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JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

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Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#51

Post by LandR »

scoutt wrote: post #39
nkrisc wrote: post #2

I was disappointed that despite presenting the cookie banner as if it were a terminal, the options did not accept keyboard input [Y]es, I agree [N]o, thanks Ok on topic: I'm never sure what to think of these "developer" fonts that make use of ligatures for combinations like ==, >=, ->, =>, etc. On one hand they do look really nice, but I always can't help but feel it would actually make things just a little bit harde…

I've just installed this font and tested it with VS Code, and I must say that it is a very nice font. Code is clear and easy to read (C/C++ development). I think I'll keep it for a while. Regarding ligatures, I agree. I could live with the pointer arrow ligature, that's fine and looks nice, but not with the crossed '=' (that is "!=") or the symbol for >=. Call it ageing, but for the moment it stops my code reading fl…

I love ligatures, I now have all my IDEs set to use FiraCode, it works especially well with Clojure IMO.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#52

Post by gravitas »

jeltz wrote: post #45
crazygringo wrote: post #38

I always applaud efforts at new typefaces, but unfortunately I feel this is a badly designed typeface that is worse for legibility, not better. Addressing their three main points in turn: > 1. Increased height for a better reading experience A high x-height is good for coding fonts, but this x-height is now too high. To my eye, this is now at the point where lowercase letters are getting harder to distinguish from up…

And they also have added details on their own in cases where it just seems to slightly harm readability, like the extreme narrowing in the "n" for example. I find their design choices strange.

The character bugging me is the lowercase i - it looks like a little 1 with a dot on top if you can squint that hard, it's worse not better than DejaVu Sans which I use.

(edit: the lowercase a is also rapidly gaining my dislike, it's all smashed up and looks weird)

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#53

Post by penagwin »

Ayesh wrote: post #14

We should take a lesson from the FAQ about license. It is the simplest yet most useful one I have seen! -- May I install JetBrains Mono on my system and use it in any code editor? -> YES. May I make and print a poster with JetBrains Mono? -> YES. May I use JetBrains Mono in my logotype? -> YES. May I use JetBrains Mono on my website? -> YES. May I use JetBrains Mono in my applications? -> YES. May I design my own fon…

Yeah I love this kind of license. It's basically a "do what you want but please don't rip us off without attribution".

If you want a new typeface to take off, this (and having a good typeface of course) is the way to do it.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#54

Post by dhagz »

dlanouette wrote: post #30
dtertman wrote: post #21

Thanks, I hate it. My most recent update of IntelliJ turned this font on by default and I had to spend an hour trying to figure out what the font used to be. Mono looked squished to me - the intentional favoring of length over width made the whole editor look like I had an aspect ratio problem on my monitor. I appreciate trying to push the envelope and improve ergonomics, but I wish this would have been opt-in for up…

Interesting. It didn't do that for me. But, I had already specifically set my font. So, maybe it changed the previous default to this new font.

It looks like that is the case.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#55

Post by topka »

graycrow wrote: post #16

It is an odd decision not to include Ukrainian in the list of supported languages, despite the fact that the font has all the necessary letters.

Ukrainian and a couple of other languages were missed on the list. It's a known issue we're updating on the site right now. Thanks!

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#56

Post by Lendal »

crazygringo wrote: post #38

I always applaud efforts at new typefaces, but unfortunately I feel this is a badly designed typeface that is worse for legibility, not better. Addressing their three main points in turn: > 1. Increased height for a better reading experience A high x-height is good for coding fonts, but this x-height is now too high. To my eye, this is now at the point where lowercase letters are getting harder to distinguish from up…

A lot of the details they spent so much effort on didn't make any sense to me as to why that particular design detail would be important. I don't care about vertical alignment of letter shape details. If I need lowercase letters to look bigger, I almost always also need uppercase bigger too, so I'll just increase the font size +1 pt.

I use three different fonts in terminals, editors and IDEs. So I'm sure this font will look good to someone and will find a use. At the moment I can't find a use for it. For now I'll stick with Operator Mono, Cascadia Mono and Fira Mono.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#58

Post by java-man »

crazygringo wrote: post #38

I always applaud efforts at new typefaces, but unfortunately I feel this is a badly designed typeface that is worse for legibility, not better. Addressing their three main points in turn: > 1. Increased height for a better reading experience A high x-height is good for coding fonts, but this x-height is now too high. To my eye, this is now at the point where lowercase letters are getting harder to distinguish from up…

The use of ligatures seems counter-productive to me. In the code, I do not want to see any editor shenanigans apart from syntax highlighting.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#59

Post by Seenso »

dtertman wrote: post #21

Thanks, I hate it. My most recent update of IntelliJ turned this font on by default and I had to spend an hour trying to figure out what the font used to be. Mono looked squished to me - the intentional favoring of length over width made the whole editor look like I had an aspect ratio problem on my monitor. I appreciate trying to push the envelope and improve ergonomics, but I wish this would have been opt-in for up…

> My most recent update of IntelliJ turned this font on by default and I had to spend an hour trying to figure out what the font used to be.

For anyone who wants that info: it's Menlo on on my rather old Mac OS IntelliJ installation. Pretty sure that's the default, since if I'd made any changes I'd have switched it to Courier.

Re: JetBrains Mono: A free and open-source typeface for developers

#60

Post by dtertman »

ncmncm wrote: post #27
dtertman wrote: post #21

Thanks, I hate it. My most recent update of IntelliJ turned this font on by default and I had to spend an hour trying to figure out what the font used to be. Mono looked squished to me - the intentional favoring of length over width made the whole editor look like I had an aspect ratio problem on my monitor. I appreciate trying to push the envelope and improve ergonomics, but I wish this would have been opt-in for up…

What did it used to be? You could have taken the opportunity to switch to Inconsolata.

I picked "Monospaced" - I couldn't find any clear documentation of what it was, and that looked OK.
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