Problem is that if you use white text on dark background, the bugs will be attracted to your code.
Meanwhile, when I use dark text on a white background, the bugs are only attracted to whitespace. Easily removed with a linter.
this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2026
1032 points (99.1% liked)
Programmer Humor
28609 readers
1515 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
What if I'm programming in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitespace_%28programming_language%29
Use TTS
I use light theme, btw
PURGE THE HERETIC!
(TIL)
These are chaos space marines?
They look nice 😯
This are space marines. That arm, right bottom is Chaos.
Just here to give out support before you get reckt
Same and I don't understand the obsession with dark stuff. If you have a dark background, you need to work in the dark in order to see the small whitish pixels of text. If you have a light theme, you just need to turn on the light, which is pretty much most of the daytime when you're supposed to work.
Dark modes fucks with my eyes, whereas light mode forces me to use natural light or properly adjust my environment. Also I have a wide range of light colors to work with as the background. Dark mode is stuck to dark background on light text (grey or white, that's all).
Anyway, I'm prepared to die for having such a strange opinion.
Naw, I’m with you. When I work for even a short time with dark mode, I see “ghost” images when I look away, like text has been imprinted on my eyes. I’m sure dark mode works for some people, but it sure doesn’t for me.
There is one, UND EXACTLY ONE reason for darkmode. If you have an OLED, it does increase marginally battery life
Should also extend screen lifetime
I use a light theme during the day and a dark theme at night.
Seriously, the best option is whatever matches the brightness of your screen to its surroundings. I read about this decades ago and it eliminated screen fatigue for me.
If switching to dark mode works for you, great. When I worked on a PC in a well-lit office all day, I would open a program with a white background, hold up a blank white piece of paper next to the screen, and adjust the screen brightness until it looked about the same as the paper. I did this once or twice a week because I was near a set of picture windows and I was affected by weather and the seasons, but in a room with more artificial light it would be "set and forget".
It seemed very dim at first, and several of my coworkers commented on it. It took a few days of resisting the urge to turn the brightness back up, but I got used to it and never went back.
My PC at home is currently set up in a partially shaded corner of a well-lit room, so I put a dim little light bar behind the screen to make the wall match the brightness of the screen and the rest of my desk/room.
First time I've ever heard of anyone actually using time-of-day-dependent themes
This is the way.
I come into the office early in the morning when its still night and use the dark theme. When the sun comes out, I switch to light. Monitor brightness should blend into the surrounding light. Eye strain otherwise.
Like that, but my computer does it for me automatically.
I personally know one person who uses light theme.
He says that he prefers light theme with the brightness turned all the way down.
It's good that it works for him, but that's not my way.
Dude, did you ever lift a stone or piece of wood in the forest to have a look at its dark underside?
All that the bugs do is to also switch colour to greyish-white and look even more nasty...
This?
Using a photo from The Shining is a nice touch
Writing new code: Dark theme so that the bugs stay away.
Debugging: Light theme so that you can catch them.
Someone could make an app so that the dark-mode is only activated when you have a key pressed.
Programming in dark mode, because the lower brightness hides the fact, that I am actually crying 90% of my time.
Lite Mode, Dark Mode?
Am I the only one using custom theming in their IDE? It's like, what if gruvbox lite was green instead of orange. Green is calming, makes me feel like I'm in nature. Become one with the bugs and encourage them gently to leave your code alone.
Not only in IDE, but on webpages as well
Oooh what do you use for recoloring web pages?
Stylish addon with a simple CSS :is(html, body) { background-color: #c3f1c5; } or Tranquility Reader
vibe coding but great
Sometimes I have a fruit fly or smth buzzing around my screen at night. Dark mode doesn't make a difference
Lure the bugs to your screen and catch them or let them hide in the shade. That's the choice.
(Looks at the GCC): you have light/dark mode?
Programming in dark mode, because dark souls taught me to embrace the suffering.
Set you monitor up so that it is electrified to the touch.
Light theme? What am !? A guy that probably has 8 to 17 bodies buried under my porch with 3 more in the local river and 2 in the chimney?
No no, dark mode all the way like a human
That is why you need that pure black amoled
You know, I always assumed black people wouldn't have the kamikaze-bugs-against-your face problem. If so, this is an ironic choice of template.