Ideally only keywords, numbers, strings would be highlighted, and symbols de-highlighted. And comments need to stand out. Theme designers really like making comments almost impossible to read for some reason.
I tend to prefer muted colours, which are extremely rare to find in the VSCode marketplace. My favourite light is Alabaster by Nikita Propokov, but the best is the dark one One Monokai 80s
- https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tonsky.t...
- https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=axiomati... (there might be a more active fork)
These days I use Emacs with the excellent Modus Operandi/Vivendi by Prot (in muted colours mode), and experimenting with ef-themes by the same author.
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=pyxel.ru... (minimal option)
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=arzg.sem... (default)
The second, paired with colored brackets is awesome!
In Emacs I use the Tao schemes if I'm feeling mentally tired. I have variable and bracket colorization so I can just match colors on screen to what I am interested in. Another great one is late-night if I am having a migraine day (super low contrast).
I see:
- Material Ocean Next
- Ocean Next Extended
- React Ocean Next Extended
- React Ocean Next Extended - Italic
But no standalone "Ocean Next"
Oh, nice. Will be testing out this one.
> [...] I just randomly pick on ones in a while
Oh, interesting. Do you find that it takes a period of time after switching before your eyes become accustomed to the change (from a quick-code-readability perspective)?
> Some themes work better with one language than the other.
Yeah, this is the most annoying part for me.
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I remember reading a post a long time ago praising the benefits of not using syntax highlighting while coding (I'm not sure, but it may have been this one: https://www.linusakesson.net/programming/syntaxhighlighting/). Not sure if I could ever get used to not having syntax highlighting, but so much of what I like/dislike about themes revolves around syntax highlighting... perhaps it's worth testing for a period of time with syntax highlighting disabling (I assume this is even possible?).
The coverage for so many tools helps keep it consistent.
It’s one of those “black turtleneck ideas” that you can set something and forget about it, it does the job well and it can be translated to a new machine or a new tool quickly.
This stuff isn’t worth thinking about beyond week 1 of setting up a new machine.
You can always take a theme that you like and customise it so it doesn't annoy you. Go to .vscode/extensions/<theme-name>/themes/ (or equivalent location for your system) and edit the json file.
The whole palette is here: https://github.com/catppuccin/catppuccin
If I want less color then it is Py Light. If I want a good light theme then Solarized Light Alternate (really great compared to regular solarized). If I want a dark theme then it'll be Base16 Mocha, Base16 Paraiso, Pudding or skyline.
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=minamark...
I also use Discord Light Mode.
