3 ms·
Optimal readability is attained with 60-70 characters. This is due to human psychology, and technology such as monitor size does not change it. When lines are
by andreasvc 11y ago
Optimal readability is attained with 60-70 characters. This is due to human psychology, and technology such as monitor size does not change it.
When lines are longer it becomes more difficult for your eyes to keep track of where the next line is. Furthermore, code is not formatted as paragraphs but as separate lines, so you end up wasting a lot of screen estate for those few long lines. Having a low maximum means it will be close to the average and a larger proportion of the screen is utilized.
- mistursinistur 11y ago> Optimal readability is attained with 60-70 characters. This is due to human psychology Actually this claim is disputed: http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLength.asp http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/72/LineLeng...
- andreasvc 11y agoInteresting. It might be that reading from screen works differently than from paper, where the 60-70 limit is a tradition. However, reading news is very different from reading code, so it doesn't go without saying that this result can be generalized to code.