layout is not Style

[Steve Summit]

I'll not enter any of the indentation or other program formatting
polemics; they'll never end and we won't learn much.  I will note
my displeasure that this nonsense is masquerading under the subject
of "style."  A program's layout is a very small (though not
unimportant) facet of what we call "good programming style."

The "style" of a book refers to the author's word usage, sentence
structure, and so on; the width of the margins and the format of
the paragraphs is a function of someone called a "book designer,"
and (unless it is done badly, which is not the same as done
"wrong") the layout is hardly crucial to our reading enjoyment.

Just as eliminating gotos will not magically render a contorted
program comprehensible, applying anyone's One True Indenting
Style to a fundamentally flawed piece of code will do little to
help it.

I'm starting to have to skip articles that have "style" in the
subject line, to avoid these interminable indentation ramblings,
and I'm afraid I might miss an article on "real" style, a subject
I'm vitally interested in.  If you must flog the already
thoroughly lifeless indentation horse further, do me a favor and
make sure that the Subject: line mentions "indentation,"
"layout," or "format," and preferably not "style."

                                            Steve Summit
                                            scs at adam.pika.mit.edu