Beautiful code: typography and visual programming
summary
Claim: programming tools still present code like a 1950s typewriter, so readability suffers. Evidence: historical fonts (Courier, Korea, Consolas), practical innovations adopted are only syntax highlighting and Fira Code ligatures, and codebases routinely contain huge files (an example class is 538 lines). Proposals and experiments: multi-column layouts, proportional fonts on high‑DPI monitors, designer-made posters and annotated layouts, and visual/executable alternatives (Scratch, BPMN) with social features and 32.5 million projects showing uptake.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Intro
- 0:38How to write maintainable code on-site company training
- 0:49'programmers spend around 60-70% of their entire programming time reading code
- 4:04For Windows 3.1, Courier was redrawn as Courier New for low-resolution rendering
- 20:50coding monitor for long classes!
- 21:13Game source code needs themed layout & typography
- 30:26We no longer need fixed-width typefaces now that we have high-res monitors
- 31:17Every development team should have a designer to make AO code posters with beautiful layout and typography
- 32:30Code could have better type and visual design, but reality is moving in a different direction
- 33:52'I'm totally confident that in 40 years we won't be writing code in text files.' Bret Victor
- 35:34Visual programming: Scratch & BPMN
- 42:49Innovations such as visual programming belong to people who don't call themselves 'programmers
- 47:03Instead, worry about ASCII text files being
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