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Re: Tabs for indentation & Spaces for alignment in Python 3?

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  Re: Tabs for indentation & Spaces for alignment in Python 3? Ned Batchelder <ned@nedbatchelder.com> - 2014-12-05 21:31 -0500

#82032 — Re: Tabs for indentation & Spaces for alignment in Python 3?

On 12/5/14 8:50 PM, Aahan Krish wrote:
> Hello Ned,
>
> I thought that the use of tabs and spaces in the manner I suggested is
> pretty common. Linux Kernel follows the same technique, for example:
> https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/kernel/async.c#L100
>

This is a perfect example!  The code (with tabs as >--- and leading 
spaces as .) is:

  >-------if (!list_empty(pending))
  >------->-------ret = list_first_entry(pending, struct async_entry,
  >------->------->------->-------.......domain_list)->cookie;

Now, display it in your editor with tabs set to four spaces:

  >---if (!list_empty(pending))
  >--->---ret = list_first_entry(pending, struct async_entry,
  >--->--->--->---.......domain_list)->cookie;

"domain_list" and "pending" no longer line up, even though the author 
worked so hard to make the code look nice.

In fact, the Linux kernel specifically says that tabs must be eight 
spaces (https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/CodingStyle):

     Tabs are 8 characters, and thus indentations are also 8
     characters.  There are heretic movements that try to make
     indentations 4 (or even 2!) characters deep, and that is akin
     to trying to define the value of PI to be 3.

So you've started by trying to use tabs so that people can choose the 
indentation width they like, and ended up with a strict rule that you 
cannot change the size of tabs.

-- 
Ned Batchelder, http://nedbatchelder.com

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