[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: OT - trivial programming language



Steve Lamb <grey@dmiyu.org> writes:

> Kai Grossjohann wrote:
>> If the middle two lines were indented with a tab, then people could
>> view this code with different indentation settings by just frobbing
>> the tab width, without changing the file contents.
>
>     Good in theory, bad in practice.  For example, in my Perl code I prefer an
> indention of 2 spaces.  Don't ask why, I just do.

:-X

> if (foo){
>   if (bar){
>     foreach $foo (@bar){
>       while $foo < $baz{
>         some really long and convoluted computation here
>       }
>     }
>   }
> }
>
>     Now expand that out to someone's preferred 8 per line (ewwwww) and you'll
> see that the "some really long and convoluted computation here" is wrapping.
> On my screen it looks reasonable, on someone else's it looks like crap.

Well, nothing that couldn't be solved with a somewhat wider window.
Many people like to have windows wider than 80 columns.  (I prefer 80
columns, myself.)

>> The "b" line should start with one tab (for the indentation) and then
>> four spaces (for the alignment with the "a" above it).
>
>> I wish that Emacs would allow this style of editing.
>
>     Thank god it doesn't.  That is the worst possible style since tab is
> meaningless.

Hm?

> It is because of this mixing of tabs and spaces that people
> rigidly say that tabs should never be changed from 8 character widths.

The style I'm proposing is designed to make it possible to change tab
width!

> It is also because of indention and alignment that I think that
> people should never, ever, us tabs because there are going to be
> some schmucks that break the first rule of never changing the tab
> width in the first place.

Huh?

Kai



Reply to: