New poll! Just for funzies. Do you prefer…
Light Code on Dark Background
Like this:
or…
Dark Code on Light Background
Like this:
Those are just examples. Doesn’t have to be those exact syntax highlighting themes. But I believe all themes fall into those two categories.
I personally prefer to code light on dark, but not white on black that’s too much. I use the birds of prey theme for text mate.
birds of paradise* not birds of prey.
I prefer my code to be light on dark. I think the color differences in the syntax are easier and quicker to see and make the sections of code more readable. I don’t like a total black background, more of a 36,36,36 rgb color
However, when viewing websites, I prefer dark text on light backgrounds because the inverse leaves imprints in my eyes and when I look away I see lines. This doesn’t happen when I code all day for some reason.
Light code on dark!
I prefer use light code on dark, the syntax of code are very easy because of the color differences.
Other motive is… I LOVE black color for everything…
Birds of prey sounded more awesome. :)
Light code on a dark background
Same. Especially at night when I do a lot of my personal work.
Light on Dark background
Light code on dark FTW!
dark code on a light background is difficult to read as the light background is too “bright” for the eye to read the dark code. It’s like reading a white web page in the dark – it hurts the eyes!
Do you code in the dark? If so I don’t follow the comparison to reading a web page with a white background.
Even though i use dark on light on a day to day basis, i still think the dark background above is far easier to read.
Maybe i need to re-evaluate my IDE!
Light on dark for my own editing (Mac Classic color scheme in Sublime Text 2), but dark on light for code on web pages.
I agree with Senff.
I agree too…
Me too
I also agree.
Light Code on Dark Background – I find it’s much easier on my eyes for long coding sessions.
i feel like the light on dark was this website-s thing already but i can-t remember- it matches better with the color scheme and seems pretty signature with the theme used here
Definitely Light On Dark. It’s feel much more magically, plus when coding with Harry Potter Movies Soundtrack (i usually code with it…) I feel like in Hogwart ;D
I use light code over dark background (Darkcula theme on IntelliJ Idea). Previously used dark over light, but I switched because I feel like the dark theme is more restful for my eyes.
It honestly doesn’t matter all that much to me. I started out with just dark on light only. Then tools like ST2 got me into light on dark because it was a nice switch. Now Brackets has me enjoying dark on light again.
You have taken the words out of my mouth. I used to use dark background but now that I am using Brackets I like the light background again.
https://github.com/Jacse/themes-for-brackets
Light code on dark background for sure. It is way easier on the eyes at night, and coupled with f.lux, its awesome!
People using a mac (be it under osx or linux) can adjust brightness depending on actual ambient light. It also renders light on dark very badly, since the light is dimmed when it’s dark.
I wanted to talk about f.lux too, it’s a great softwares and it totally changed my life!
kapouer > f.lux does not change the brightness or anything like that. It changes the color temperature which is totally different and can be much more efficient.
Definitely light code on dark background! With light background you end up with tired eyes.
Light code on a dark background! I find it much easier on my eyes over a long period of time.
light on dark!
Light on dark all the way!
at day -> light background
at night -> dark background
I prefer light colors on dark background, currently Erebus in ST2.
Definitely light on dark. I can’t take the brightness of dark on white when in a dimly light area.
I prefer light code on dark background, much better to stay focused.
Monokai Dark baby!
definitely light on dark
Light code on a dark background (solarized dark) and i’ve skinned my shell and chrome dev tools to match. I just wish the chrome dev tools markup was more customizable.
I definitely prefer a light background over dark – light code on a dark background makes my eyes go buggy and my head hurt. It seems I’m in the minority, though!
Light/dark preferences aside, though, if you’re not using Solarized you’re just not hooked up right.
Oop, forgot the Solarized screenshot, for those of you not familiar with it:
Or nevermind! Apparently images show up in the comment preview but not in the comment itself. Argh.
Solarized is just too much blue for me. I used it for 3 or 4 months, but I had to go back to Tomorrow Night.
It’s been proven again and again that your eyes read dark text on a light background more easily.
While this is generally true, it’s all about context and function. When you’re coding, you’re reading in a quite different way than if you’re reading a block of text. That’s why we have code highlighters.
In fact, the question is a little more complex than Chris is asking. Coding plain white on a dark background is hard to read. But most of us have highlighters, and the dark background makes it much easier to scan and pick out the code, which is what we need to do when coding.
