The latest articles on DEV Community by Joao Pedro (@jtgmagic). https://dev.to/jtgmagic 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%2F107720%2Fe1de0169-6d31-4744-9fc0-5d8bba28f818.jpg https://dev.to/jtgmagic en Joao Pedro Sun, 12 Apr 2026 20:39:16 +0000 https://dev.to/jtgmagic/paledev-dark-theme-a-palenight-inspired-theme-for-visual-studio-2026-330i https://dev.to/jtgmagic/paledev-dark-theme-a-palenight-inspired-theme-for-visual-studio-2026-330i <h2> 🎨 Paledev Dark Theme </h2> <p>I recently built a dark theme for <strong>Visual Studio 2026</strong>, inspired by the popular <strong>Palenight theme</strong> from VS Code.</p> <p>The goal was simple: create a theme that feels clean, consistent, and comfortable for long coding sessions.</p> <h2> ✨ What I focused on </h2> <ul> <li> <strong>Readability</strong> → clear distinction between code elements </li> <li> <strong>Contrast</strong> → balanced colors without being too harsh </li> <li> <strong>Consistency</strong> → unified look across editor and UI </li> <li> <strong>Long sessions</strong> → reduced eye strain over time </li> </ul> <h2> 💻 Supported languages </h2> <p>The theme has been tested with:</p> <ul> <li>C#</li> <li>HTML</li> <li>CSS</li> <li>JavaScript</li> <li>JSON / XML</li> </ul> <h2> 🧠 Challenges </h2> <p>Visual Studio handles colors differently compared to VS Code, especially across UI elements and editor tokens.</p> <p>Getting consistent contrast across:</p> <ul> <li>comments vs inactive code </li> <li>selections and backgrounds </li> <li>different language syntaxes </li> </ul> <p>...required a lot of fine tuning.</p> <h2> 🚀 Try it out </h2> <p>You can install it from the Visual Studio Marketplace:</p> <p>👉 <a href="https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jfigueiras.paledev-theme" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jfigueiras.paledev-theme</a></p> <h2> 💬 Feedback </h2> <p>I'm still improving the theme, so any feedback is welcome.</p> <p>What would you tweak in a dark theme for long coding sessions?</p> visualstudio csharp dotnet productivity