This horse is long since dead, and I apologize for continuing this rather silly typographic conversation, but several people have said this (“computer typefaces are smarter than a typewriter”).

 

Simply put, computer typefaces are not magic, and they do not somehow magically deduce their context and decide that this period . is in the middle of a sentence, this one “is inside a quote.”  And this one follows a title for Mr. Brown.  And so on.  A typeface (font) is a typeface by character.  Periods (and question marks and exclamation marks) have no additional space after them, or they wouldn’t work inside a quote (like “this one.”)  You have to add a space.  Or spaces.

 

Justifier code (code that justifies text both left and right) *is* smart, and it adds space first at the ends of sentences, then around commas and semi-colons, then between words, etc.  But that’s not the font, and that’s not what happens in non-justified text.

 

What remains is the question about whether this is good design/style.  I prefer it, and think it reads better with a larger space after the conclusion of a sentence.  Your mileage may vary.

 


From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kay Smoljak
Subject: Re: [WSG] Re: [css-d] Double space after a period]

 

Computer typefaces are smarter than that, so the extra space is no longer required for readable text.


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