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  4. Tabs versus spaces: Spaces won

Tabs versus spaces: Spaces won

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  • T Terrence Dorsey

    Tabs versus spaces: Spaces won[^] (source: Los Techies)
    Why? Because since at least Visual Studio 2005, the default has been spaces.

    "Do you like tabs in Visual Studio? I do too! But I gave up the tabs versus spaces argument, and so should you."

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    Lost User
    wrote on last edited by
    #18

    Gawd! All these 'should it be 2 spaces or 4' arguments can be done away with by using tabs-then you decide how wide you want a tab to be when you are editing, while your colleague can use a different value - everyone is happy!

    MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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    • R R Giskard Reventlov

      PIEBALDconsult wrote:

      Not everyone uses an IDE.

      Amateurs. Seriously? Creating complex, feature rich applications/web sites with notepad? Not practical. Perhaps with something like Notepad++ but Windows Notepad? No, definitely not.

      "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me

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      AspDotNetDev
      wrote on last edited by
      #19

      We at my company often use the web editor in Umbraco to edit pages. It works best with spaces. Because of editors like this, much of the rest of our code follows that same convention so we don't have to switch things up.

      Thou mewling ill-breeding pignut!

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      • L Lost User

        So what happens whenshe edits your code, or you edit his?

        MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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        Clifford Nelson
        wrote on last edited by
        #20

        That is the reason for going with tabs. If spaces are used, then the number of spaces specified will appear for everyone no matter what the user sets his tab spacing. When the person does editing with tabs as an option, then there will be a mixture of tabs and spaces, and it will look different on applications with different settings. When a person does editing with a different tab setting with spaces, then still have the problem. With tabs set for everyone, then each person can have what they like, and it will appear correct on thier screen. Thats why there is an issue that this forum was discussing. Set Option for Text Editor for C# to "Keep Tabs" and then each developer can have whatever indent size they like, and everybody is happy.

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        • C Clifford Nelson

          That is the reason for going with tabs. If spaces are used, then the number of spaces specified will appear for everyone no matter what the user sets his tab spacing. When the person does editing with tabs as an option, then there will be a mixture of tabs and spaces, and it will look different on applications with different settings. When a person does editing with a different tab setting with spaces, then still have the problem. With tabs set for everyone, then each person can have what they like, and it will appear correct on thier screen. Thats why there is an issue that this forum was discussing. Set Option for Text Editor for C# to "Keep Tabs" and then each developer can have whatever indent size they like, and everybody is happy.

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          PIEBALDconsult
          wrote on last edited by
          #21

          Clifford Nelson wrote:

          each developer can have whatever indent size they like

          That depends on the tool. SPACEs are always consistent.

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          • C Clifford Nelson

            That is the reason for going with tabs. If spaces are used, then the number of spaces specified will appear for everyone no matter what the user sets his tab spacing. When the person does editing with tabs as an option, then there will be a mixture of tabs and spaces, and it will look different on applications with different settings. When a person does editing with a different tab setting with spaces, then still have the problem. With tabs set for everyone, then each person can have what they like, and it will appear correct on thier screen. Thats why there is an issue that this forum was discussing. Set Option for Text Editor for C# to "Keep Tabs" and then each developer can have whatever indent size they like, and everybody is happy.

            L Offline
            L Offline
            Lost User
            wrote on last edited by
            #22

            Egg-sactly

            MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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            • L Lost User

              Gawd! All these 'should it be 2 spaces or 4' arguments can be done away with by using tabs-then you decide how wide you want a tab to be when you are editing, while your colleague can use a different value - everyone is happy!

              MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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              PIEBALDconsult
              wrote on last edited by
              #23

              _Maxxx_ wrote:

              you decide how wide you want a tab to be when you are editing

              That depends on the tool. Have you tried setting the tabs on a VT100 or emulator? There are historical reasons for using SPACEs. If you insist on TABs you'd better hope to never encounter code from last century.

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              • P PIEBALDconsult

                _Maxxx_ wrote:

                you decide how wide you want a tab to be when you are editing

                That depends on the tool. Have you tried setting the tabs on a VT100 or emulator? There are historical reasons for using SPACEs. If you insist on TABs you'd better hope to never encounter code from last century.

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #24

                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                That depends on the tool.

                Yes, it does. And if you are using stone age tools, then sure, your particular standards will vary (6 character variable names, all upper case etc.) but we're talking standards here, not archaeology.

                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                Have you tried setting the tabs on a VT100

                yes, I have. not for a long time, but yes, I have.

                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                here are historical reasons for using SPACEs.

                Again, yes there are, and if your shop needs to edit code using tools that can't display tabs, then obviously your standards should be not to use tabs. if you're shop uses black and white (or black and green, or even black and amber) text monitors, then you better not be using any sort of colorisation either.

                PIEBALDconsult wrote:

                If you insist on TABs you'd better hope to never encounter code from last century.

                why? If I need to edit code that does not allow the use of tabs, then standards are a rather moot point! If it is code that didn't use tabs when it was written well, I have a choice - live with it or convert to tabs (there's a rather neat VS tool that will do it for you) in short, there are advantages to using tabs (personal preference of layout is easy to achieve with minimal effort, less keytrokes) that, I think, make it an obvious standard, unless in an individual's circumstance it is not possible (e.g. you need to edit the code using vi) in which case it is not possible to use the superior method.

                MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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                • P PIEBALDconsult

                  Clifford Nelson wrote:

                  each developer can have whatever indent size they like

                  That depends on the tool. SPACEs are always consistent.

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  Lost User
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #25

                  not with a proportional font...

                  MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

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                  • L Lost User

                    Egg-sactly

                    MVVM# - See how I did MVVM my way ___________________________________________ Man, you're a god. - walterhevedeich 26/05/2011 .\\axxx (That's an 'M')

                    C Offline
                    C Offline
                    Clifford Nelson
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #26

                    Tabs win where people pay attention. Very easy to convince people to go with tabs. Should be the default.

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                    • P PIEBALDconsult

                      Clifford Nelson wrote:

                      each developer can have whatever indent size they like

                      That depends on the tool. SPACEs are always consistent.

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      Clifford Nelson
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #27

                      My groups have had problems when spaces are selected and people have different indent settings. Then you get a real mix of indents which have to be fixed by cntl-K cntl-D. Just go with tabs/

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