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(How to trigger programmers (and make them irrationally angry) (programming.dev)

submitted 1 day ago by potoo22@programming.dev to c/programmer_humor@programming.dev

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Probably not a good title to seek upvotes. If it does get upvotes, more programmers get share in your pain 😅

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[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 53 points 1 day ago

Figure out if they prefer spaces or tabs, insist on the other.

Please note this won't work on Pythonistas as they've already had their spirit thoroughly broken.

[-] untorquer@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

I've only ever heard raging between the two, but never why. I'm guessing there were competing languages with different standards, or maybe historic hardware limiting input sets that kicked this debate off or?

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 11 hours ago

A few languages force a decision (usually towards tabs), but otherwise it's just a question of aesthetics vs. accessibility.

[-] MajorHavoc@programming.dev 17 points 1 day ago

A haiku for you:

Tabs or four spaces

Never a semicolon

Broken in spirit

[-] Reptorian@programming.dev 12 points 1 day ago

What if you use tabs for indentations and space for alignment?

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago

It's alright... but have you considered spaces for indentation and tabs for alignment?

[-] Reptorian@programming.dev 3 points 1 day ago

Uh, that would be infuriating to see. (Yes, I can see tabs in KDE Kate)

[-] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 4 points 1 day ago

I feel like this is a debate that doesn't exist - 4 spaces bound to tab is the only actual answer.

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 5 points 23 hours ago

Hard tabs are much better as someone who works with an age diverse team where vision issues are a serious issue. Four space tabs are optimal for you but there are other lived experiences.

[-] brian@programming.dev 9 points 1 day ago

most things seem to have settled on this, but tabs are so much better for accessibility. programmers with bad vision can have trouble differentiating smaller indentation levels, while some of them just bump the font size up so high that 4 spaces takes up too much screen space. each one can set a tab width that is comfortable for them. https://alexandersandberg.com/articles/default-to-tabs-instead-of-spaces-for-an-accessible-first-environment/ has some good arguments

with a forced formatter and a configured editor there really isn't any argument for spaces