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Could it be that a few large, well-compensating employers are shifting the result? (E.g., https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html#Spaces_vs._Tabs http
by piker 9y ago
Could it be that a few large, well-compensating employers are shifting the result? (E.g., https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html#Spaces_vs._Tabs https://google.github.io/styleguide/cppguide.html#Spaces_vs....)
- CydeWeys 9y agoCould well be. I know that Google for sure requires spaces, and some cursory Googling leads me to the believe that Facebook does as well. Does anyone have information on Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, etc.? Of course, if all of the top companies are requiring spaces, then there's probably a reason for that, and its impact on salary data is thus meaningful, not just a spurious correlation.
- _IsThisRealLife 9y agoWhen I was working in Windows about 5 years ago they required spaces.
- Profragile 9y ago>I know that Google for sure requires spaces How do you know this? If this is the case, why did they make go fmt to use tabs?
- saagarjha 9y agoDon't work there, but I know that Apple tends to use spaces for their public-facing code–I'd expect that their internal code does too.
- CydeWeys 9y agoIt's sounding like all the top tech companies use space-based indentation. Our style guide makes some pretty convincing arguments as to why it's better. It sounds like good developers are either more likely to (a) work at top companies or (b) search out information on best practices for handling indentation. Mediocre developers probably just use whatever, which ends up being tabs a lot of the time.
- BanzaiTokyo 9y agothat would be the most logical explanation, but the article mentions that "The effect is smaller in Europe and especially large in India, but it does appear within each country, suggesting this isn’t the sole confounding factor." Which makes me think that there are other factors at play that add up.