So, colored on dark is better than colored on light.
If we wanted an easy life, we wouldn’t be coding ;-)
Depends on the monitor I’m using. If working on my Apple 27″ Thunderbolt display (reflective finish) I prefer dark on light background. If working on non-reflective (matte) display the light on dark background is my preference.
I’ve read that using light on dark when working at night helps to keep your circadian sleep rhythms. Coding on light background at night will fool your body into thinking it is still day out, making it harder to sleep. SO I agree with the other Chris’s comment, and switch between solarized dark and light depending on the time of day.
Dark on Light
I currently use the Prospettiva theme.
Light on dark for sure.
Dark on Light! No Contest
Light code on a dark background; much more visually appealing and less intrusive on my eyes, imo. However, it also depends on the light in my environment. If it’s a bit dark, I might switch over the opposite end of the spectrum so I can see code easier.
I meant light on dark!
For code snippets on websites and in text editors, like Sublime Text 2, I prefer much more light code on dark background
Light on dark. Much easier on the eye over long periods of time.
dark on light
Light on dark all the way. Otherwise I get massive headaches.
It depends on light in my enviroment. Anyway i love to code with Light code on a dark background
Yellowish on Semi dark ^^
Sublime Text 2 with Flatland (https://github.com/thinkpixellab/flatland), love it!
Light on a dark background. It’s less stress on my eyes & more energy efficient. Plus, my entire Mac OS is themed dark.
Light on Dark for Notepad++ (custom style based on Black Board theme) and for SQL editing, with Dina font.
Dark on Light for everything else.
I definitely prefer the light code on dark background. Since you’re all dying to know: ST2, Midnight Clouds theme.
I prefer Dark on Light myself. Will go the other way if I can’t find something I like better.
Dark on Light ( Sublime Text 3 default )
I prefer the code in white background.
Ugh, i meant **Light text on Dark BG ( brain fart )
Light Code on Dark Background allows me to work more hours with less eyestrain.
I preffer light code on dark background, it doesn’t make my eyes feel tired.
Light Code on Dark Background is good only when you are sitting in dark room. But, it’s bad for your eyes by itself. Mostly, I’m coding in light environment (daylight or room light), and light code is too contrast on dark background for my eyes, so Dark Code on Light Background wins undisputably. And yes, I have 100% perfect eyesight.
BTW, the last theme sucks. You should try Soda Light or Phoenix Theme forked from it.
Haha.. I prefer light color font on dark background…Have a good Ambience..;)…
Oh come on, you’re totally leaving out those of us who go both ways depending on the day. :D
Light Code on Dark Background
I don’t see the difference between coding and reading. And most people prefer to read dark text on a light background (at least during the day), right?
For reading simple web pages (like blog posts and news articles), I don’t mind dark text on a light background. But for code, I prefer the dark background because colorful syntax highlighting seems to stand out more.
I used to be dark on light, but since I made the switch to Sublime Text 2 I’m all about Blackboard. Now, even your example image for dark on light hurts my eyes.
Neither! Of those two I prefer lighter writing on a dark background. Less glare. But, despite not being dyslexic, I suffer from Irlen’s Syndrome. My comfort zones are green and purple. Wherever possible I go for a lightish green on a soft purple background.
I should point out my partner, who is both dyslexic and a fellow Irlen’s sufferer, practically vomits when she reads on my colour choices. She quite likes (in web colours) silver on midnight blue or similar.
Im dark text on white bg all the way. I’m actually really surprised that the opposite seems to be more popular. For me its way harder to just look and see where I was.
Whichever I choose it has to be relatively low contrast background vs. letters (so no black on white or vice versa but rather shades of greys and pastels) and relatively high contrast for markup (like cold and warm colours to separate things visually)
Light on dark, definitely.
From fast reading the comments it looks like coders/programmers are exclusively a bunch of night creatures :)
I understand the benefits of light on dark when it is actually dark, but that is a bit hard to achieve when people have daily jobs + I still think that it’s better (for me) to have a light on during “limited light coding sessions”.
Reading light on dark doesn’t end well for my eyes during day…I can then evaluate my code burned in the retina on a white wall :)
So, dark code on light background for me, but do as it best suits your eyes of course.
I prefer light over dark. good for eyes in both day and night. The text looks much better, readable and helps in long code sessions.
I always lean towards light code on a darker background, not white over black because that’s way too much contrast.
