Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!usenet.pasdenom.info!aioe.org!feeder.news-service.com!news2.euro.net!newsgate.cistron.nl!newsgate.news.xs4all.nl!194.109.133.85.MISMATCH!newsfeed.xs4all.nl!newsfeed6.news.xs4all.nl!xs4all!post.news.xs4all.nl!not-for-mail Return-Path: X-Original-To: python-list@python.org Delivered-To: python-list@mail.python.org X-Spam-Status: OK 0.068 X-Spam-Evidence: '*H*': 0.87; '*S*': 0.00; 'example)': 0.07; 'prints': 0.07; 'either.': 0.09; 'hurt': 0.09; 'readable': 0.09; ';-)': 0.12; 'c++': 0.12; 'wrote:': 0.15; 'examples.': 0.16; 'received:192.168.1.40': 0.16; 'subject:PEP': 0.16; 'programming': 0.18; "doesn't": 0.22; 'header:In-Reply-To:1': 0.22; 'end,': 0.23; 'parse': 0.23; 'code': 0.24; '(my': 0.25; 'books': 0.27; 'do,': 0.28; "didn't": 0.29; '"the': 0.29; 'code,': 0.29; 'differently': 0.30; 'etc.,': 0.30; 'yet': 0.30; 'usual': 0.32; 'to:addr:python- list': 0.34; 'header:User-Agent:1': 0.34; 'there': 0.34; 'reasons': 0.34; 'legacy': 0.35; 'uses': 0.35; 'probably': 0.35; 'but': 0.37; 'received:192': 0.38; 'subject:: ': 0.38; 'two': 0.38; 'received:192.168.1': 0.39; 'books,': 0.39; 'to:addr:python.org': 0.39; 'read,': 0.40; 'your': 0.60; 'designed': 0.63; 'our': 0.63; 'computers': 0.65; 'received:62': 0.67; 'freedom': 0.68; 'strange': 0.68; 'enjoyed': 0.73; 'purchase': 0.84; 'yours': 0.84; 'from:addr:t': 0.84; 'proportional': 0.84; 'readability': 0.84; 'fonts': 0.91; 'religion': 0.93 Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2011 01:26:09 +0200 From: Thomas Jollans User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.2.18) Gecko/20110626 Iceowl/1.0b2 Icedove/3.1.11 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: python-list@python.org Subject: Re: PEP 8 and extraneous whitespace References: <4E286704.5060201@gmail.com> <4E2870A2.1070600@jollybox.de> <4E287406.8080608@gmail.com> <248FC758-3BC4-40DB-A2BC-FD34A829A278@leafe.com> <4E2DE8C1.5030902@stoneleaf.us> In-Reply-To: <4E2DE8C1.5030902@stoneleaf.us> X-Enigmail-Version: 1.1.2 OpenPGP: id=5C8691ED Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: python-list@python.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.12 Precedence: list List-Id: General discussion list for the Python programming language List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Newsgroups: comp.lang.python Message-ID: Lines: 32 NNTP-Posting-Host: 2001:888:2000:d::a6 X-Trace: 1311636369 news.xs4all.nl 23894 [2001:888:2000:d::a6]:58927 X-Complaints-To: abuse@xs4all.nl Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.python:10316 On 26/07/11 00:05, Ethan Furman wrote: > Ed Leafe wrote: >> Religious fervor is one thing; freedom of religion is another! ;-) >> >> We strive for readability in our code, yet every printed material >> designed to be read, such as books, newspapers, etc., uses a >> proportional font. > > The books I purchase use monospaced fonts for code examples. Yours don't? Strange that. Most do, but that's really just tradition. I have Bjarne Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language" on my shelf, and that prints code in a proportional font. There are two possible reasons to prefer a monospaced font for code: 1. You're used to it: tradition. This is a legacy of the era when computers simply didn't display proportional fonts. 2. Your editor (my usual preference, Vim, is an example) doesn't support proportional fonts. This is a legacy of the era when computers simply didn't display proportional fonts. Code is different from prose. We parse it so differently that printing it in a monospaced font doesn't significantly hurt readability - but it doesn't make it more readable either. In the end, it really doesn't matter. This is probably why I enjoyed writing this message so much. Thomas