PEP8 79 char max

[Rhodri James]

On Mon, 29 Jul 2013 22:09:10 +0100, Steven D'Aprano  
<steve+comp.lang.python at pearwood.info> wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Jul 2013 15:43:49 -0400, Devyn Collier Johnson wrote:
>
>> In Python programming, the PEP8 recommends limiting lines to a maximum
>> of 79 characters because "There are still many devices around that are
>> limited to 80 character lines"
>> (http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0008/#code-lay-out). What devices
>> cannot handle 80 or more characters on a line?
>
> The only one I can think of is actual xterms (Ctrl-Alt-Function key
> terminals on Unix and Linux). But I think that's actually a red-herring.
> At least for me, I don't care about devices with 80 character lines.
> (Smart phones? Or is that more likely to be 40 character lines?)
>
> I care about being able to put multiple windows side-by-side, or a single
> window with code in one pane and a class map at the side. I care about
> being able to copy and paste code into an email, or Usenet post, without
> it being mangled. I care about *never* having to scroll left-to-right in
> order to read a line.
>
> And most of all, I care about lines being short enough to read without
> eye strain and mental fatigue from excessive horizontal width.

+1

I'm working on some shonky C code at the moment that inconsistent  
indentation and very long lines.  It is extremely annoying not to be able  
to put the original code, my "translation" and sundry utilities all  
side-by-side on the same screen (and it's not a particularly small  
screen), and having to keep flipping between them slows me down  
dramatically.  Long lines have no effect on the speed of the program, but  
they can have serious effects on the speed of the programmer.

-- 
Rhodri James *-* Wildebeest Herder to the Masses