[oclug] Evolution problem

[Brad Barnett]

On Mon, 16 Jun 2003 17:29:51 -0400
"Dave O'Neill" <dmo at acm.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 16, 2003 at 05:10:01PM -0400, Michael P. Soulier wrote:
> > 
> >     Python doesn't require tabs. I don't use them at all.
> > 
> 
> My problem with Python has ceased to be the whitespace.  That was
> annoying for a while, but I've found so many other things to dislike in
> the language that the whitespace issue pales by comparison.  

That doesn't really work for me though.  I mean, sure, let's say I'm
driving an $80k car, a nice Mercedes or some such.  I'll still be pissed
off if the cup holder doesn't pop out all the way as it should, or if
there is a squeak somewhere there shouldn't be.  It doesn't matter that
the car itself may be better than some slapped together piece of junk, in
many extremely important ways.  Even if you have an inferior car, your
comment will be "Couldn't they at _least_ get the cup holder right?!". 
That blasted cup holder will constantly annoy you.. well, at least it
constantly annoys me.  

Even if the driveshaft hits the pavement.

Sometimes it is can be the little things that really get to annoy you.

I see this whitespace garbage with Python to be in the same class as our
cupholder.  It's in your face.  It's like people weren't even thinking
when they created the language, or had been using computers for 12 minutes
when they first envisioned how it would look when editing a Python script.
 It reminds me of that computer teacher we've all had at one point in
time, the teacher that didn't really understand what he was teaching, but
tried to pretend he did. The teacher that argued programming style because
a book told him to. It reminds me of form before function, one of the more
horrible and idiotic concepts in the entire universe.

Form is fine, but NEVER at the expense of function.  NEVER!  FORM BE
DAMNED, FUNCTION IS PRIMARY!

I'm sorry, the whole space / tabs thing is just beyond any sort of logical
comprehension.  Just the fact that it exists, makes your complaints with
Python seem expected.  After all, if they couldn't get that right, oh boy,
lookout!


>>>>>

Whitespace

In reality, and despite the precedent set by make, Python's use of
indentation for delimiting blocks is very rarely a problem. As long as the
indentation is consistent, Python is happy. When tabs and spaces are
mixed, Python uses the rule that 1 tab is 8 spaces, (well, a tab takes you
to the next tabstop, with tabstops at 8, 16, ...). Most people like to use
an indent level of 4. Fortunately, almost all modern editors allow you to
use the tab key and get 4 spaces, so Python need never fall back to these
rules. If you find a file with an inconsistent mixture of tabs and spaces,
it will normally be visually obvious. It will also normally produce syntax
errors instead of incorrect control flow. Executing Python with the -t or
-tt options will make if very obvious.

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Can you believe this garbage?!