Here’s the Deal

Anka/Coder vs Microsoft Verdana

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When comparing Anka/Coder vs Microsoft Verdana, the Slant community recommends Anka/Coder for most people. In the question“What are the best programming fonts?” Anka/Coder is ranked 20th while Microsoft Verdana is ranked 105th. The most important reason people chose Anka/Coder is:

The zero really stands out and looks quite different from zeroes in most other fonts. The addition of the slash means you'll never have to second guess if that character is actually an "O" or if it is a "0".

Specs

LicenseOFL-1.1

LigaturesNo

Zero StyleSlash

LicenseProprietary

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best programming fonts?

Pros

Pro
Zero distinguishable thanks to protruding slash

Pro
Open source

Because it's open source, Anka/Coder is freely available to anyone.

Pro
Practical yet stylish

Anka/Coder has just the right balance between style and readability.

Pro
Compact

Condensed and, even to a greater extent, narrow versions allow for compact lines without sacrificing readability.

Pro
Free with Windows

Pro
Compact while light

Packs lots of information into your screen space while remaining clear and never looking crowded.

Pro
Renders perfectly at all sizes

Again, particularly in Windows

Pro
Looks absolutely gorgeous in Windows

Looks good elsewhere as well, but the world-class hinting here really comes out with the windows rasterizer (probably optimized for it).

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Cons

Con
Some characters aren't distinguishable from others

This is especially the case with the colon, which is barely distinguishable from the semi-colon.

Con
Not quite as charming at sizes of 10 and 11 pt

There are some hinting issues at these sizes: upper curves are bent sharper while the lower look is squashed to the baseline. Also, the dot of "i" appears merged with the stick at 11 pts. At 9 pts, the font looks good again (nice for watches, compiler output, etc).