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  • From: "Mark J. Lilback" <mark AT lilback.com>
  • To: freetds mailing list <freetds AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: indent(1) bent
  • Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 11:16:29 -0400


I'll throw my 2 cents in as preferring tabs with 4, though I can deal with any number as long as it isn't too big (like 8). One of the first things I do when I get an account on a unix box is to create a .exrc file with tabs set to 4.

At 10:43 AM -0400 10/23/2002, Lowden, James K wrote:
The problem arises when people lean on the spacebar instead of the tab key,
or use an editor that writes N spaces every time <tab> is pressed. I've
always thought the latter was a braindead nonfeature, because it's
asymmetrical: press <tab> once and you have to press <backspace> N times to
undo it. Strictly dopey. Also, it inevitably leads to off-by-one
(indentation) errors, because people get it wrong from time to time.

I totally agree. Apple's tools do that by default, and some of them won't even let you change the code generation to use tabs instead of spaces.

which, btw is why God intended tabstops to be at 3. ;) My assertion is, if
you do this and it doesn't line up according to the prescribed tabstop --
currently 5 -- then you did it wrong. If you like (as I do) something other
than 5, correctly indented code will look a little wavy in those places.
That's not such a high price to pay for everyone else's flexibility.

That's why I like tabs. Everyone can set their own preference and it will still mostly line-up.

Plus, tabs result in smaller files. Sure, it doesn't make a difference with drive sizes now days, but I still go for efficiency every time. I spent too much time learning to be an embedded programmer to break that habit.

--
__________________________________________________________________________
"They that can give up essential liberty
Mark J. Lilback to obtain a little temporary safety
<mark AT lilback.com> deserve neither liberty or safety."
http://www.lilback.com/ -- Benjamin Franklin




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