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I don't know what online diff do you use, but less let you configure the tab stop with the -x option, which is the point of using tabs: being able to chose what
by pera 9y ago
I don't know what online diff do you use, but less let you configure the tab stop with the -x option, which is the point of using tabs: being able to chose what's more readable for you.
- jasonkostempski 9y agoThe only reason 2, 4 or 8 is less "readable" to anyone is because they have a mental breakdown when they see a style they don't prefer and can't get past it. Tab is a variable width character, it has no place in text laid out with fixed-width fonts.
- pera 9y agoIs having a style preference bad? One can freely configure color scheme and font, so why should indentation be restricted?
- jasonkostempski 9y agoThose options are unambiguous and never require changes to a plain text file to work. I'm pretty sure it was Ayn Rand who said "A is A, but God only knows what Tab is." It's not always used for indentation, it might be for alignment, even if it's at the beginning of a line. There's no way to make any sane programmatic decisions base on it's presence. It does not belong in the digital world!
- city41 9y agoThe point of using spaces is to not worry about any of this. You need a specific fix for less, another specific fix for other diff tools, etc etc. With spaces, everything just works.
- pera 9y agoI don't see it as a "fix" but as a configuration. And tabs also just works, if you accept the defaults that are given to you :) but if you don't, then you can change your settings (which is trivial). With spaces you have no option but accept whatever is given to you.
- city41 9y agoSomething tells me we'll just go back and forth on this. Should we discuss something else? Perhaps vim versus emacs? Windows versus Linux? :)