On 19Feb2019 00:09, Terry Reedy <tjre...@udel.edu> wrote:
On 2/18/2019 11:37 PM, Simon wrote:
I'd like to propose an update to PEP8. Indeed, the 80 characters per
line guideline is, I feel, outdated.
I understand the need for it, back when monitors were small, and
everyone coded on terminals, but nowadays, I feel like that guideline
is more of a hinderance, and that it promotes poor code.
The majority of core developers, to whom PEP 8 applies, seem to disagree.
I'm not a core developer and I also disagree.
Indeed, people abiding by this rule tend to choose shorter variable
names, reduce the amount of indentation, and other tricks to just
keep the character count under 80. I think a 100 or even 120
suggested characters per line count is much more realistic by
today's standards. It still allow for the code to be completely
displayed, even on just half of a screen.
Do you every print on paper? In tiny type? Or sideways?
Anyway, 3 80-column windows side-by-side is really nice. For instance,
shell, code file, test file.
I like 4 80 column windows. 2 for the editing and either 2 shells or a
single wide shell.
And 80 columns doesn't really influence my variable name sizes.
The longer the line, the harder it is to apprehend. To my mind 80
columns is a nice upper limit: long enough for expressiveness, short
enough to easily scan.
Cheers,
Cameron Simpson <c...@cskk.id.au>
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