It's
all just personal preference really.

The font is simply about how easy it is to read and one's aesthetics
sensibilities.

------
kreek
Bitstream Vera Sans Mono 4 evah! :) Has a dot in the center of '0' which
differentiates it from 'O' but is more readable than a slash.

[http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/ttf-bitstream-
vera/1....](http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/GNOME/sources/ttf-bitstream-vera/1.10/)

------
m0shen
I've been using "Envy Code R" ( [http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-
r-preview-7-cod...](http://damieng.com/blog/2008/05/26/envy-code-r-
preview-7-coding-font-released) ) for awhile. I find it much more readable.

------
drhodes
Hey Mark, if you're reading this: your font looks fantastic, sincerely on par
with Inconsolata. BUT, the pointer arrow -> renders with the dash off center
from the point of the >. It's too much of a distraction to switch.

------
ajstarks
Comparison on monospaced fonts:
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajstarks/3618903870/sizes/o/in/...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajstarks/3618903870/sizes/o/in/photostream/)

------
Pistos2
I've tried (and continue to try) several programming fonts, but always stick
with Terminus. In my opinion, it is the most readable font at 8px, and I like
being able to fit as much as possible in a screenful without losing
readability. Most of the other fonts I've tried seem more suited for sizes
10pt and larger, and that's fine, I would consider them for usage in my web
browser, or some other place. But my console windows are all Terminus.

------
tekhammer
I use my own customised bitmap font under Linux. I couldn't get the font
working under OS-X, but didn't try very hard as Linux is on all my main
machines.

I have it here in case anyone is interested in it. It allows me to fit 4
terminals across on a 1920x1200 screen nicely with a bit of room to spare.

<http://wtf.geek.nz/2010/09/my-small-programmers-font/>

------
abalashov
Unfortunately, its nice auto-hinted varieties do not kick in before 11 points,
and doesn't really look nice until 12 pt. If I had an 11 or 12 point defaulted
in my terminals, there is no way I'd be able to put more than one or two of
them on one screen at most--and even then, with overlap--which sort of defeats
the point.

To use this font, I need it to work non-crudely at 9 or 10 pt too.

------
zebra
Right now I am using Mensch font ( <http://robey.lag.net/2010/06/21/mensch-
font.html> ). It is very readable and solid. I tried right now this post's
font Anonymous Pro, also Envy Code R and Inconsolata but returned back to
Mensch. They were not bad but I didn't liked them enough to switch.

~~~
igravious
Mensch-Regular 13 pt. Anti alias

is yum.

------
fr0sty
What pt size do people use for their Anti-Aliased programming fonts? I
currently use a 10pt bitmapped font and everytime I try a font that is
'smoothed' it ends up looking like out of focus dreck at that size.

I'm curious whether I'm odd for using such a small typeface, noticing the
effect of AA on such a small typeface, or caring about it. I can't decide
which.

~~~
heresy
Linux, Windows, or Mac?

Point sizes vary due to DPI. I used 11pt on Windows, and ProFont (bitmap, 10
or 9, I don't recall) on Mac.

I think it's only Windows where you can get relatively decent clarity for
aliased fonts at a smallish point size, depending on how good it's hinted, due
to how ClearType renders it.

Mac is a bit heavy, and Linux is just bad, the shapes on Linux look nothing
like any other OS.

Aside: Yes, I know about the byte code interpreter option and patches to
FreeType, but even with that it's still bad. Most programmers I work with
unfortunately are just type blind (can't tell difference between Tahoma,
Arial, and Segoe, and italic/non-italic of each, for example, leading to
"interesting" font choices in UIs).

~~~
fr0sty
Should have said Px size (given that we're talking bitmapped fonts)...

I work on Linux(Redhat) with bitmapped fonts.

ClearType screenshots (from my memory at least) have all still been fuzzy
around the edges (at least for my taste).

------
vito
I've been using this for a few months now; it's by far my favorite programming
font. Every little detail is so finely crafted and well-proportioned. For
example, with Monaco it always bothered me that / and \ were slightly taller,
or that < and > looked funny - in Anonymous Pro everything's just right.

------
alexandros
This looks strange: In the 'all characters' tab, the Greek omega appears only
with a stress, not in its regular form. Is this usual with fonts or a
peculiarity of this one? I actually got excited to have a nice Greek-enabled
font, but this threw me off.

~~~
mfukar
Looks like there's a "normal" one; take a look at the sixth line in the 'All
Characters' tab.

I'm using it now and it's all good, too.

------
ezy
Not good enough at small resolutions, and looks horrible with light on dark
colors. ProFontWindows doesn't suffer from this, and works at small sizes.

<http://www.tobias-jung.de/seekingprofont/>

------
Shorel
Thank you.

This is the first 'programmer font' that I like enough to consider using
instead of Lucida Console.

Yes, others seem to look nice and whatever, but Lucida Console is efficient.
More information in less space without looking crowded.

------
humblepie
That's a good looking code font. However, I still love my Droid Sans Mono :)

~~~
sohooo
Droid Sans Mono Dotted! ;)

------
skatey
Looks like there are some coders out there that actually know why having good
typography is valid and don't just take whatever is out there as is usually
the case.

~~~
IgorPartola
I've lately been happy with Xubuntu's default monospaced font for the
terminal. Should I not be?

~~~
jarin
Be happy with whatever you're happy with.

------
scorpion032
Droid Sans Mono. You can't improve over perfection; can you?

~~~
MrRage
Droid Sans Mono looks nice to me, but if you can't tell a zero apart from a
capital o then you're asking for 30 minutes of trying to figure a really
stupid bug at some point in your life.

~~~
adbge
Droid ships with a "Droid Sans Mono Slashed" with a slashed zero -- at least
on Gentoo.

------
antonios
Nice slashed zero, The letter 'l' nicely distinguishes from one, greek
character support and bitmap support for those who hate anti-aliasing. Simply
wonderful.

------
__david__
Fonts are like religions. I still pray to god of bitmapped Monaco 10. 11 is
good too. I've never seen anything that can shake my faith :-).

------
morlad
Am I the only one who thinks that nothing comes close to Fixedsys (Excelsior)
for programming?

~~~
rgiar
if you can point out another, I'd try it, but I found this:
[http://fixedsys.moviecorner.de/?p=download&l=1](http://fixedsys.moviecorner.de/?p=download&l=1)
and it's only in bold. Hard to imagine using it.

~~~
morlad
Actually I was talking about this one: <http://www.fixedsysexcelsior.com/>

If you call that bold, ok. I call it: easy to read and less strain on my eyes.
Especially because there is no need for ClearType (et al), which I can't
stand, as it always looks blurry to me.

------
daphoenix
You can pry ProggySquare from my cold dead hands.

------
pogos
I love it. I think it's even better than consolas and I've been using consolas
for years.

    
    
      ;(set-default-font "Consolas 11")
      (set-default-font "Anonymous Pro 11")

------
ecyrb
apt-get install xfonts-terminus

------
pbrumm
in the i's and !'s the periods tend to run together. at 10pt

everything else looks great

