I used a bitmap font for many years for all my development related applications. Bitmap fonts aren’t scalable, but they usually look sharper and clearer than the scalable variety, because they fit perfectly to the pixels on the screen.

My font used to be Terminus, it’s sharp and I like its shape, but it’s missing quite a few glyphs and it’s becoming harder to use as screen resolution and DPI increase. I looked for new fonts to try the past few weeks. There are many font for programming, here’s my selection of monospaced scalable fonts:

• Source Code Pro is the font I use now for terminals and editors. This font doesn’t have much personality, but it’s clear and doesn’t have any of the common problems that monospaced fonts tend to have.
• DejaVu Sans Mono a classic font, with a sharp look and plenty of symbols. An exelent default font: it’s widely available and has been around for a while, based on the classic BitSteam Vera fonts.
• Liberation Mono close to the DejaVu Sans Mono. I like the previous one better, but this one is a fine alternative.
• Ubuntu Mono has more personality than the other fonts, but I’m not a big fan of its look. Nice font overall, I may give it a try if I get bored of the others.

Comparison of monospaced fonts: What Are The Best Programming Fonts?