Draft:Monokai
Submission declined on 4 October 2026 by ChrysGalley (talk).
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Submission declined on 9 June 2025 by Kovcszaln6 (talk). This draft's references do not show that the subject meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that:
Declined by Kovcszaln6 15 months ago.
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This draft appears to contain text generated by a large language model (such as ChatGPT). You cannot use LLMs to generate, draft, or rewrite article content.
Declined by Jlwoodwa 15 months ago.Please delete the portions which were LLM-generated, and summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. If you have used an LLM but you believe that your use is covered by one of the two exceptions (basic copyediting and translation between two languages in which you are fully fluent), please provide a transcript of the prompt(s) you used while writing your draft (see the how-to guide). Reviewers can make mistakes. If you have not received any LLM assistance, you may seek a second opinion at the AfC Help Desk. See the advice page on large language models for more information. | |
Comment: Rather obviously an AI submission. See WP:NOLLM ChrysGalley (talk) 13:21, 4 October 2026 (UTC)
| Monokai | |
|---|---|
| Original author | Wimer Hazenberg |
| Release | 2006 |
| Type | Syntax highlighting color scheme |
| License | Various (Original ports) Proprietary (Monokai Pro) |
| Website | monokai |
Monokai is a syntax highlighting color scheme, created by Wimer Hazenberg in 2006. It is characterized by a high-contrast "dark mode" palette with a background of desaturated dark gray and vibrant syntax colors. While it was originally designed for TextMate, it became popular after it was added as a default theme in Sublime Text. It is widely regarded one of the most recognizable color schemes in software development, and is available as community-maintained ports for virtually all modern integrated development environments (IDEs).
History
[edit]Monokai was created in 2006 by a Dutch digital artist and developer named Wimer Hazenberg. He originally designed the scheme for TextMate, a macOS text editor that was popular among developers at the time. He shared the theme on the TextMate community wiki in 2006.[1][2] The name "Monokai" was derived from Hazenberg's online alias.[3]
In 2011, Sublime Text 2 switched its default look to Monokai, bringing the color palette to a larger set of developers on Windows and Linux systems.[4]
In 2017, Hazenberg published Monokai Pro, a commercial evolution of the theme with a more refined palette and custom user interface icons for Sublime Text, Visual Studio Code, and JetBrains IDEs.[5]
Design
[edit]Monokai is a dark theme designed to provide high variability without causing eye strain. The background is typically a dark gray. The palette uses vibrant, saturated colors to distinguish between syntax elements. Hazenberg has explained that Monokai's objective has been to create something that is both colorful and functional, valuing subjective balance over mathematical formulas for colors.[3]
Although implementations differ, the original Monokai palette consists of:[1]
| Syntax Element | Color Name | Hex Value | Swatch | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Background | Dark Gray | #272822 | ||
| Comments | Gray | #6e7066 | // comment | |
| Default Text | White | #fdfff1 | ||
| Keywords | Red | #f92672 | if, else | |
| Arguments | Orange | #fd971f | function(arg1, arg2) | |
| Strings | Yellow | #e6db74 | log("text") | |
| Function names | Green | #a6e22e | funk(a, b) | |
| Classes | Blue | #66d9ef | class App | |
| Constants | Purple | #ae81ff | const SIZE = 1024 |
The scheme has been utilized in academic research regarding the psychology of programming. A 2023 proceeding by the Psychology of Programming Interest Group (PPIG) used Monokai as the representative "dark mode" condition to study the effects of editor themes on developer cognition.[6]
Reception and legacy
[edit]Monokai is frequently cited alongside Solarized and Dracula as one of the most popular color schemes for developers.[7] It has been adopted in several open source software projects by the community, including Vim, Emacs, Notepad++, Xcode, and GitHub.
The theme has appeared in popular media. The creator notes that the color scheme has been spotted in code screenshots in television series such as Silicon Valley and Mr. Robot.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Textmate color theme". Monokai Blog (via Internet Archive). 2006-07-15. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
- ↑ "User Submitted Themes". Textmate Wiki (via Internet Archive). Retrieved 2007-01-20.
- 1 2 3 "The History of Monokai". Monokai.pro. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
- ↑ "Sublime Text 2 Build 2076 Changelog". Sublime Text. 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
- ↑ Hazenberg, Wimer (2017-06-22). "Monokai Pro – Beautiful Functionality for Professional Developers". HackerNoon. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
- ↑ Sergeyuk, Agnia; et al. (August 2023). "Overcoming the Mental Set Effect in Programming Problem Solving" (PDF). Proceedings of the 34th Annual Workshop. Psychology of Programming Interest Group (PPIG): 177.
- ↑ "The 20 Best VSCode Themes in 2024". Hackr.io. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
Please delete the portions which were LLM-generated, and summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. If you have used an LLM but you believe that your use is covered by one of the two exceptions (basic copyediting and translation between two languages in which you are fully fluent), please provide a transcript of the prompt(s) you used while writing your draft (see the how-to guide). Reviewers can make mistakes. If you have not received any LLM assistance, you may seek a second opinion at the AfC Help Desk.
See the advice page on large language models for more information.