5 ms·

So I think it doesn't quite miss the point. the point is that you want one ASCII space after a period and then you want the layout algorithm to do something int

So I think it doesn't quite miss the point. the point is that you want one ASCII space after a period and then you want the layout algorithm to do something intelligent (like make it as wide as two spaces or 1.5 spaces). This is why "1 space" is correct and two spaces conflates different layers of document creation (the textual information to display and how it is laid out).

jlokier 7y ago
I think two spaces makes more sense as an input mechanism, although the ship has sailed so it's no longer possible. That way the document generator can tell the difference between periods that are inside sentences, and those which end sentences. When using one space everywhere in the input, the document generator has to guess, and will sometimes guess wrong. That's why HTML doesn't, and can't, do that kind of intelligent layout. End of sentence wide spaces in the middle of sentences looks awful.
- brokensegue 7y ago
  I mean arguably then we would want a totally different character for end of sentence and not two spaces in a row. I think modern tools are smart enough to properly space "Mr. Foo" v."I was sad. John was happy." and if not you can always manually fix the spacing edge cases yourself without modifying the text.
  - kd5bjo 7y ago
    When I’m writing HTML or TeX, my practice is to use a carriage return after sentences. That makes it easier to reorder them when I do a revision pass.
mezzode 7y ago
So it's basically the great tabs vs spaces debate again
yellowapple 7y ago
> This is why "1 space" is correct and two spaces conflates different layers of document creation (the textual information to display and how it is laid out) The problem is that I know of exactly zero programs other than TeX and the descendants thereof that are able to reliably distinguish between word-spaces and sentence-spaces without being explicitly told to do so (e.g. with double-spaces), and even then. There are indeed different space characters in Unicode, and if Word wanted to do this right it would autocorrect <space><space> to, say, <en-space> or <em-space> (the way it already does for quotes, much to the chagrin of people including code snippets in Word documents).

jlokier 7y ago

I think two spaces makes more sense as an input mechanism, although the ship has sailed so it's no longer possible. That way the document generator can tell the difference between periods that are inside sentences, and those which end sentences. When using one space everywhere in the input, the document generator has to guess, and will sometimes guess wrong. That's why HTML doesn't, and can't, do that kind of intelligent layout. End of sentence wide spaces in the middle of sentences looks awful.

brokensegue 7y ago
I mean arguably then we would want a totally different character for end of sentence and not two spaces in a row. I think modern tools are smart enough to properly space "Mr. Foo" v."I was sad. John was happy." and if not you can always manually fix the spacing edge cases yourself without modifying the text.
- kd5bjo 7y ago
  When I’m writing HTML or TeX, my practice is to use a carriage return after sentences. That makes it easier to reorder them when I do a revision pass.

mezzode 7y ago

So it's basically the great tabs vs spaces debate again

yellowapple 7y ago

> This is why "1 space" is correct and two spaces conflates different layers of document creation (the textual information to display and how it is laid out) The problem is that I know of exactly zero programs other than TeX and the descendants thereof that are able to reliably distinguish between word-spaces and sentence-spaces without being explicitly told to do so (e.g. with double-spaces), and even then. There are indeed different space characters in Unicode, and if Word wanted to do this right it would autocorrect <space><space> to, say, <en-space> or <em-space> (the way it already does for quotes, much to the chagrin of people including code snippets in Word documents).