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  3. Keep tabs as tabs or tabs as spaces

Keep tabs as tabs or tabs as spaces

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  • R Rob Philpott

    You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

    Regards, Rob Philpott.

    M Offline
    M Offline
    Maximilien
    wrote on last edited by
    #5

    We use hard tabs at the beginning of code lines and spaces inside the lines. So that if user X use a 2 tabs and looks at code made by Y with 4 tabs the code will only be shifted left (or right if other way around)

    Watched code never compiles.

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    • R Rob Philpott

      You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

      Regards, Rob Philpott.

      J Offline
      J Offline
      Joan M
      wrote on last edited by
      #6

      Let's be grateful for the first programmer that made an app to convert tabs to spaces and vice-versa... :rolleyes: I prefer tabs. :thumbsup:

      [www.tamelectromecanica.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.

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      • R Rob Philpott

        You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

        Regards, Rob Philpott.

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        Peter Mulholland
        wrote on last edited by
        #7

        I used to think like you, but then I had to deal with a file comparison tool that used 8 spaces for tabs and couldn't be changed. Replace tabs with spaces. ALWAYS! 4 backspaces doesn't take that long. Modern IDEs should reduce that to 1 keystroke anyway. I've found I have much less problems across editors and merge utilites and diff programs when I use spaces.

        Pete

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        • P Peter Mulholland

          I used to think like you, but then I had to deal with a file comparison tool that used 8 spaces for tabs and couldn't be changed. Replace tabs with spaces. ALWAYS! 4 backspaces doesn't take that long. Modern IDEs should reduce that to 1 keystroke anyway. I've found I have much less problems across editors and merge utilites and diff programs when I use spaces.

          Pete

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          R Offline
          Rob Philpott
          wrote on last edited by
          #8

          Man, changing your style to please a tool is bad. Why don't you use a better comparison tool, practically all of them allow you to ignore whitespace differences..?

          Regards, Rob Philpott.

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          • M Maximilien

            We use hard tabs at the beginning of code lines and spaces inside the lines. So that if user X use a 2 tabs and looks at code made by Y with 4 tabs the code will only be shifted left (or right if other way around)

            Watched code never compiles.

            J Offline
            J Offline
            Jim Crafton
            wrote on last edited by
            #9

            Nothing like a hard tab in the morning. I hate it when people try and use soft tabs. I mean really! Soft tabs? That's like drinking Diet Coke. And we all know that only pussies drink Diet Coke - real men use Hard Tabs. All the time. No exceptions. Pftt, soft tabs....

            ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow

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            • R Rob Philpott

              Man, changing your style to please a tool is bad. Why don't you use a better comparison tool, practically all of them allow you to ignore whitespace differences..?

              Regards, Rob Philpott.

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              Peter Mulholland
              wrote on last edited by
              #10

              Well, I think the preference on the team I was on, was spaces when i was arguing for tabs. I won that argument, but then the built-in diff tool with whatever source control I was using at one time used 8 spaces for tabs (maybe that was when IBM took over Rational and screwed up the ClearCase help system) Since I've moved to spaces I haven't regretted it (except when other people haven't used my preferences, but that's a either legacy code or a colleague who hasn't been beaten into submission by me changing tabs to spaces in all code I touch) and I'm fairly sure that if you've got tabs set to space in VS now it will backspace the full tab with one keystroke.

              Pete

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              • R Rob Philpott

                You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                Regards, Rob Philpott.

                E Offline
                E Offline
                Ennis Ray Lynch Jr
                wrote on last edited by
                #11

                It is the efficient vs. the lazy in this argument. Most people are too lazy to change the flow. VS defaults to spaces so why change it. Watch the people who are in favor of coding with spaces actually code. Watch how slow they (usually) work. I am a tab man. All of my code is used only on Windows. I don't have to deal with using Unix and Windows for the same code base and I can type. Yes it matters. There is nothing worse than having to break away from the keyboard to use the mouse.

                Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost

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                • E Ennis Ray Lynch Jr

                  It is the efficient vs. the lazy in this argument. Most people are too lazy to change the flow. VS defaults to spaces so why change it. Watch the people who are in favor of coding with spaces actually code. Watch how slow they (usually) work. I am a tab man. All of my code is used only on Windows. I don't have to deal with using Unix and Windows for the same code base and I can type. Yes it matters. There is nothing worse than having to break away from the keyboard to use the mouse.

                  Need custom software developed? I do custom programming based primarily on MS tools with an emphasis on C# development and consulting. I also do Android Programming as I find it a refreshing break from the MS. "And they, since they Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs" -- Robert Frost

                  N Offline
                  N Offline
                  Nemanja Trifunovic
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #12

                  Ennis Ray Lynch, Jr. wrote:

                  There is nothing worse than having to break away from the keyboard to use the mouse

                  I agree it is bad (although "there is nothing worse" is a tad extreme :) ) to use a mouse while coding, but what it has to do with tabs vs spaces?

                  utf8-cpp

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                  • J Jim Crafton

                    Nothing like a hard tab in the morning. I hate it when people try and use soft tabs. I mean really! Soft tabs? That's like drinking Diet Coke. And we all know that only pussies drink Diet Coke - real men use Hard Tabs. All the time. No exceptions. Pftt, soft tabs....

                    ¡El diablo está en mis pantalones! ¡Mire, mire! SELECT * FROM User WHERE Clue > 0 0 rows returned Save an Orange - Use the VCF! Personal 3D projects Just Say No to Web 2 Point Blow

                    M Offline
                    M Offline
                    Maximilien
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #13

                    real man don't drink crap.

                    Watched code never compiles.

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                    • R Rob Philpott

                      You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                      Regards, Rob Philpott.

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                      T Offline
                      TheGreatAndPowerfulOz
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #14

                      I would agree with you if I could have tabs as tabs that indent and tabs as spaces on the "interior".

                      "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

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                      • R Rob Philpott

                        You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                        Regards, Rob Philpott.

                        B Offline
                        B Offline
                        BRShroyer
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #15

                        I use a ball-peen hammer to indent my code. I carry it everwhere I go. Ever since then, I have had fewer bugs, or at least complaints from the users. Ironically I was looking at this[^] earlier today. To save you the trip, it's about using two spaces or one after a period.

                        Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.

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                        • R Rob Philpott

                          You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                          Regards, Rob Philpott.

                          G Offline
                          G Offline
                          Gary Wheeler
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #16

                          The Minion and I agreed to a compromise. He prefers spaces, and a tab width of 3. I prefer tabs, and a width of 4. We compromised on spaces and a tab width of 4. Of course, if he doesn't stop using Hungarian notation (in C# no less), they'll find his body floating face down in a culvert somewhere...

                          Software Zen: delete this;

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                          • R Rob Philpott

                            You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                            Regards, Rob Philpott.

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #17

                            If I prefer a layout with, say, 4 spaces of indent and a co-worker prefers just 2, using spaces means one of us has to suffer. Using Tabs means we can adjust our tabs and see the layout we like (depending on the editor, for sure). VS2010 Pro Power Tools has an option to tell you when you have mixed spaces and tabs, and fix it (into tabs or spaces) for you. So set it up how you want to in VS and let the tools do their job. Of course, if you're not using VS2010 you may have to look at other options - but I believe that the tools we use should provide what we want, and not require us to modify our behavior to suit them.

                            ___________________________________________ .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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                            • P Peter Mulholland

                              I used to think like you, but then I had to deal with a file comparison tool that used 8 spaces for tabs and couldn't be changed. Replace tabs with spaces. ALWAYS! 4 backspaces doesn't take that long. Modern IDEs should reduce that to 1 keystroke anyway. I've found I have much less problems across editors and merge utilites and diff programs when I use spaces.