I do not like switching between light-on-dark and dark-on-light. But I read webpages/documentation constantly while I’m coding, and they are almost all dark-on-light (e.g. StackOverflow, NYTimes, CSS-Tricks, vast majority of internet). Therefore I standardize on dark-on-light for coding. This applies to all applications, including Terminal.app/Console2.
The great thing about this is that at night, when I’m coding in bed or while watching a movie, I use Mac’s Universal Access color inversion, or NegativeScreen on Windows, to switch everything to light-on-dark. This reduces the light output of my screen, and provides a consistent experience between coding and web browsing.
That is a very interesting question because you never think about it that much, you just do it intuitively. Also: codepen looks very weird with a white background ;)
Light on dark. To those who say there is no difference between reading and coding and therefore dark on light makes sense, I’d say that the real difference is syntax highlighting. The different colours are more obvious when against black, for sure.
As for the terminal, I choose home brew because I want to feel like I’m in the matrix, and for no other reason. ;)
Light on dark
Light on dark, simply because it is just aesthetically pleasing to my personal tastes.
I love any color on white. However, when light on dark it looks as if you were doing something more impressive. So, i might just switch just so that i can turn some heads.
light code on dark here
Currently I am loving the Dark on White interface of Brackets, but it really depends on the lighting around me, if it’s dark I prefer Light text with Dark BG, vise versa if it’s bright.
Twilight theme (light on dark) in Sublime Text 2.
I feel that Light on dark would best suit this. it’d would be a cool change to the dark on light but i feel that light on dark has been such a huge part of your website almost like a founding father.
Light on Dark. It’s better for your eyes in the long run. ;)
Light on dark
It depends for me from time to time. For Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, Eclipse, Xcode and Textmate, I use Dark on Light. With Sublime Text 2, Textmate 2, etc. I like to use Light on Dark.
Visual Studio can be set to light on dark, that’s what I run.
light on dark!
I WOULD prefer light on dark, but unfortunately Dreamweaver doesn’t offer that – maybe in a future release, now that Photoshop and Illustrator have turned dark (as Lightroom always has been).
Will go for dark code on a light background! I find it much easier to read and focus:)
Light code on dark background.
Light-on-Dark. Saves on energy. Saves on the eyes.
Actually it doesn’t save the energy, unless you’re still on CRT that is.
Actually it doesn’t save the eyes, unless you work in a dark cave with no light, have a screen with no adjustable brightness and never switch to a webpage or a PDF that is…
Light on dark
Light on dark! Using Monokai color theme for Sublime2.
Without a doubt, Light Code on Dark Background.
Light Code on Dark Background! Always my preference!
I would definitely say I prefer light-on-dark.
I’ve been digging Dark on Light – the Solarized (Light) theme for Sublime Text 2.
i prefer dark on light simply because other way around reminds me too much of cmd-line. i am so not a cmd-line person, scares me, really.
Dark code on a light background strains my eyes. Or maybe I’m getting old?
Dark code on light background. Can’t stand the reverse.
Sublime Text 2 Monokai! (Light on dark)
Light on dark is so much easier on the eyes. I use the Tomorrow Night in PHPStorm.
Light code on dark background.
Personally, the color psychology has been that the light code on dark backgrounds is the “backstage” (source code) of the Internet, while the “Main stage” (Websites) have (for the most part) the dark text and light background.
Switched in the past year to light on dark. I will never go back to dark on light. In a weird way reminds me of the old unix terminals, and I like it.
Switched to dark background recently still getting used to it :)
Is it just me or is the code colour in the two examples the same?
light code & dark background :D
http://d.pr/i/kQzJ
Dark background FTW!
NOTE: Funny, I voted for the first time on this poll and it said: “You Had Already Voted For This Poll. Poll ID #43”
And Sublime Text FTW too! :D
I prefer the dark background with lighter text. It makes it much easier on the eyes.
For purely aesthetical reasons, I would prefer light text on a dark background. It’s purely subjective and not practical whatsoever, but I think it looks better.
Still, I really think that the “better for the eyes” kind of arguments which pretends that less light into your eyes is nicer for long sessions of coding are mainly bullsh*t… Let me explain!
First: having to much light into your eyes really applies under two conditions: you cannot modify the brightness of your screen and you code in the dark. In a proper working environment, this should not be the case.
