Re: [cowiki-dev] Tabs vs spaces -- what's the downside?

Quoting Sy <[email protected]>:

> I have heard some strong opinions on using spaces instead of tabs. 
> I've never understood this, because I've always assumed that everyone
> can use tabs and configure them neatly.
> 
> What are the disadvantages of using tabs?

Because every application displays tabs with different width. Say vi with 4
spaces and emacs with 8. Some other configuration with 5. So you have never a
predictable layout of your code. Therefore every guide for coding standards
prefers "space instead of tabs".

> 
> Are there common applications which cannot display tabs properly?
No application that I am aware of.


> Are there cases where one cannot type the tab character?
Thats not the point. The point is the display of the tabs.

> 
> Are there common tools which cannot be customized to make a tab
> display as 'x' characters of whitespace?

vi, emacs, and Eclipse have a config-switch which says "use space instead of
tabs". I am using emacs, every time I hit "tab" it inserts 4 spaces for me.

> 
> 
> I honestly don't understand using spaces, because .. it's extra typing.  =)

Configure your favorite editor to replace the tabs with the right number of
spaces :)

> 
> 
> I ask this because I'm just starting to learn a little bit of
> programming, and I'd like to learn more about common practices like
> tabs vs spaces.

I hope I could help you.
-- 
Hakan Kuecuekyilmaz

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