On Mon, 19 Jan 2009, Akim Demaille wrote:
I have worked for years with the same set up as you, using an much TAB as is
possible. But I read someday something that Jim wrote about this topic, in
which he was advocating the no-tab approach, and I was convinced. What
changed my viewpoint was that (i) Jim is in favor of it, so it's good :) and
(ii) because he did point out that it makes it really easier to discuss about
code in emails. It is true that I have been disturbed and even annoyed by
tab vs. space in some patches that gave the impression of improper
indentation.
Therefore, for a year or so, I am now using spaces only.
It is not necessary to use hard tabs. They are a form of text
compression which originated with anchient character terminals and
typewriters. Since many/most people have a habit of changing the
meaning of TAB to something other than the standard 8 spaces, TAB
causes a lot of formatting problems if TAB is used in conjunction with
spaces. Text editors have a very hard time agreeing on how to treat
TAB and so when TAB is used, the text only appears correct for the
person who wrote it. For many years I have had my editor configured
to always use spaces. This ensures WYSIWYG for everyone involved.
Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
bfrie...@simple.dallas.tx.us, http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen/
GraphicsMagick Maintainer, http://www.GraphicsMagick.org/
