Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black? • Hacker News Board

edoloughlin wrote: post #54

bane wrote: post #33

I wouldn't say white on black, more like grey and some other muted colors on black. I remember making the switch from black on white. I was working a contract job with ungodly hours and my eyes were pretty much always red and irritated. I started to notice certain colors on the screen were particularly irritating so I started to fiddle with the color scheme and eventually ended up with the light on black scheme. It w…

You should try f.lux -- http://stereopsis.com/flux/ . It really makes night time computing easier on the eyes.

I tried it on Ubuntu and while it worked, it caused a lot of issue,it would cause the whole UI to go nuts, when i would close the screen (laptop) sometimes it would fuck up everything when i would re-open it, and also going 100% CPU randomly, making the computer useless.

At first i thought it was just Ubuntu not liking my graphic card, but as soon as i removed it everything went back to nomral.

Re: Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black?

#116

Post by derobert » Tue, Dec 20, 2011, 6:01 PM UTC

bilban wrote: post #106

rcfox wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Text gets blurrier quicker than when using a lighter background. Perhaps you need to get glasses. I've never had text go blurry on me, regardless of the colour theme or duration.

I can't read a white background unless I'm in a very bright room. Off whites are better for me. But personally I prefer light on dark. But it's a personal thing. I rue the day the browser default background colour changed from being light grey to white.

You may want to lower your monitor's backlight level (if LCD) or brightness/contrast (if CRT).

Re: Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black?

#117

Post by ScottBurson » Tue, Dec 20, 2011, 6:30 PM UTC

I have my XEmacs set up to use light green (#88FF88) on dark blue (#000060). I find this very relaxing and easy to use. I've used this combination for over 20 years.

Pure white on pure black is too contrasty.

Having about the same amount of blue in the foreground and background keeps chromatic aberration, which is worst in the blue range, from being noticeable.

Re: Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black?

#118

Post by vessenes » Tue, Dec 20, 2011, 6:47 PM UTC

paulrouget wrote: post #44

Thank you for answering the survey! Results: 63% dark theme, 37% light theme: http://paulrouget.com/e/colorssurvey/

I was thinking about this survey, I think as is, it tells you who, of those willing and able to take the survey, care enough to tell you about their editor colors.

I am a green-on-black kind of guy, having to do with my VT terminal nostalgia, and I care enough to tell you that. But, I would be surprised if the color-caring folk are a representative sample of all color-preference folk.

Re: Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black?

#119

Post by erikb » Tue, Dec 20, 2011, 6:59 PM UTC

patrickk wrote: post #27

Xcode midnight theme, dark background. http://i1-mac.softpedia-static.com/screenshots/Xcode-Midnigh... To activate, go Xcode >> Preferences >> Fonts and Colors and pick midnight.

Just a tip: try background without completely black or white backgrounds. something like very dark gray or beige feels way better and also seems to work better with a lot of colors and looking at the screen all day long.

Re: Ask HN: Your code editor, black on white or white on black?

#120

Post by g3orge » Tue, Dec 20, 2011, 8:28 PM UTC

jjm wrote: post #9

I go Solarized http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized

Solarized is the ideal colorscheme. I use light in the morning, and dark in the evening