                              Pete

                              T Offline
                              T Offline
                              tom1443
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #18

                              I'm in the minority but I agree with Pete - spaces always.

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                              • R Rob Philpott

                                You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                                Regards, Rob Philpott.

                                B Offline
                                B Offline
                                Ben Barreth
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #19

                                With my favorite code editors, the convention is: If I select multiple lines and hit tab, it indents it all. If I select multiple lines and hit space, it replaces it all with a single space. 'Nuff said. IMHO this point alone makes tabs the natural choice to mass format lines of code. Sure some editors allow you to get around this by having options to convert the tabs into spaces (so you can still tab multiple lines, the editor just immediately converts them to whitespace). But not all editors have this, which means you may end up changing the format of your code depending on which editor you have open (e.g. VS2010 with the tab-to-space conversion enabled versus SQL studio which doesn't have the option AFAIK).

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                                • G Gary Wheeler

                                  The Minion and I agreed to a compromise. He prefers spaces, and a tab width of 3. I prefer tabs, and a width of 4. We compromised on spaces and a tab width of 4. Of course, if he doesn't stop using Hungarian notation (in C# no less), they'll find his body floating face down in a culvert somewhere...

                                  Software Zen: delete this;

                                  M Offline
                                  M Offline
                                  Matthew Wilcoxson
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #20

                                  Wouldn't it been fairer to use tabs, then you could set the tab to be 3 or 4 or whatever number of spaces wide you like!

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                                  • M Matthew Wilcoxson

                                    Wouldn't it been fairer to use tabs, then you could set the tab to be 3 or 4 or whatever number of spaces wide you like!

                                    G Offline
                                    G Offline
                                    Gary Wheeler
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #21

                                    No, because Visual Studio (at least as recently as VS2008), still does not handle tabs correctly, especially when block indenting a selection.

                                    Software Zen: delete this;

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                                    • R Rob Philpott

                                      You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                                      Regards, Rob Philpott.

                                      R Offline
                                      R Offline
                                      R Erasmus
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #22

                                      At our company and part of our coding standard, no tabs aloud and there is a good reason for it too. Opening files that uses tabs in different editors can create a mess of things. We use 2 space intentation only which limit the backspace to only 2 presses. And then there is always which eliminates the 2 backspaces. Use tab as long as your editor automatically converts tabs to spaces I'll recommend.

                                      "Program testing can be used to show the presence of bugs, but never to show their absence." << please vote!! >>

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                                      • R Rob Philpott

                                        You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                                        Regards, Rob Philpott.

                                        C Offline
                                        C Offline
                                        code_junkie
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #23

                                        Tabs for indenting, spaces everywhere else! :thumbsup:

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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                                        • R Rob Philpott

                                          You know what I mean - you can have it so that a tab is a tab, and backspace removes it - or you can have it as usually 4 spaces so one tab takes four backspace hits to remove it. I like the first way and despise the second (it offends my need for symmetry), but seem to be alone in this in my current place of work. Or worse yet - "does it matter?" Please reassure me I'm in the right really....

                                          Regards, Rob Philpott.

                                          S Offline
                                          S Offline
                                          S Houghtelin
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #24

                                          We recently went through a rewrite of our software standards and the company now mandates spaces over tabs. The reason for this is that every coder has their preferences, tabs, spaces, tabs whatever. We use several different IDEs and compilers with their respective editors for each microprocessor platform we use but we have a common algorithm that we use for our products. What looks aesthetically nice in one editor looks like crap in another. This can make it difficult when the spacing is different or a particular editor does not have the ignore whitespace function when comparing code. Then there’s the version control software and viewers, and so on. Most of the editors allow you to choose between spaces or tabs when using the tab key but will not convert the tabs to spaces when viewing code. So for me it’s not a matter of preference, I have to use spaces, but I have to admit, it is nice when the code indentation matches the rest of the code regardless of what I am using to view the code. And makes the compares easier to go though during V&V :zzz: .

                                          It was broke, so I fixed it.

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