Whitespace as syntax (was Re: Python Rocks!)

[Michael Ströder]

Roy Smith wrote:
> 
> I fear disaster every time I have to move a block of code.  As the logic
> of my program develops, I'll either have to move a block of code into an
> if, or move it out of one, or I'll take a block of code and turn it into
> a function/method of its own, or maybe even extract something into a
> subclass.

Well, you're not the only one facing this daily challenge. ;-)

> This means cutting and pasting (well, killing and yanking,
> since I use emacs), and changing the indent level up or down.

Yes, but what's the problem? Maybe one should remember this old rule
that a code block should not be longer than approx. 20 lines (or
shorter).

> Emacs tries to be smart about indenting and
> sometimes does something wrong,

Maybe I don't have problems because I stay away from super-smart
software.

I simply do not understand the fuss about whitespaces in this
thread. I have no problems at all with that. Maybe I'm doing
something wrong? Maybe I'm not a real programmer toughened up by
using C/C++, Perl and Emacs. (I come from the Pascal/Modula world
and I'm really glad about Python's indenting for statement
grouping.)

Ciao, Michael.