Years ago, when I first started programming, I used Sublime Text, and I was captivated by its theme colors, Monokai. Its blue and red were especially striking to me, resonating deeply. So many years have passed, and I’ve encountered and used many great color themes, but Monokai has always held a special place in my heart. To me, it’s not just a theme; it represents the beginning of my programming journey. Recently, I even created what I consider the most accurate Monokai theme for my Neovim, which accompanies me for over 10 hours every day.
Author here, thanks for posting. I made a quick history page of the Monokai color scheme, as I regularly get questions where Monokai originated (I first made it for Textmate), what its name means or if Monokai Pro was made by the same person as the original Monokai color scheme (yes).
Hope I can link to this page in the future. If you have any more questions, I'm here!
I’ll buy the SublimeText version, but I mainly use CLion nowadays and I would definitely buy it again for that IDE. Are you working on other editors or IDE for this color scheme?
I'm exploring how I could make an official Jetbrains theme package at the moment. It's a different codebase again, and it has their own marketplace flow for plugins, so I have to dive into this a bit more.
I can't stand the cursive text in the Sublime Text and vscode themes, and to me that goes against what I conceived Monokai to be, having been introduced to it through vim in a terminal that didn't have any cursive fonts set up. I'm inclined to think of this as like Star Wars remakes where the author messed up their own creations.
Edit: wow, it was made in 2006? Not as old as I thought! First in TextMate? I probably saw the TextMate version. I feel like it didn't have cursive back when I would have seen it, between 2006 when I got into Ruby on Rails and 2010 when I switched to vim. I actually like cursive on paper, I just never got into the fonts. To each their own I guess. https://benatkin.com/2006/04/01/editing-textareas-w-textmate...
Tried a lot of Monokai-likes or named themes, then picked Monokai Pro and purchased it 4 years ago, and only realized it is the real successor of the original Monokai today.
It's the only color scheme I've used for over 8 years if considering the usage of orig Monokai. For me, it's worth more than its price.
This topic comes up from time to time, and I understand, this isn't for everyone. I've made it so you can use it for free, with only a periodic prompt to register.
The Monokai Pro packages for Sublime Text and VSCode go beyond a simple set of colors. They offer UI theme customizations, multiple filters, easy switching between themes, and a custom icon pack, all designed to work together. Maintaining this takes ongoing effort to ensure compatibility with new UI elements and syntax changes as these editors evolve. In return, I ask for a modest fee to support the work involved.
I don't use the official Monokai Pro theme, I use a remake of it for Nova editor. But I still paid the Monokai creator as imho they have earned it. Pay it forward.
I used Monokai on Intellij and at that time it was the only color scheme I liked. I really appreciate the vibrant colors. The light scheme is much appreciated. I know some people look down on themes as being silly, but a good color scheme can help you navigate code easier. Plus it's just fun. On a sidenote what are your go to themes?
I still feel both Sublime and VSC are steps back in productivity over TM. The casualness of going from a simple notepad-like window to project-IDE meant small ideas could grow without getting caught up in the boilerplate.
Too bad it got left in the dust.
I've been using TextMate as daily driver until earlier this year. As a pure text editor it just can't be beat in terms of little features (native macOS, keybindings, unsaved file are handling, multiple caret editing, etc), but it is lacking as IDE in the modern day without treesitter or lsp support. After trying multiple different editors I ended up with Zed which comes closes for me.
I'm still using Sublime Text every day. For me it strikes the right balance between casualness, speed and productivity without too much clutter. Just a few plugins: SublimeLinter (Eslint), LSP TypeScript + Copilot and some syntax highlighting packages.
Still using the original Solarized myself. My colour config has been migrated across machines for 13 years now. I'm obviously a creature of habit. I can't remember which terminal colours I used prior to Solarized.
Years ago, when I first started programming, I used Sublime Text, and I was captivated by its theme colors, Monokai. Its blue and red were especially striking to me, resonating deeply. So many years have passed, and I’ve encountered and used many great color themes, but Monokai has always held a special place in my heart. To me, it’s not just a theme; it represents the beginning of my programming journey. Recently, I even created what I consider the most accurate Monokai theme for my Neovim, which accompanies me for over 10 hours every day.
For folks who also like it, pick it up here: https://github.com/rockyzhang24/dotfiles/blob/master/.config...
Author here, thanks for posting. I made a quick history page of the Monokai color scheme, as I regularly get questions where Monokai originated (I first made it for Textmate), what its name means or if Monokai Pro was made by the same person as the original Monokai color scheme (yes).
Hope I can link to this page in the future. If you have any more questions, I'm here!
I’ll buy the SublimeText version, but I mainly use CLion nowadays and I would definitely buy it again for that IDE. Are you working on other editors or IDE for this color scheme?
I'm exploring how I could make an official Jetbrains theme package at the moment. It's a different codebase again, and it has their own marketplace flow for plugins, so I have to dive into this a bit more.
