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Imagine if lawmakers got this hung up on indentation. Not the wording, correctness, or effect. The indentation. We would say they were fiddling while Rome burns

by shubb 4y ago

Imagine if lawmakers got this hung up on indentation. Not the wording, correctness, or effect. The indentation. We would say they were fiddling while Rome burns. If you are working on your own you do you. If you are working in a team pick a style that is okay and has great tooling and support in different editors. As this exchange proves everyone has opinions about this stuff. Standardisation is more important than optimal choice especially as everyone thinks theirv choice is optimaland yours is terrible. It doesn't have a huge impact, solve it once and make it go away so you can focus on everything else. Just set git to format everyone's code on checkin and never talk about it in a code review again.

peteradio 4y ago
Yes, let's follow the lawmakers excellent example of swift coherent action.
asddubs 4y ago
Sure, but this thread of conversation started with someone specifically asking for opinions on their indentation. It's not like the discussion was about the code, and this is just a big side-track of the actual discussion.
smallest-number 4y ago
I think the semi-obsession we have with "correctness" in style is actually something programmers do a lot better than most other disciplines. Arguing over indentation is functionally the same as arguing over unix principles, or frameworks or languages. The fact that we're always looking not just for the solution, but the right solution, on every level of the process, is part of what makes programming so beautiful and enjoyable. Law is actually a perfect example of the opposite; without that obsessive concern for correctness, the systems created are hopelessly confounding and difficult to navigate.
david422 4y ago
> Imagine if lawmakers got this hung up on indentation. Not the wording, correctness, or effect. The indentation. I mean that seems reasonable to me. If someone submits a giant bill with no indentation/paragraphs/punctuation etc. then it should be rejected. Being able to grok the bill itself would be an important part of then determining whether or not to pass it.

by shubb 4y ago

peteradio 4y ago

Yes, let's follow the lawmakers excellent example of swift coherent action.

asddubs 4y ago

Sure, but this thread of conversation started with someone specifically asking for opinions on their indentation. It's not like the discussion was about the code, and this is just a big side-track of the actual discussion.

smallest-number 4y ago

I think the semi-obsession we have with "correctness" in style is actually something programmers do a lot better than most other disciplines. Arguing over indentation is functionally the same as arguing over unix principles, or frameworks or languages. The fact that we're always looking not just for the solution, but the right solution, on every level of the process, is part of what makes programming so beautiful and enjoyable. Law is actually a perfect example of the opposite; without that obsessive concern for correctness, the systems created are hopelessly confounding and difficult to navigate.

david422 4y ago

> Imagine if lawmakers got this hung up on indentation. Not the wording, correctness, or effect. The indentation. I mean that seems reasonable to me. If someone submits a giant bill with no indentation/paragraphs/punctuation etc. then it should be rejected. Being able to grok the bill itself would be an important part of then determining whether or not to pass it.