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Tabs vs spaces
July 29th, 2018
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There's a post on lobste.rs right now [0] about tabs & spaces.
Don't go read it, there's no point. You've already read everything
there is to be said on the subject. Seriously. Don't follow this
link to the lobste.rs comments either. |
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I don't think I have an official Opinion(TM) already floating out
there in the inter-ether, so I'll use this opportunity to give my
two cents. I'm pro tabs, with caveats.
I'll start with the caveats because they're the easy part. I will
use spaces in any of the following situations:
- The language spec calls for spaces (i.e., python)
- The team styleguide calls for spaces
- The codebase I'm interacting with has already established the
use of spaces over tabs
- I'm working with someone who is a die-hard advocate for spaces
and won't shut up about it unless I just give in
Here's why I prefer tabs:
Indentation distance is a visual preference which should be
enforced by the person working with the code, not the maintainer
of the code. If I want to develop using eight spaces as the visual
indentation of blocks, then I should do that. There is no valid
reason(*) that my personal choice of tabstop should be followed by
any other developer who is also working with this code. But how
can we both get it the way we want and not have to constantly
battle over the indentation style? What method could we possibly
use? Oh right... a fucking tab.
Tabs can be set to visually show up at whatever distance you want.
If you like a tiny tiny little increment, set a tabstop to two
characters, or even 1! If you like a giant leap along the line, go
for eight, or ten, or whatever. That's it. Just set it up how you
want to see it.
There's another reason, though I consider it of less importance.
A tab is a single character. Spaces are multiple characters. Why
add multiple characters to something when you don't have to?
Semantically, indent with the single character that accomplishes
that. Then you're done. Tada!
(*) I must address the usual counter-argument here: the alignment
of parameters, equal signs, or other nonsense that cascades down
from an arbitrary point on the line. Spaces can make everything
pretty, like ascii art. That's a plus! If we use tabs we can't do
that and we'd have to suffer endlessly with vertically listed
parameters that don't line up with the spot where the first
parameter fell naturally on the line. This is true. I think using
a single flexible character for code indentation that lets people
do things their own way far outweighs code knolling [1].
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