Install Source Code Pro as font for diffs and code

Marked the task Install Source Code Pro as completed

Marked the task Set as default font for diffs and build pages. as completed

mentioned in merge request !3241 (closed)

I'm going to have to oppose this on the basis that I see no reason to add more bloat to our page size for what seems to already be working just fine. I'm all for good typography, by all means, but unless someone can explain exactly why this is superior I'm opposed.

cc @DouweM @brodock

@skyruler : I am getting some feedback about the new diff/code font. @DouweM and others feel (to summarize, hopefully accurately) that changing to code font is too much change. They feel that because devs are creatures of habit a change like this is bad and will make reading code an uncomfortable task. Other style changes are good but changing the font is a topic close to the hearts of many devs.

douwe [8:47 PM] @jschatz: It’s not that easy. I’m very passionate about certain monospace fonts vs others

gabriel [8:47 PM] me too

douwe [8:46 PM] @jschatz: I think it warrants more discussion. I have to look at that font all day... It may be prettier in a vacuum, but I don’t see a reason to change it.

@jschatz1 it's monospace what the problem? I'm sure that 99% would never notice a difference. Did you push it to dev?

You can see the change in the linked MR or here. I am still reviewing it. @DouweM @brodock feel free to chime in but I think the problem is that we are all very used to Menlo as it is the default/font-of-choice in all editors and a change like that is drastic.

@connorshea What we are going to do (if we can resolve this disscussion) is use only one font (regular) and leave out bolds, italics, etc. We'll have to change the diff styles so they don't use any bolds/italics/other. One font for that page will add roughly 85kb. Or less.

Even I found Code pro more readable

I am very passionate about the way my editor looks, from the background of the editor, to the color of the highlighting, to the font size and the font family. And an important part of that is consistency, between Atom, Terminal, Visual Studio, Xcode, and GitLab, all of which I use to work with code in varying degrees of regularity. I have a used a lot of different editors, and a lot of different typefaces to read code and work on code, and I've tried some of the "hip" ones like Source Sans Pro etc, but I keep coming back to Menlo, in all of my editors. Of all the typefaces I've used to read and work on code, it's the one I like most.

Menlo is the default in Sublime Text, it's the default in Xcode, and the defaults in Terminal.app, Atom and GitHub are so similar you almost can't see the difference. Developers know Menlo, developers are used to Menlo and (apparently) developers like Menlo. Developers are creatures of habit, and the editor is their little nest. They will notice, and they will be upset.

Please don't change something like this without a lot of consideration; it's like replacing the rug in my room because you thought it looked like it was from the 90s, even though I have to sit and work here all day. I don't want no fancy 2016 rug, I want my cozy 90s Menlo rug!

I really, really don't like the way Code Pro looks. Characters are way too wide. I don't see a difference in readability, I (and millions of others, based on the defaults I just listed) have been using Menlo for years without a problem.

It's probably in the bike-shedding area, but font rendering doesn't work the same in different browsers / OS combination.

What may look good on Mac, may not look the same on ubuntu, for example: (got that from here: https://opensourcehacker.com/2012/10/07/go-pro-and-your-eyes-will-thank-you/).

Adding some points to the discussion:

devs are passionate about fonts / color themes
any change/no change will make someone unhappy
some fonts works better for specific programming languages than others
languages that uses too many special characters have different needs for example
can we make it like the themes selector?
if we do, we still need to decide default one, which leads us back to here

@jschatz1 I've spent hours shaving a few KB's off of some icons before, so I have a rather strong opinion on adding 85 Kb to a site :)

This issue is 2.4 MB (2.7 without Source Sans Pro enabled) download on Chrome 49. This GitHub issue with 436 comments is only 1.3 MB.

On Safari without Source Sans Pro enabled it's 4.2 MB (!) whereas the aforementioned GitHub issue is 2.65 MB.

We shouldn't be adding more to the page load, we should be taking away from the page load wherever possible.

Install Source Code Pro as font for diffs and code

Designs

Child items 0

Activity

Admin message

Admin message

Install Source Code Pro as font for diffs and code

Activity