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Overuse of italics #26

@MatthiasPortzel

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@MatthiasPortzel

VSCode only uses italics on:

  • types / classes / enums / etc
  • function definitions (function name and parameters)
  • function / method calls
  • function decorators / attributes / annotations
  • comments
screenshot of JavaScript in Catppuccin VSCode screenshot of Rust in Catppuccin VSCode screenshot of Python in Catppuccin VSCode

In my opinion this might still be too much. A lot of fonts are going to be more readable in their default font-style. I would probably lean towards function parameters and classes/types not being italic, since I don't think of those as being very special.

The big difference with the Sublime theme is that it also makes keywords italic. The case for making keywords italic is that keywords are instantly recognizable because they're syntax highlighted differently and so you don't need readability on the individual letters. They're arguably the place where italics makes the most sense for that reason.

When I talk about readability, I'm talking both about the fact that people are more used to reading normal fonts and not italic font-faces, but also keeping in mind that some people use cursive-style italic fonts which sacrifice some of the normal extreme readability of traditional monospaced fonts in favor of stylized letters.

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