Re: spaces (was: Provide a means to activate dynamically the debug traces)

[Akim Demaille]

Le 10 janv. 09 à 22:25, Ralf Wildenhues a écrit :

> > > BTW, your editor seems to both reformat existing code, and use
> > > different indenting strategy for new code.  Hmm.
> >
> > Yeah, I know.  But fixing the indentation issues progressively does  
> > not
> > seem bad to me.  I certainly don't want these useless differences to
> > creep into my new code.
>
> This implies that there is a single, well-defined ideal state.  Your
> editor does not collapse 8 spaces to a TAB, mine (and some others)  
> does.
> This causes whitespace-only changes.  Very very minor, I agree, but
> still a small irritation when reviewing.

I agree.

> Maybe we should update HACKING
> about the style we decide about?
> (note this is really just bike shedding, and babbling)

I definitely think this would be a good idea.

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.

Just to give my 0.02€ about this.

The following patch addresses space issues in libtoolize.  Some are  
benign, some are really dangerous because they invite some editors to  
break the code.  I speak from experience: I once broke Autoconf  
because of <sp><tab> -> <tab> cleanup from my editor :(  I really  
recommend that this patch (or a variation thereof, maybe based on  
$lt_sp and $lt_tab) be applied, independently from whether the Libtool  
republic votes for tab or space for presidency, as tracking these  
issues is uneasy.

0001-Clean-space-uses.txt
Description: Text document