Why write in third person?
When writing this page, it felt more like a history wiki page than a personal blog to me.
I really like the writing and don't understand the criticism.
Awkward that it's written in the third person.
I can't stand the cursive text in the Sublime Text and vscode themes, and to me that goes against what I conceived Monokai to be, having been introduced to it through vim in a terminal that didn't have any cursive fonts set up. I'm inclined to think of this as like Star Wars remakes where the author messed up their own creations.
Edit: wow, it was made in 2006? Not as old as I thought! First in TextMate? I probably saw the TextMate version. I feel like it didn't have cursive back when I would have seen it, between 2006 when I got into Ruby on Rails and 2010 when I switched to vim. I actually like cursive on paper, I just never got into the fonts. To each their own I guess. https://benatkin.com/2006/04/01/editing-textareas-w-textmate...
> I can't stand the cursive text in the Sublime Text and vscode themes
I'm pretty sure that's just the typeface used in screenshots. I use Berkeley Mono in Sublime Text. No cursive to be found.
It could be "font-style": "italic" https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/color_schemes.html#example
It may skip over it if the font doesn't have an italic variant.
Tried a lot of Monokai-likes or named themes, then picked Monokai Pro and purchased it 4 years ago, and only realized it is the real successor of the original Monokai today.
It's the only color scheme I've used for over 8 years if considering the usage of orig Monokai. For me, it's worth more than its price.
i know it's hard work but still find it hard to justify paying for colorscheme. Am I alone in this?
This topic comes up from time to time, and I understand, this isn't for everyone. I've made it so you can use it for free, with only a periodic prompt to register.
The Monokai Pro packages for Sublime Text and VSCode go beyond a simple set of colors. They offer UI theme customizations, multiple filters, easy switching between themes, and a custom icon pack, all designed to work together. Maintaining this takes ongoing effort to ensure compatibility with new UI elements and syntax changes as these editors evolve. In return, I ask for a modest fee to support the work involved.
Certainly not alone but it being something I use everyday and makes things just a little nicer for me, I was happy to pay for it
I’ve spent money on way dumber things
I’m picky and there just aren’t too many good ones, free or paid, so I’d probably pay some small amount.
Nope, asking money for a colourscheme is ridiculous.
I don't use the official Monokai Pro theme, I use a remake of it for Nova editor. But I still paid the Monokai creator as imho they have earned it. Pay it forward.
Totally reasonable. I do think the price is fair- I've been using Monokai Pro for years. It feels like home.
Compare that to say... going out for two drinks anywhere in North America. Or trying to buy popcorn at the movie theatre.
its pure nonsense.
No you are not
I used Monokai on Intellij and at that time it was the only color scheme I liked. I really appreciate the vibrant colors. The light scheme is much appreciated. I know some people look down on themes as being silly, but a good color scheme can help you navigate code easier. Plus it's just fun. On a sidenote what are your go to themes?
I found the use of red as a non-error color distracting.
This has always been a problem for me and has led to disregarding many otherwise ok colourschemes.
So many great ideas started on TextMate. It was revolutionary and its influence on modern editors cannot be understated.
I still feel both Sublime and VSC are steps back in productivity over TM. The casualness of going from a simple notepad-like window to project-IDE meant small ideas could grow without getting caught up in the boilerplate. Too bad it got left in the dust.
I've been using TextMate as daily driver until earlier this year. As a pure text editor it just can't be beat in terms of little features (native macOS, keybindings, unsaved file are handling, multiple caret editing, etc), but it is lacking as IDE in the modern day without treesitter or lsp support. After trying multiple different editors I ended up with Zed which comes closes for me.
I'm still using Sublime Text every day. For me it strikes the right balance between casualness, speed and productivity without too much clutter. Just a few plugins: SublimeLinter (Eslint), LSP TypeScript + Copilot and some syntax highlighting packages.
Monokai has a retro feeling that brings back to the CGA graphic card. The colors are pretty much the same.
There’s a cool CSS vignette effect on this webpage that I hadn’t seen before.
I don't see it
Monokai is pretty good, but the GOAT is zenburn! It deserves more recognition.
https://github.com/jnurmine/Zenburn
I cannot let go of the green mid 2000s Steam user interface aesthetic
I've been using Selenized for many years now and I'm quite happy with it.
https://github.com/jan-warchol/selenized
(As an aside, why was the title changed to remove clarifying what Monokai is?)
Still using the original Solarized myself. My colour config has been migrated across machines for 13 years now. I'm obviously a creature of habit. I can't remember which terminal colours I used prior to Solarized.
HN rules prioritize using the original page title.
The page title is "The history of the Monokai color scheme" which is what the title originally was
When I need to focus on understanding code, I switch to monochrome: black background with amber or green text, like a good old VT-100 terminal.