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Emerging tools such as gofmt and clang-format are able to automatically re-format your code based on the language rules rather than the human behind the monitor

Emerging tools such as gofmt and clang-format are able to automatically re-format your code based on the language rules rather than the human behind the monitor. Using those tools this specific category of issues should at least be visible in the formating diff. Interesting. Never thought about it that way before.

Pacabel 13y ago
Those kinds of tools aren't new or emerging. The "indent" utility for C has been around for decades. I first remember using it on 4.3BSD, but it may have been around before that.
- tobiasu 13y ago
  indent - indent and format C program source HISTORY The indent command appeared in 4.2BSD. And for context, 4.2BSD was released in 1983.
  - kps 13y ago
    cb(1) was in Seventh Edition (1979). NAME cb - C program beautifier SYNOPSIS cb DESCRIPTION Cb places a copy of the C program from the standard input on the stan- dard output with spacing and indentation that displays the structure of the program.
- danieljh 13y ago
  Sure, the idea is not new. Using the compilers libraries and internal representation to re-format your code is new, though. You want the compilers knowledge of the code for this, e.g. while formating C++ template mess. There's a tight integration into the actual toolchains, which is a good thing.
- pjmlp 13y ago
  Worse, lint was part of the original C toolchain, but very few people cared to use it, because they couldn't be bored to tune the tool to their projects. This is the type of error that any static analysis tool would easily pick.
spiralpolitik 13y ago
Trying to get teams to agree on the code style is the hard part when using such tools. `gofmt` somewhat avoids that by defining one true way and only giving minor customization options.
- thrownaway2424 13y ago
  clang-format has the same property. You just have to tell off a bunch of neckbeards and/or fire them if they can't agree to its formatting rules. Having cast-in-stone formatting rules makes code review easier and shorter and avoids lots of arguments. For ultra-dangerous languages like C++, automatic formatting is indispensable.

Pacabel 13y ago

Those kinds of tools aren't new or emerging. The "indent" utility for C has been around for decades. I first remember using it on 4.3BSD, but it may have been around before that.

tobiasu 13y ago
indent - indent and format C program source HISTORY The indent command appeared in 4.2BSD. And for context, 4.2BSD was released in 1983.
- kps 13y ago
  cb(1) was in Seventh Edition (1979). NAME cb - C program beautifier SYNOPSIS cb DESCRIPTION Cb places a copy of the C program from the standard input on the stan- dard output with spacing and indentation that displays the structure of the program.
danieljh 13y ago
Sure, the idea is not new. Using the compilers libraries and internal representation to re-format your code is new, though. You want the compilers knowledge of the code for this, e.g. while formating C++ template mess. There's a tight integration into the actual toolchains, which is a good thing.
pjmlp 13y ago
Worse, lint was part of the original C toolchain, but very few people cared to use it, because they couldn't be bored to tune the tool to their projects. This is the type of error that any static analysis tool would easily pick.

spiralpolitik 13y ago

Trying to get teams to agree on the code style is the hard part when using such tools. `gofmt` somewhat avoids that by defining one true way and only giving minor customization options.

thrownaway2424 13y ago
clang-format has the same property. You just have to tell off a bunch of neckbeards and/or fire them if they can't agree to its formatting rules. Having cast-in-stone formatting rules makes code review easier and shorter and avoids lots of arguments. For ultra-dangerous languages like C++, automatic formatting is indispensable.