Re: [open-cobol-list] Fixed vs Free Format

[vince]

Hi;
On Thursday 17 Nov 2011 21:12:07 Andrew Pennebaker wrote:
> Honest questions from a newbie:
> 
>    - Does free format allow arbitrarily indented code like Ruby, or
>    consistent indentation like Python, or farthest indentation like
> Haskell? - Does free format allow extra whitespace?

Free format is just that you can have as much or as little spaces in the 
source, both before and in between words
> 
> Can we subsume fixed format into free and have the compiler
> *encourage*people to use free but never complain when we code in
> fixed?

Nope, the compiler needs to know what form you are using as in fixed the 
format usage is specific as is constantly being tested but it is very easy to 
convert a fixed into a free format using something like kate as the editor.
 
> Whitespace is a good way to visually separate components of a larger
> system. Since code proceeds line by line, vertical whitespace is a powerful
> way to make code more readable. Horizontal whitespace in the form of tabs
> and spaces helps to indicate nested blocks of code. I agree that whitespace
> makes code much more readable.
> 
> However, requiring seven spaces before each line of code is just silly. It
> adds no whitespace; it just shifts all code over. You might as well drag a
> text editor window over to the right; it's aesthetically identical and adds
> just as much "readability". I realize the historicity of the extra
> characters, but tradition /= good practice. We have text editors to show
> line numbers, so we don't need that column any more.

Even in fixed there is a reasonable amount of flexibility in using spaces 
between words as well as between lines.

They are just ignored by the compiler. In fact the compiler make a first pass 
by changing format for internal processing to free and processing all copy 
statements including inline all code before parsing. This really applies to 
all compilers.