FiraCode

Fira Code is a free monospaced font designed for writing source code. Its standout feature is what the project calls programming ligatures: when you type common multi-character symbols like the arrow -> or the not-equal sign != or the assignment :=, the editor draws them as a single combined glyph (an actual arrow, an actual crossed-out equals) instead of separate characters. The text on disk does not change — what you save is still plain ASCII — only how the font renders it on screen. The reasoning the README gives is that programmers read these sequences as one logical thing in their head, so showing them as one shape lets the eye scan code faster instead of mentally stitching the parts together. The font ships with ligatures for the symbols that come up most often in code, plus a large set of arrow shapes that you can make longer by combining pieces, and adjusted spacing for sequences like .. or //. It also includes several alternate character shapes (stylistic sets and character variants) so users can pick the look they prefer, dedicated glyphs for box drawing and Powerline-style console interfaces, and even glyphs for drawing progress bars in the terminal. Its Unicode coverage extends to mathematical notation. Someone would use Fira Code as their daily editor font if they like the ligature look or want a clean, well-tuned monospaced typeface. The README includes long compatibility tables showing which editors and terminals render the ligatures correctly and which do not, plus links to enabling instructions for popular tools. Installation is a normal font install on the operating system.