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I stick with it because I read the newspaper and eventually discovered that the wider a column is, the harder it is to read. I understand that it's not quite th
by gooseyard 7y ago
I stick with it because I read the newspaper and eventually discovered that the wider a column is, the harder it is to read. I understand that it's not quite the same with code, and I don't know that there's any significant difference between 79 and 81 columns, but I never found anything that I couldn't get to work with 80 with a few minutes thought, so why not.
- reaperducer 7y agoYep. Newspapers are laid out in columns because that's simply easier for people to read. Since you're into dead tree editions, here's a fun fact you may not know: The fibers in newsprint are aligned vertically so that you can easily tear out an article vertically along its column. Tearing horizontally cleanly is significantly more difficult. Source: Worked for two major newspaper companies.
- emmelaich 7y agoProbably vertical for strength too. They need it to be pulled the rollers in the printing machine.
- ggus 7y agoPaper in books is also aligned the same way, to resist better to humidity. Humidity enlarges the fibres, but doesn't get them longer. In a humid environment a book grows wider but not taller. If the paper is oriented the other way, the paper would grow taller and the spine of the book, which is stitched and glued, would force the paper to warp and became ondulated.