Pardon the Star Wars pun; I needed something to get your attention. I started writing code over 10 years ago with HTML. (Shut your mouth. HTML is not a programming language.) Back then I was working in Notepad and Microsoft FrontPage. A few years later I started C# programming in Visual Studio. I’ll cut to the chase in case you don’t know where I’m going with this. There was no dark mode. The text editors were white and the font was black. As syntax highlighters got more mature, the text started turning blue for keywords, red for strings, and gray for parameters. In college I used VS, Eclipse, VS Code, and NetBeans in light mode. I grew up before the dark times.
Fast forward to when Windows 10 introduced a dark mode. I switched my PC so that I no longer stare at floodlights before going to bed. A month ago, my eyes started hurting after staring at Visual Studio and I changed the color theme to dark. Its much easier on the eyes, even when the beautiful Washington Fall sunlight shines through my window.
I used to make fun of people who used dark mode; thought they were fools with weak eyes. I’ve matured since then. Please accept this apology.
Stare at both pictures for 1000 hours and make the decision for yourself. The code is from the DirectX 12 Bundle sample.
+ I never mocked people who used dark mode. That was satire and you must point it out when only communicating through text. People who use Emacs though…
No shit it’s bright.
No shit it’s dark.