The latest articles on Forem by Irfan Ali (@sayyadirfanali). https://forem.com/sayyadirfanali https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F3599624%2Fe098fed4-1ec5-4612-ab16-4a7e945e5f2b.jpg https://forem.com/sayyadirfanali en Irfan Ali Fri, 07 Nov 2025 19:14:18 +0000 https://forem.com/sayyadirfanali/myna-monospace-font-for-symbol-first-editing-experience-5gdj https://forem.com/sayyadirfanali/myna-monospace-font-for-symbol-first-editing-experience-5gdj <p>Do you ever feel like your font treats symbols as second-class glyphs?</p> <p>Are you frustrated that <code>-&gt;</code> looks nothing like an arrow, and <code>$</code>, <code>@</code>, <code>%</code> seem ever mismatched?</p> <p>Want to experience the beauty of ligatures without losing the simplicity of ASCII?</p> <p>Myna (Gracula religiosa 🐦‍⬛) is a monospace font which aims to bring harmony to your editor by treating symbols as first-class glyphs alongside alphanumeric characters.</p> <p>Showcase:</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fruyvtcjq7r2vox2e7jyx.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fruyvtcjq7r2vox2e7jyx.png" alt="Myna" width="800" height="680"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fakqyaoj1upmovbedhvvc.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fakqyaoj1upmovbedhvvc.png" alt="Bash" width="800" height="373"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fr8vt48b9c2ug0d3u3p33.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fr8vt48b9c2ug0d3u3p33.png" alt="Perl" width="800" height="443"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fkfnxhtptezssawgk1786.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fkfnxhtptezssawgk1786.png" alt="HTML" width="800" height="615"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fbegbhcs3v5tv6szme665.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fbegbhcs3v5tv6szme665.png" alt="Haskell" width="800" height="373"></a></p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fv30itpambbcf48v1a40x.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fv30itpambbcf48v1a40x.png" alt="Rust" width="800" height="415"></a></p> <p>Features:</p> <ul> <li>Symbol-First Design: clear emphasis on ASCII symbols which are ubiquitous in programming languages</li> <li>Near-Perfect Alignment: multi-character symbols like <code>-&gt;</code>, <code>&gt;&gt;=</code>, <code>=~</code>, <code>::</code> align seamlessly</li> <li>Balanced Weight: symbols have just the right visual weight against your code</li> <li>Minimalist Forms: geometric shapes for quotes and commas</li> <li>Clear Glyphs: no more confusing 1 l I | or 0 O o</li> <li>Language-Aware Design: clean sigils for Perl + elegant operators for Haskell + clear symbols for C</li> </ul> <p>Link: <a href="https://github.com/sayyadirfanali/Myna" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/sayyadirfanali/Myna</a></p> programming design ux opensource