Bletcherous Bowdlerization (Re: Braces)

[Blair P. Houghton]

In article <15090 at smoke.brl.mil> gwyn at smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) writes:
>In article <2293 at inews.intel.com> bhoughto at hopi.intel.com (Blair P. Houghton) writes:
>>Who's fomenting this
>>bletcherous bowdlerization of my beloved C?
>
>Several programmers around here have come to use that style.

Read:  Doug has, because he likes to tab, but not a lot.

>is another form of compromise that is fairly often seen.
>	while ( ... ) {
>		...
>	}
>has little to recommend it other than being the style used in K&R.

As well as ANSI X3.159-1989, the "American National
Standard for Information Systems - Programming Language - C";
which is not to imply that it is an actual dictum of
that standard.

>There is no point in reopening this old style debate.

Which is precisely why I didn't.  I merely noted that it's
a very distinctive anthropological tradition that people
must be learning from some central source, as it isn't
shown in any of the many documents I've had the pleasure of
perusing while learning, criticizing, and writing C, and
that I'd like to know where it came from, not the reasons
or rationalizations for its use:  those I'll get from the
source.  I won't argue the particulars of its aesthetics
(e.g., whether or not it scans easier, allies the code to
the structure better, gives new programmers a leg-up, or
saves on e-postage).

***ALERT*** Rare pertinent informational tidbit:
Some have written (appropriately in email) saying they
recognize it as an old RATFOR style.

>You might ask yourself why you haven't been exposed to more
>variation in C coding style before now.

Because most people code gracefully, until put off by
misguided, internal, corporate, coding "standards," and de
riguer stylism.  It's like some sort of overwrought,
paint-by-numbers, computational neo-classicism is running
roughshod over the pure, honest beauty of computational
impressionism.

				--Blair
				  "Every once in a while, it pays
				   to keep a raw-hide chew-bone
				   in your briefcase..."