Cracking the Code

Reading a block of code is quite unlike reading a paragraph of text. Text is usually meant to be read, while code is meant to be scanned, parsed, edited, copied, pasted, tested, and debugged. As a result, the typography of programming is a relatively new and different typographic animal.

David will examine a world of typography where letters squeeze and stretch to fit in fixed-width spaces, and where a missing semicolon can be the difference between celebration and catastrophe. He'll review the evolution of monospaced typefaces from typewriters to terminals, review stand-out contemporary monospaced designs, and share his experience creating Input, a superfamily of fonts designed specifically for code. Finally, David will share some thoughts on how we can continue to create richer environments for programming typography.