[POLL] don't edit files just for style changes?

[Bertrand Delacretaz]

Lately there have been several hints that people are annoyed by commits 
consisting only of style changes (rearranging imports, "cleaning up" 
indents) etc.

Of course, there are always good intentions behind such changes, but 
IMHO changes which make no difference to the actual code, are:

a) risky, because every time one edits a file there's a small risk of 
making a change to the code without meaning it

b) a waste of our collective energy, as (hopefully) many of us are 
regularly scanning CVS diff mails, and if it's just to find out that 
two brackets have been moved it's not very useful.

I have three suggestions:

1) As a general rule, we should refrain from making such changes to our 
code, unless there is a good reason (code change for example) to edit 
the file in question.

2) When editing a file for a good reason, we should look for such 
"style" problems and fix them at the same time, or as a separate 
commit, but before testing our changes.

3) We should not change the indentation / code writing style (brackets 
etc.) of a file when making a minor change to it.

The idea is to keep the flow of CVS diff messages as low as possible, 
to save our neuronal bandwidth for more important things than the 
placement of brackets or the order of imports.

WDYT?

-Bertrand