[Tex/LaTex] Good monospace font for code in LaTeX

fontstypewriter

I'm currently working on my dissertation and am using Palatino for text with the Euler font for mathematics. As part of my work I'll be presenting quite a few code examples, and was wondering if someone could suggest a good monospace font to go with them. As an alternative I was thinking of using the Concrete Roman and Euler font package (ala Knuth's Concrete Mathematics).

Best Answer

I personally think that Knuth's typewriter fonts are still very good, an alternative is charter and bera mono if you can get them.

 \usepackage[charter]{mathdesign}
 \def\rmdefault{bch} % not scaled
 \def\ttdefault{blg}

Also check Different approach to literate programming for LaTeX for some typesetting settings for listings.

Showcase

In the following example of a bibliography with biblatex the DOI is typeset with cfr-lm.

If you want to typeset source code it might be better to use the tabular version of cfr-lm as you usually want to align stuff in your code. Personally I think that lining figures also look better in code. Therefore I'd use

\renewcommand{\ttdefault}{clmt}

which is equivalent to

\usepackage[tt={oldstyle=false,variable=false}]{cfr-lm}

Showcase

This piece of code is taken from another answer I once gave.

% arara: pdflatex: { shell: yes }
\documentclass{article}
\pagestyle{empty}% for cropping
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}% cfr-lm is T1 only
\usepackage{minted,MinionPro,caption}
%\renewcommand{\ttdefault}{clmjv}% oldstyle, proportional
\renewcommand{\ttdefault}{clmt}% lining, tabular
\newcommand\code{\texttt}
\newcommand\param{\textit}
\DeclareCaptionFont{bfmath}{\boldmath\bfseries}
\DeclareCaptionFormat{ruled}{\hrulefill\par#1#2#3}
\captionsetup{format=ruled,font=bfmath}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure}
  \centering
  \begin{minted}{c}
const uint8_t *data     = /* buffer head */;
const uint8_t *data_end = /* buffer tail */;
int size = bytestream_get_be16(&data);
if (data + size >= data_end || data + size < data)
    return -1;
data += size;
...
int len = ff_amf_tag_size(data, data_end);
if (len < 0 || data + len >= data_end
            || data + len < data)
    return -1;
data += len;
/* continue to read data */
  \end{minted}
  \caption{Unstable bounds checks in the form $\code{data} + x < \code{data}$ from FFmpeg/Libav, which gcc optimizes into $x < 0$.}
\end{figure}
\end{document}

[Tex/LaTex] Which common LaTeX Fonts come prepackaged with specific settings for Microtype

I don't think it is reasonable to expect a full list to be created and maintained here. I think it is better to explain how to figure out whether fonts have this support so that users can determine the current answer for a specific font for themselves. If nothing else, this will enable people to check whether an answer here is still correct.

Thérèse is right that $(kpsewhich -var TEXMFDIST)/tex/latex/microtype/ contains configuration files for microtype. But this provides only a limited amount of information because:

some configuration files are located elsewhere;
the presence of a configuration file does not establish support in general because whether a particular font has such support depends on further factors (the engine, the encoding etc.);
the lack of a configuration file does not demonstrate the absence of such support because one font may be declared as an alias and, if the fonts are sufficiently similar, this may amount to a custom configuration.

I illustrate these points by examples.

Configuration files elsewhere

EB Garamond: $(kpsewhich -var TEXMFDIST)/tex/latex/ebgaramond/mt-EBGaramond.cfg.
Junicode: $(kpsewhich -var TEXMFDIST)/tex/latex/junicode/mt-Junicode.cfg

Presence of file does not establish support

A file may be present without supporting a font in a particular encoding with a particular engine.

Some features of microtype just are not supported by some engines regardless of configuration files. All features are supported by pdfTeX, many are now supported by LuaTeX, some are supported by XeTeX and none are supported by TeX.
mt-LatinModernRoman.cfg does not support Latin Modern if you compile with pdfTeX because this file concerns encodings only used by XeTeX and LuaTeX. So the presence of a file for a font does not establish that customised settings will be used in your document, even if your engine supports all microtype features and you use that font. [Latin Modern is supported - see below - but this file proves nothing if you are using pdfTeX.]