Second: even if you are so hardcore that you code all night long on a sucky CRT screen, you are not staring at the code all the time. Anyone, while coding, will check “stuff” on internet or in PDF documents. These are in general with a light background and a dark foreground, and switching from one two the others ends up with a terrible blinking effect.
So when I’m at work, I work in a bright environment, I adjust the screen’s brightness to my convenance, and I use light background/dark foreground so that everything is coherent.
If in extreme cases I can’t be in such bright environment, and my screen is too bright, I do like using a dark background and a light foreground, but I then invert the colors of my PDF and use a Chrome extension to invert my browsing as well.
It depends on the time of the day.When I’m going on the middle of the day, when everything is light and sunny around me, I prefer dark on light.
When I’m coding in the night, when everything is dark around you, I prefer light on dark.
And please note that the difference between light and dark shouldn’t be that big. Usually #333 for dark and #eee for light or something like that.
Light on dark especially on a good tool like Sublime Text.
Light on Dark.
Ok, and how do you install it?
I looked for ‘tyrion’ on Package Control and nothing came up. Also, there’s no explanation on how to install it on your README page.
Thanks in advance.
Dark!
That is…light text on dark background :)
Dark, all the way…
Light on Dark with Base16
I keep switching…. Actually I dont have bulbs in my room, I switch to white background during night, to see the keyboard properly !!! Oh and bulbs ? its mystery
Dark on light: Solarized (Light) in Sublime Text 2
light on dark in ST2. Using Tron for CSS/SCSS and Twilight for all others.
I use light on dark background because I find it a lot easier on the eye. Staring at a bright white screen all day, every day takes it’s toll.
Light on Dark
Dark on light. The reverse makes my eyes ache.
Light on dark. It’s much easier on my eyes.
in well lit situations, dark text on a light background, but the opposite when it is dark
Light on Dark
SublimeText2 with Flatland Monakai
Thanks Leon for the reference of that theme Flatland Monokai for Sublime Text 2, using it right now :)
NP! Whenever I get some spare time I need to make my own Sublime Text 2 themes
light code on dark background. Sublime text using Flatland Dark them.
light code on dark background. Sublime text using Flatland Dark theme.
If this question came one month ago. I would’ve said: white background with dark code. But i took the switch a month ago. Now i use dark bg with light code. It might be a Nice test for some people
to try something else. They might be surprised after some time :)
definitely light code on dark background, much easier on the eyes :-)
Light code on dark background for sure. I find the special text colours much nicer to read on black than their alternatives on white. Also it looks cooler so it makes me feel more pro.
Always Light on Dark!
for me it’s easier to be long time focus on a light code on dark background
Light on Dark. Easier on the eyes & saves power :p
I noticed that where i work, this is something the ‘front-end guys’ are more talking about. Showing of themes, etc.. And the back-end guys just code and code and code without too much fancy stuff. Most of the time dark on light.
created my own textmate-template which is light on darkbrown
I used to code with a white background but recently changed editors and themes.
I now use IdleFingers on Sublime and I just find the softer colours easier to work with over longer periods along with having a more defined editor space compared to my lighter browsers and documents.
I’ve been a big fan of Solarized, but I’ve changed it slightly, as I can’t easily see when I’m selecting text.
I also like Red Sands for terminal work but tend to use different colour schemes for different purposes as a visual cue to stop me updating the wrong platforms.
Nothing will ever replace my Amiga Workbench with yellow on blue though!
Dark Code on Light Background
Am I the only one using a Macbook?
I’d love to use light text on dark background, unfortunately on any recent Apple notebook glass screen + dark background = mirror so actually got no choice.
I use dark code on white background.
Because it’s the way whe learn to read. Studies show that it is more difficult to read and to focus on light characters over black bg than the opposite. You probably wouldn’t buy a book with light text on black bg.
The example above is not representative because the font color used suits perfectly with black bg. I would have liked to see two more examples showing font color more suitable on black bg.
I see only esthetic reasons why light on dark is chosen.
I prefer “Light Code on Dark Background”… it is easier on the eyes
Light Code on Dark Background
I find it easier on the eyes.
light on dark, no doubt!
