On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:55:46 -0400, J. Clifford Dyer wrote: > On Mon, 2008-10-20 at 13:29 +0000, Steven D'Aprano wrote: >> On Mon, 20 Oct 2008 11:01:19 +0200, Bruno Desthuilliers wrote: >> >> > Steven D'Aprano a écrit : >> >> On Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:03:29 +0200, Bruno Desthuilliers wrote: >> >> >> >>> Steven D'Aprano a écrit : >> >>> >> >>> (snip) >> >>> >> >>>> You can use tabs, or spaces. If you use spaces, you can choose 4 >> >>>> spaces, or 8, or any number, >> >>> By all means, make it 4 spaces - that's the standard. >> >> >> >> It's *a* standard. I believe it is the standard for the Python >> >> standard library, but there are other standards. >> > >> > I can't remember having seen any other "standard" so far. >> >> >> How about PEP 8? It's not even hidden deep in the bowels of the PEP -- >> it's almost at the top. >> http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/ >> >> "For really old code that you don't want to mess up, you can continue >> to use 8-space tabs." >> >> > Fair, but limited to old code, so doesn't apply to instructions for new > code.
I didn't say it does. But it's a standard, one of many. >> Then there's string.expandtabs(): >> >> expandtabs(...) >> S.expandtabs([tabsize]) -> string >> >> Return a copy of S where all tab characters are expanded using >> spaces. If tabsize is not given, a tab size of 8 characters is >> assumed. >> >> > The default for a tab does not imply anything about how python code > should be indented. But it implies that 8 spaces is a standard. [snip] > Not python. I think when Bruno says it's *the* standard, we can assume > he means "for python." When you make an assumption, you make an ASS out of U and MPTION. *wink* I didn't think my post was terribly difficult to understand or that it would be so controversial. It is a simple objective fact that there is no such "THE" standard, not even for Python. Certainly it is true that 4- space indents is a very common standard, and that it is recommended by Guido and required for the standard library, but it is not the only standard, not even for Python code. I managed to avoid all the tedious arguments about which braces style (for C programmers) or BEGIN/END positioning (for Pascal programmers) was "THE" standard. I would have hoped that in the 21st century we'd got past that nonsense. By all means argue that interoperability with others is generally a good thing, and 4-space indents is sufficiently common that it maximizes your ability to interoperate. You won't get any arguments from me. (That's why I use 4-space indents, even though they are an Abomination Unto Nuggan.) But let's not pretend that Windows is "THE" standard operating system, vanilla "THE" standard ice cream flavour, and 4-spaces "THE" standard for indents. If interoperability is not important to you, go right ahead and use any standard you like, or even pick something non-standard like 17- space indents. There's no Indent Police who will arrest you for failing to live up to the standard. -- Steven -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
