[Python-Dev] [Python-checkins] r60919 - peps/trunk/pep-0008.txt

[Mike Meyer]

On Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:53:48 -0500 Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote: now is
> In 50 years, our grandchildren will be writing code with brain  
> implants and displays burned right into their retina, and they'll / 
> still/ be subject to 79 characters.  I laugh every time I think that  
> they'll have no idea why it is, but they'll still be unable to change  
> it. :)

There are reasons (other than antiquated media formats) for a coding
standard to mandate a line length of 70-80 characters: to improve the
readability of the source code. Depending on who (and how) you ask,
the most comfortable line length for people to read will vary some,
but 70 characters is close to the maximum you'll get, because it gets
harder to track back across the page as lines get longer. While code
is so ragged that that's probably not as much of a problem, comments
aren't. Formatting those to a max of ~70 characters makes them easy to
read. Formatting your program so that block comments and code are
about the same makes optimal use of the display space.

Whether the readability issue has anything to do with why 80 column
cards dominated the industry (some were as short as 24 columns, and I
could swear I saw a reference to 120-column cards *somewhere*) is left
as an exercise for the reader.

	 <mike
-- 
Mike Meyer <mwm at mired.org>		http://www.mired.org/consulting.html
Independent Network/Unix/Perforce consultant, email for more information.