PEP8 79 char max

[Grant Edwards]

On 2013-07-31, Tim Chase <python.list at tim.thechases.com> wrote:
> On 2013-07-31 07:16, Joshua Landau wrote:
>> On 30 July 2013 18:52, Grant Edwards wrote:
>>> I also find intializers for tables of data to be much more easily
>>> read and maintained if the columns can be aligned.
>> 
>> Why do you have tables in your Python code?

For example: if you're writing an assembler, you usually have a table
of mnemonics/opcodes/instruction-format/addressing-modes.

> I've had occasion to write things like:
>
>   for name, value, description in (
>       ("cost", 42, "How much it cost"),
>       ("status", 3141, "Status code from ISO-3.14159"),
>       ...
>       ):
>     do_something(name, value)
>     print(description)
>
> I interpret Grant's statement as wanting the "table" to look like
>
>   for name, value, description in (
>       ("cost",   42,   "How much it cost"),
>       ("status", 3141, "Status code from ISO-3.14159"),
>       ...
>       ):
>     do_something(name, value)
>     print(description)

Exactly.  When you have more than about 5 columns and 10 rows, having
things aligned makes it far, far, easier to maintain.

> which does give some modest readability benefits, but at a creation
> cost I personally am unwilling to pay.

It only gets typed once, it gets read hundreds or thousands of times.
Optimize the common case.

-- 
Grant Edwards               grant.b.edwards        Yow! I am NOT a nut....
                                  at               
                              gmail.com