[Uml-devel] nitpick: tabs vs. spaces

Jonathan Riddell jr at jriddell.org
Sat Sep 13 05:06:06 UTC 2003


On Sat, Sep 13, 2003 at 12:26:39PM +0200, Oliver Kellogg wrote:

> I notice that B.T., and perhaps others, are using spaces
> instead of tabs.
> 
> A wise decision IMHO, were it not for the existing convention
> of using tabs.
> 
> How do you people feel about converting everything to use
> spaces instead of tabs throughout the whole code?
> 
> While we're at it, we could reduce the ridiculously large
> indentation width of 8 spaces to something smaller (perhaps
> 4 spaces or so.)

In my dissertation (on Umbrello) I noted that it's surprisingly
important to have consistant indentation, so don't be afraid to
nit-pick.  

I chose the use of tabs and 8 characters wide because I find myself in
agreement with /usr/src/linux/Documentation/CodingStyle almost exactly
(except for the curly-brackets on functions).

But I don't mind other coding styles being used, but it's best to keep
consistant within one file.  

Also if I find it easier to understand some code by makeing it match
my coding style preferences first I will, chances are other people do
the same.

Conclusion: you'd have to make a very good case to go re-indending the
whole codebase again.

Jonathan Riddell





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