----------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 15:36:23 -0800
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Introducing Cobra
>
> Gabriel Sechan wrote:
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>>> Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 15:01:21 -0800
>>> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> To: [email protected]
>>> Subject: Re: Introducing Cobra
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 02, 2008 at 04:57:05PM -0600, Gabriel Sechan wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> The problem is that its much easier to get whitespace wrong than it is to
>>>> get braces wrong. For example- one of my most frequent refactors is
>>>> changing the nesting of a chunk of code- either moving it into a loop,
>>>> out of a loop, or into a new function. If you use braces, the code will
>>>> work, but may be indented in an ugly matter. If you do it with
>>>> whitespace, it will be broken.
>>>>
>>> I would instead argue that this particular example is evidence of why
>>> indent-based blocking is a good thing, rather than bad.
>>>
>>> When I move a block of code in python, it is immediately obvious to me what
>>> kind of nesting change is needed. It is just a few keystrokes to shift the
>>> block to the right place. With braces, it is very easy to have them wrong,
>>> but get the indentation right.
>>>
>>
>> I have never in my life seen the indentation wrong but the braces right. I
>> have seen the reverse, frequently.
>>
> You need to get out more. If I had a dime for every time I've seen this
> crud:
>
> if (blah)
> doSomething();
> doSomethingElse();
>
> In some C code, I'd be retired.
>
Admittedly a problem, not what I was thinking of in that argument. C made a
mistake, it should have required {} everwhere like Perl does. Most good
programmers use them for every block, even one liners, already.
> You rarely meet programmers who don't consistently indent, but it is
> pretty easy to find a team and/or collection of code that doesn't
> consistently indent.
>
And? Someone using 3 spaces vs 4 spaces in separate functions doesn't matter.
So long as its consistant within a block I don't give a shit. ANd frankly
anyone who does needs help, they're way too anal.
> By doing things the way Cobra does (or did ;-), you enforce a
> consistency that ensures people can confidently and quickly read the
> code correctly.
But still leaves open the high probability of getting indentation levels wrong
while moving code. No thanks, I want braces. Hell, for that matter require
both, but braces have way too much utility to be removed. Indentations as
semanticly meaningful just causes more bugs.
>> You're right, I meant to type auto-shift. Same issue though- if your
>> language requires an editor to have a specific tool to avoid a common bug,
>> your language is fatally flawed. Python isn't even a remote consideration
>> for me due to this. I've actually rewritten small (
>>
> Umm... isn't this why people like/use auto-indenting editor for
> languages *other* than Python? This seems like an argument *for* using
> Python, not the other way around.
>
I think you must have misread something, I don't see where you're getting that
logic from.
Gabe
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