# A nerd font can bring more happiness to the terminal or the editor

**Date:** 2026-08-07  
**Author:** Kees C. Bakker  
**Original:** https://keestalkstech.com/notes/a-nerd-font-can-bring-more-happiness-to-the-terminal-or-the-editor/

---

As we spend more time in our editors, it might be nice to get a **nerd font** activated. It makes your (coding) life just a little bit more beautiful. It uses [ligatures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligature_(writing)) to combine two characters into a single glyph:

```js
// check the JS fat arrow:
let x = (a, b) => a + b

// and these:
if(a >= b && b <= c){
  a += 4
}

// it even changes www
let link = "www.google.com";
```

My blog uses the excellent [Fira Code](https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode):

![Font ligatures in Fire Code](https://keestalkstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ligatures1.png)

On my terminal I use [CaskadiaCove](https://github.com/ryanoasis/nerd-fonts/tree/master/patched-fonts/CascadiaCode), a patched version of Microsoft's CascadiaCode.

The Nerd Fonts project has an excellent overview of fonts for you to download and install:

[
        
                            
                    ![](https://keestalkstech.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/nerd.jpg)
                
            
            
                Nerd Fonts - Iconic font aggregator, glyphs/icons collection, & fonts patcher
                Iconic font aggregator, collection, & patcher: 10,000+ lyph/icons, 70+ patched fonts: Hack, Source Code Pro, more. Popular glyph collections: Font Awesome, Octicons, Material Design Icons, and more
                                    www.nerdfonts.com
                            
        
    ](https://www.nerdfonts.com/font-downloads)