Absence of file does not establish lack of support

One file may support more than one font.

mt-cmr.cfg includes this code:

\SetProtrusion
   [ name     = lmr-T1,
     load     = cmr-T1   ]
   { encoding = {T1,LY1},
     family   = lmr      }
   {
     \textquotedblleft  = {300,400},  \textquotedblright = {300,400}
   }

This means that Latin Modern Roman will largely use the protrusion settings for Computer Modern Roman when loaded in encodings T1 or LY1, with a couple of additions or adjustments.

But the crucial work is done in microtype.cfg. There a good number of aliases are defined, including:

\ifMT@fontspec
\DeclareMicrotypeAlias{lmr} {Latin Modern Roman}
\else
\DeclareMicrotypeAlias{lmr} {cmr}  % lmodern
\fi

This means that if fontspec is in use, the settings from mt-LatinModernRoman.cfg will be used. Otherwise, the settings for Computer Modern Roman will be used.

However, this is not necessarily true merely because you are using Latin Modern Roman. You must be using it as lmr. If you are using the lmodern package, all will be well. But if you are using cfr-lm, then you are using Latin Modern Roman but you are not using lmr:

\renewcommand{\rmdefault}{clm\cfrlm@rmpt\cfrlm@rmol}

Which family this is depends on the options used, but whatever options are active, the result will not be lmr. It will be clm.... So the alias configured in microtype.cfg will have no effect.

To figure out whether microtype will use custom settings, we need to look to another section of cfr-lm.sty (with some comments removed):

\newcommand{\cfr@ffs}{% alias to cmr
  clm,clm2,clm2j,clmj,% roman
  clms,clm2js,clm2s,clmjs,% sans
  clmqs,clm2jqs,clm2qs,clmjqs%
  }
\gdef\cfrlm@MicroType@Aliases{%
  \@for \xx:=\cfr@ffs \do {%
          \DeclareMicrotypeAlias{\xx}{cmr}}%
  }
\def\cfrlm@MT@Hook{\cfrlm@MicroType@Aliases}
\@ifpackageloaded{microtype}{%
  \cfrlm@MT@Hook}{%
  \@ifundefined{Microtype@Hook}{%
        \let\Microtype@Hook\cfrlm@MT@Hook}{%
        \g@addto@macro\Microtype@Hook{\cfrlm@MT@Hook}}}

This sets up aliases for the various families to Computer Modern Roman if, and only if, microtype is loaded by the user.

[To be honest, I'm not certain these are right now. Every time I look into this, it seems different. However, my code is apparently based on discussion on this site, so it must be good ;), mustn't it?]

The Acid Test

If all of that seems really complicated, that's because it is. Fortunately, there is a very simple way to determine whether a font has customised microtype settings or not. Simply use the font in a document, compile with microtype and examine the log file.

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{cfr-lm}
\usepackage{microtype,kantlipsum}

\begin{document}

\kant[1]

\end{document}

Compiling this test with pdfLaTeX, the following lines appear in the log file:

(/usr/local/texlive/2014/texmf-dist/tex/latex/microtype/mt-cmr.cfg
File: mt-cmr.cfg 2013/05/19 v2.2 microtype config. file: Computer Modern Roman

This shows that the alias has resulted in the relevant settings being loaded.

Now replace cfr-lm by kpfonts and examine the log:

Package microtype Info: Loading generic settings for font family
(microtype)             `jkp' (encoding: OT1).
(microtype)             For optimal results, create family-specific settings.
(microtype)             For optimal results, create family-specific settings.
(microtype)             See the microtype manual for details.

This tells us that no custom settings for jkp with encoding OT1 were found and that microtype is therefore relying on generic settings in this case.

Final note

Of course, whether font-specific settings are an improvement depends entirely on the quality of those settings. If I've messed up the aliases in cfr-lm or the person who created the settings for Computer Modern Roman lacked an eye for detail, you might be better off with the generics!

EDIT

Here are the results replacing cfr-lm in the above with newcent and compiling with pdfLaTeX:

Package microtype Info: Loading generic settings for font family
(microtype)             `pnc' (encoding: OT1).
(microtype)             For optimal results, create family-specific settings.
(microtype)             See the microtype manual for details.

So microtype uses generic settings in this case.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[Tex/LaTex] Minion Pro and Monospace Font

Showcase

Showcase

[Tex/LaTex] Which common LaTeX Fonts come prepackaged with specific settings for Microtype

Configuration files elsewhere

Presence of file does not establish support

Absence of file does not establish lack of support

The Acid Test

Final note

EDIT

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