Got to be Light Code on Dark Background. The other way around has probably damaged my eyesight permanently. Thankfully Sublime text and texmate have great skins for this but for those of you using Dreamweaver there’s always something like this: http://www.xenon-webdesign.co.uk/dev/dark-code-view-theme-color-scheme-dreamweaver-cs3-sublime-text-skin/
Light Code on Dark Background and Netbeans in my iMac. :)
Dark code on a light background! The dark background version hurts my eyes. I read somewhere that studies show that most people under 30 find light text on a dark background easier to read, and over 30 it’s the reverse. I’m (well) over 30, but judging from the avatars here, I’m guessing that most people here are in the under-30 category.
Dark on light. Ever.
Dark Code on Light Background
“….Luke…come to the light text on Dark side….Oh and BTW, I am your father….”
Light code on dark background a la Sublime Text 2. Much easier on the eyes (taken to extremes, which is easier on your eyes – staring into the sun, or staring into the starry night sky?).
Light on dark for me. Find it easier to scan lines as there is more contrast in syntax colouring.
I also like it as it brings back nostalgic memories of programming on my old Spectrum 48k.
Light on dark for sure. I started seeing flickery floaters while coding on a bright white screen, but with the light on dark Phoenix theme for Sublime Text, I don’t have that issue anymore. Plus, I just think it looks nicer.
I stopped using DOS a long time ago. And i have a job that has me coding in the daytime. Dark on light.
light background because it’s much better for the eyes when you spend the whole day doing your coding work.
Light background with darker code for me…easier on my eyes! :-)
Light on Dark! So much easier on the eyes. Currently I’m using the ‘D is for Dark’ theme for Espresso.
For me dark background with light code is better, it’s cool and quite relaxing for eyes.
I have always liked Light on Dark, just something more pleasing about it.
Light on dark!
Light code on dark background is better for my eyes, but many editor’s schemes come with inadequacy minor colors like dark comments on dark background. I must then manually fix it, but I have no time so I get used to dark on light scheme.
I code with a dark text on light background. Been coding that way for almost 15 years. I really like the light on dark look, but stuck in my old ways I guess.
I Love DARK background
Light Dark Background is easier to read. IMHO
I use both! During the day I find a white background easier on the eyes. And during nighttime coding, I often switch my color scheme to a dark background.
Personally I prefer dark code on light background so that I can see well everyone developer has own opinion I have my own.
light on dark
Light on dark. Also increasing the font size so I don’t have to lean over so much.
Light on dark, with a customized syntax highlighting scheme that makes sense to me.
I actually programmed Vim to use a light background during the day and a dark one in the evenings, to adjust for the amount of natural light around me at different times.
I have a custom “Coda Bright” theme, so I prefer light code on a dark background. I think the preference also has to do with the fact that I’m frequently working late at night in a dark bedroom. Even when I work during the day, my workspace is rather dark & cave-like. In that situation a bright white screen is too hard on my eyes, the dark background is more soothing. Of course when I teach seminar classes at my community college, everyone complains with the light-on-dark setup. Maybe the “standard” dark-on-light setup is just preferred in the classroom environment?
Light on dark. For eye.
I prefer light on dark in notepad++, but dark on light in eclipse go figure.
Dark on light. That’s because: I mainly code during daylight; that’s the default color scheme for text editors and GUIs (Eclipse, for example), and I’m usually too lazy to change it.
The background usually isn’t #ffffff, anyway.
I like light text on dark background, easier on the eyes…
<- Sublime Text 2 / Cobalt Theme
I am using Monokai Bright with my tiny change in theme.
I tried light text on dark background for 10 minutes and I had to revert back to dark on light. The reason is simple—working on Mac===horrible amount of reflections and glare and I wouldn’t be able to stare at my ugly mug all day long.
Plus my eyes go all fuzzy after staring at such a contrast combination.
As a designer, I’m more used to the light background, but I admit that for long sessions of coding, the dark background is easy to the eyes: too many hours of white display is like having a bulb in front of your eyes.
I prefer Dark on Light but I modify the background to a softer eggshell color to make it easier on my eyes.
I’m a convert to light on dark.
It soothes the soul as well as not making your eyes so tired when working late into the evening
Light code on dark
it relaxes my eyes :)
like Visual Studio 2012 default theme THE DARK ONE
Chocolate color in BG
light on dark will be more preferable…..!
Dark on light in phpDesigner 8
I’m really prefer dark background on light code.
Light code on Dark background, I use Railscasts color theme, which is very similar to the first screenshot of the article
No doubt about it, dark text on light background.
Light background in daylight.
