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Agree. If you want some colors, git status, a few convenience functions and a clean prompt, this is my current setup: https://monokai.pro/zsh


I program with syntax highlighting.

I'm not convinced by the arguments of the article:

- actively clicking on matching parentheses has the benefit of selecting that part

- being more sensitive to the "beauty" of the code

I think syntax highlighting doesn't get in the way of these two points.

The only valid point:

- No syntax highlighting automatically supports all languages

True I guess. In the sense that no shoes support all feet.


"acively clicking" this is where it fails for me. In vim, there is no mouse, there is only zuul.

I get that he sees words and numbers colored but the rest of us like the quick visual context it gives when trying to quickly find things in large files. So I'm with you, :syntax on


"The only valid point:"

This is a post about preferences. Why do you think your preferences are "more valid" than theirs?


No compliler automatically supports all languages so I do all my programming with a magnetized needle and a steady hand.


I do all my programming by only making self sustaining full scale universe simulations that contain a copy of myself, so that by the strong anthropic principle the code has already been written.


I think we should have more semantic highlighting. Like giving every variable a unique color. Or color them by type!


“no syntax highlighting supports all languages, therefore I don’t use any syntax highlighting” is not even a logical argument.


That's not really what's said. If you regularly change languages and some are supported and some are not, switching to unsupported languages will be very unpleasant. Having to switch editor/install plugins/customize can be tedious.


Thank you for making this tool. I'm calling it in a custom webpack plugin so it transforms GLSL code into a single minified string on every build / watch event. I used this setup for my latest artwork: https://monokai.com/work/origin


Working on the Monokai Pro website for my color theme for code editors, and the Monokai Pro plugin for JetBrains, which has just been released. Working out some optimizations, which will be pushed in the next update.

Monokai Pro has been running for more than 5 years now for VSCode and Sublime Text, and the original Monokai almost 20 years.

https://monokai.pro


Photography and algorithmic art are exactly my thing. In the past few years, I’ve been deeply exploring generative art, though I prefer calling it "Algorithmic Art" since "generative" is often linked to AI now.

Some of my works can even be drawn with a pen plotter.

Take a look: https://monokai.com


Very nice! Nice work grabbing that domain too!


That's untrue. I've created https://monokai.pro, to my knowledge the first commercial theme. It's been going strong for years now.

People are willing to pay for nice things. Especially if it takes longer to create it yourself.

A theme is more than a list of colors. Monokai Pro contains custom designed icons and color filters too, and some code logic to sync it all up. It needs continued updates, as editors keep evolving with new UX/UI elements.


I paid happily for monokai pro vscode since it was a one time payment. However I will not purchase a subscription for jetbrains intellij because per year it'll cost me the same amount as the intellij idea ultimate and that just doesn't seem like a fair price.


You get a perpetual licence after one year of payments.


Happy Monokai customer here! I want to make themes using my own palette but nothing supports OKLCH and I don't wanna convert to HEX.


I haven't noticed any difference after tailwind started using oklch, doubt there's any.


The question isn't whether you noticed a difference, but whether your aunt notices a difference on her 7 year old Chromebook


oklch should be an incredibly minor to unmeasurable performance hit, even on a 7 year old chromebook. Nor should it affect the displayed output. It's just a better color picker syntax.


7 year old chromebooks don't support olkch.


Not true, Chromebooks receive 8-10 years of updates. Meaning a 7 year old Chromebook runs the latest Chrome with oklch.


I meant making themes for apps like Sublime Text, Zed, &c.


I love spectrum been using it for maybe 7 years now


This is the one app I use every day. I practically live in it. Most editors are slower and more visually cluttered, or pack so much functionality that I often get lost. Sublime strikes the perfect balance between simplicity and functionality. Probably Emacs or Vim are even more expressive, but I've never bothered to learn those, Sublime just packs enough power for me. The LSP plugins are a good addition to give Sublime the same code completion / AI functionality of other editors.


I don't think I'll share the details in the future, but it's an experiment for sure. I've seen success by selling one-off licenses of Monokai Pro for Sublime Text and VSCode, where I used the same mechanism: everything is free to use, except you get a pop-up message every now and then. People that want to get rid of the popup or offer support can then opt to pay for a license.

I understand it's uncommon practice to ask a fee for a set of colors. The reality is that making a theme and keeping it up to date is not trivial. A color theme, custom icon graphics and IDE config, along with code to glue it all together when you switch filters does take some time to make. And the codebase is different for each editor (Sublime: Python, VSCode: JavaScript, Jetbrains: Kotlin). I think it's not unfair to ask for a small fee for this work.


This is certainly my ignorance; but I am curious. What kinds of work are required to keep a theme up-to-date?

And, I guess it's also worth asking: would it be reasonable / possible to offer update packs / update prices for people fixing it? Or do you think there'd be even less return on that?


Re: keeping up-to-date: color themes depend on underlying syntax definitions. Every now and then these are updated and break the colors in subtle ways. Aslo, custom icon requests for files / languages, editors that update and provide new theme entry points to be colorized. These are the most common points to keep up to date.

Re: People fixing the theme: I don't disclose the source so that won't work I guess.


The common theme was created by me. I've tried my best to make a polished theme for Jetbrains so that all colors in the IDE and the syntax highlighting harmonize better.


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