Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!uwvax!oddjob!gargoyle!att!ihnp4!ihlpf!nevin1 From: nevin1@ihlpf.ATT.COM (00704a-Liber) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc Subject: Re: Indentation for parsing (was Re: Block Closure (was Re: FOR loops)) Message-ID: <4841@ihlpf.ATT.COM> Date: 24 May 88 00:41:09 GMT References: <4625@ihlpf.ATT.COM> <94@lakart.UUCP> Reply-To: nevin1@ihlpf.UUCP (00704a-Liber,N.J.) Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois Lines: 30 In article <94@lakart.UUCP> dg@lakart.UUCP (David Goodenough) writes: >This last comment almost deserves a flame. What is needed to produce >correctly indented source code with any editor (be it vi, VEDIT or whatever) >is *_DISCIPLINE_*. [stuff deleted about Mr. Goodenough's coding style] I agree that, for *new*, *original* source code, discipline is adequate for producing correctly indented source code. However, much of my job entails maintaining old code where I was not the original programmer. It is in this code where a smart editor would be valuable. I would like to be able to look at another person's code with my indentation style, make the changes I need to make, and save it in such a way so that if someone else looks at the source it appears to them in their style. All too often unreadability can be attributed to too many people modifying the same pieces of code using different styles (although if a routine has to be changed many times it probably should be rewritten, but that is a different issue). It should be possible to separate things like indentation style from coding. Another thing: Suppose you have a little routine which you decide to put inside an 'if' clause. Usually this would require indenting each line manually. With a smart editor, this should happen automatically. -- _ __ NEVIN J. LIBER ..!ihnp4!ihlpf!nevin1 (312) 510-6194 ' ) ) "The secret compartment of my ring I fill / / _ , __o ____ with an Underdog super-energy pill." / (_