Dark background at night or low-light.
Light Code on Dark Background, and love the flatlander theme!
I also prefer light on dark. Black Board, Plastic Code Wrap and Mono Industrial are my favorite themes in Notepad++
Strangely enought, I use both Windows (for work) and Linux (for home & work) and I code black on white background on windows, and white on black background on Linux (I use vim on linux terms). It doesn’t depends on the language. (I code in several languages from C# to python and javascript).
What I find most interesting is not the discussion about light-on-dark-or-vice-versa (to me a bit irrelevant to be honest), but some of the comments from really smart individuals. Got to read many interesting ones, and a few niceties that bright people share with each other. Even though there are differences of opinion–and the related heated discussions that accompany them altogether. It all makes sense. That is why css-tricks is, in my humble opinion, a daily dose of sanity. Thanks Chris for the provocative poll, and thank you all for sharing with such generosity.
Light on dark – definitely!
Love this blog…thanks as always =)
I prefer light on dark. I originally used this on the laptop to save battery life, but then grew fond of the style and continue to use daily.
hé!
Dark Code on Light Background
Dark Code / Light Background
I used to code with black on white background but I have switched some time ago. Now I prefer coding on black background
Dark on light background.
Light on dark may be more of a nerdy coders thing, but I am on a Macbook Pro with a glossy screen. On dark screens you end up looking at your own reflection. In my case, a particularly nice sight to behold!
Edit:
I mean not nice…
I’d love to add another dimension to this – it would an interesting study of data as it relates to vision or corrected vision. Basically, how many light text on dark background coders have corrected vision.
This is something that has been on my mind for years, as a person who has been writing code for over 30 years, and still have impeccable, uncorrected vision (never had to wear glasses) I much prefer dark text on light background. Think the only time I ever really had to code light on dark was on the TRS-80’s, and when I coded on green screens, I almost always had to adjust the contrast so the background was more a light green rather than black :)
Another dimension to add is that I also prefer coding in nicely lit environments, not too bright and certainly devoid of light.
Maybe someone will create a multi-faceted poll and disseminate the data someday, but until then I’d say whatever makes you more productive and less prone to headaches works best…
Definitely light on dark. I think it would be useful to add a poll form to your blog, it would be interesting to see a graph of preferences… anyway from comments it seems to me that light on dark is the winner! :-)
Light on dark for sure. It feels a bit like Matrix
Light code on dark background ..
Dark code on light background for sure!
light code on dark background…
If I may weigh in on this, I’m from both an art and cs background. Because of the mind’s psychology white looks flat/does not have depth (like looking at a white wall) versus black has a ton of depth (like looking in a dark room). I code dark on light because it seems like it’s fixed depth away from me, and perhaps it’s familiar because of writing. Light on dark looks nicer I think, but I feel like the dark background makes me stare into space well beyond the code and the bright letters are hard to read. I would consider switching, though, if it was easier on my eyes.
In art school I was told that dark text on a light background is easier to read on paper, and light text on a dark background is easier to read on screen. Test for yourself and you’re likely to agree. The reason is because on paper, light is being reflected naturally off the white paper, and our eyes can deal with that just fine. Black paper would absorb the light making it slightly harder to discern the letters. On screen however, the light is being emitted from the screen itself, which makes it harder on the eyes to read dark text on a white background because the white is emitting all that light which competes with the black text. This is why text needs to be slightly heavier on screen than it does on paper for good readability, and a darker background with lighter text is easier on the eyes on screen.
definitely light on dark
I tend to use light (or fairly colorful) on dark. Mostly because the brightness of light backgrounds hurts my eyes… especially the longer I stare at it all day.
I preferred Dark on light. I don’t like blacky BG. :)
Dark on light. I’ve been coding (mostly HTML & CSS) for about 12 years, and I’ve tried light-on-dark multiple times, and can’t stand it. When I go back & forth from my code to the page I’m building (which, obviously, happens all day long), going from the dark code screen to a (usually) much brighter web page (or most other apps, for that matter), I find the constant, back-and-forth value change horrible on the eyes. For me, the key to pleasing dark-on-light setup is a light neutral grey-ish background (never bright white), and a very careful color selection so there’s just the right amount of contrast.
I found the dark background to be so much more easier to read. I am surprised so many people prefer the light background. ( Doesn’t the brightness of the white screen hurt the eyes compared to the dark)