Thoughts from a newbie

[Delaney, Timothy]

> From: Peter Hansen [mailto:peter at engcorp.com]
> 
> We've got someone right now who likes long lines excessively.
> Rather than go all police state on her, we just mention it casually
> from time to time as we adjust the code...  with the unit tests,
> this is of course completely safe.

We've just recently been deciding this for both C++ and Python coding
standards here.

Our initial thoughts were 'no more than 80 characters per line - preferably
less'.

However, after quite a bit of discussion, we have decided on 120 characters.

Our reasoning:

1. Everyone is using 21" monitors.

2. 120 characters prints just fine in landscape mode, and just fine in
portrait mode if you configure your editor right.

3. 120 chars allows for more descriptive names, etc.

Point 2 is the biggest sticking point, because it requires changing the
defaults of your editor. I *personally* have my editor set to print at 120
chars/line in portrait mode, but my main concern was for people who did not.

However, the general consensus was that 120 chars is good.

I've found that in general, when exceeding 80 chars, it tends to be because
of:

1. Function parameters (either calling or defining).

2. Strings.

Tim Delaney