Max Waterman wrote:
> I feel the need to make my tuppence worth...so I'm gonna :
>
> I'm curious how the distinction between 'indent' and 'alignment' has
> been made. I see them as exactly the same thing; as English words, I
> mean. It's obvious from the diagram above what is meant, but the purpose
> of the 'indent' is to 'align'...
>
> ...or am I missing something?
>
> How is the difference between the two instances above best described?
> Perhaps 'block indentation' as apposed to 'line-wrapping indentation'?
>
> I wonder if it's getting to the point where vim would have to be a
> compiler in order to make these distinctions accurately. Perhaps that's
> something that is easier for something like Emacs to do.
>
> I would like to be able to make use of a real compiler in order to do
> this kind of code parsing. I'm told that the gcc people, for example,
> aren't really interested in doing this.
>
> Max.
>
Max,
The difference between indentation and alignment (in English, as you
say), is subtle, but it's there. You alluded to it yourself when you
said, "but the purpose of the 'indent' is to 'align'". "Indentation" is
refers to a line's (or block's) horizontal distance from the margin,
whereas "alignment" refers to its horizontal distance from other
(usually nearby) lines. So you're right that indentation (varying the
distance from the margin) is for the sake of alignment (adjusting the
x-distance from other lines) ... which is exactly why they are not the
same! It's why something is considered "aligned" (well) only when there
is uniformity of indentation, but something can be considered indented
(well) when the indentation varies quite a bit -- such as in code.
Etymologically, "align" is related to "line" -- it means "to line up";
whereas "indent" is related to "dent" -- it means, "to dent inward" (ok,
"indent" is a little more complex than that, but it's a reasonable
synopsis that captures the spirit of it!).
Hope that helps shed some light on it.
-Sir Robert Burbridge
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