When comparing Fantasque Sans Mono vs Envy Code R, the Slant community recommends Envy Code R for most people. In the question“What are the best programming fonts?” Envy Code R is ranked 23rd while Fantasque Sans Mono is ranked 27th. The most important reason people chose Envy Code R is:
This font offers very distinct programming characters that help differentiate the following clashing pairs: {} vs. (), "0" vs. "O", and "1" vs. "l".
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Italics look good
The handwritten-style italics of Fantasque Sans Mono are quite attractive.
Pro Open source
Fantasque Sans Mono is open source, meaning it can be freely used, changed, and shared by anyone.
Pro Uniformity
As a "Mono" font, Fantasque is uniform in size and overalls. However, if you look further into all characters, you'll find that there's almost no pattern between them - except for the huge amount of curves. That said, this font is a very strong contender in terms of readability, especially in a world that seeks pattern (often too much).
An example:
Double single quotes vs single double quotes. In JavaScript code, you can find empty String initialization a lot. Unless syntax highlighting makes it clear, it's pretty hard with other fonts to spot the difference between double single quotes and single double quote.
Pro Support for various platforms
There's support for OS X, Linux, and Windows (otf, ttf) in Fantasque Sans Mono.
Pro No useless experiments with special characters
Pro Own personality
It looks distinct, playful. But don't cross the line when it becomes unusable.
Pro Lowercase "k" looks nice
Pro Glyphs support
This is good for those who wish to use different designs of a certain character.
Pro Has ligatures
Alpha version supports ligatures as Fira Code does.
Pro Truly compact
The Height line is quite short but coherent. You have to like the style but this is one of the most readable at a small size ( 9pts ).
Pro Cyrillic alphabet support
This is useful for those who wish to use letters from certain Eastern European or Asian alphabets.
Pro Webfonts included (eot, svg, woff)
Webfonts, such as eot, svg, and woff, are included in Fantasque Sans Mono.
Pro Powerline symbols
Pro Clashing characters are easily distinguishable
This font offers very distinct programming characters that help differentiate the following clashing pairs: {} vs. (), "0" vs. "O", and "1" vs. "l".
Pro Easy on user's eyes
Envy Code R is quite narrow (like Anonymous Pro) but at the same time squarish. The letters are easy to read and offer a pleasant reading experience.
Pro Fills out the space well
Envy Code R also fits more into a given width when compared to Source Code Pro.
Pro Bold font is the same width as the regular weight font
The bold version has the same width as the normal version which is useful for syntax highlighting.
Cons
Con Lowercase "i" (eye) is tailed, and too similar to lowercase "l" (ell)
Same with Hack and Ubuntu Mono.
Con Lowercase "k" is ugly
The lowercase "k" seems like a strange "r" since it has a line that extends to the top of capital letters. There is currently a workaround aiming to correct this.
Con The size is too small
Letter size is smaller than other fonts at the same setting.
Con No Cyrillic glyphs
There are no Cyrillic glyphs in Envy Code R which may be an issue for Russian users.
Con Lowercase "w" is distracting
The lowercase "w" is a bit distinct looking due to the narrow nature of the font. This could cause a distraction to some users.