Re: [RFC] CodeStyle: Use spaces when aligning/decorating

[Benny Halevy <bhalevy@panasas.com>]

On Feb. 26, 2008, 14:16 -0800, Richard Knutsson <ricknu-0@student.ltu.se> wrote:
> Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:47:10 +0100 ricknu-0@student.ltu.se wrote:
>>
>>   
>>> Relaxing the 'tab = 8 character', which leads to 'don't tab the alignment'.
>>> By only using tabs for indentation, we solidify it as a 'logical indentation'.
>>>
>>> Signed-off-by: Richard Knutsson <ricknu-0@student.ltu.se>
>>> ---
>>> To'ed the people who showed interest in the (apparently not so new)
>>> question/suggestion of not using tabs when aligning.
>>> If this looks ok, then checkpatch.pl is next...
>>>
>>>
>>> diff --git a/Documentation/CodingStyle b/Documentation/CodingStyle
>>> index 6caa146..1b3f448 100644
>>> --- a/Documentation/CodingStyle
>>> +++ b/Documentation/CodingStyle
>>> @@ -15,10 +15,8 @@ Anyway, here goes:
>>>  
>>>  	 	Chapter 1: Indentation
>>>  
>>> -Tabs are 8 characters, and thus indentations are also 8 characters.
>>> -There are heretic movements that try to make indentations 4 (or even 2!)
>>> -characters deep, and that is akin to trying to define the value of PI to
>>> -be 3.
>>> +This project is recommended to be viewed with a tab-width of 8 characters
>>> +(and other code).
>>>     
>> FWIW I prefer the {deleted} language.  // PI = 3;
>>   
> Well, actually I like it too. But I think it should be up to the 
> programmer which setting to use + it seems some people have really taken 
> this to heart, going from 'tab => 8 characters wide' to '8 spaces => 
> tab', obscuring tab's position as a 'logical indention'.
> 
> Richard Knutsson
> 

How about this:

-Tabs are 8 characters, and thus indentations are also 8 characters.
-There are heretic movements that try to make indentations 4 (or even 2!)
-characters deep, and that is akin to trying to define the value of PI to
-be 3.
+Tabs are used for logical indentation, e.g., code is indented with
+a number of tabs equal to its nesting level.  From there on,
+use space characters for decorative indentation.  This method
+is agnostic to the editor's tab-expansion settings.
+That said, expanding tabs to a small number of spaces (4, or even 2!) encourages
+excessive nesting and resulting over-complexity; that is akin to trying to define
+the value of PI to be 3.  Therefore, tabs are always assumed to be 8 characters-wide.