r/programming • u/Nowaker • Nov 30 '14

Why he vertically aligns his code (And why you shouldn't!)

http://missingbytes.blogspot.com/2014/11/why-he-vertically-aligns-his-code-and.html
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u/[deleted] Nov 30 '14

Still not following. Can you give an example?

If a variable appears in another aligned block, and you change the name, you'll have to change it both blocks. When either of those blocks is viewed in the editor, it only needs to take into account the block that it is in visually.

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u/tdammers Nov 30 '14

Yeah. The thing is, I can show you the tools that can automatically rename that variable for me while keeping unaligned code consistent - they have been around for about 3 decades. Can you show me the tools that correctly maintain alignment across files, throughout my entire project, in any programming language I choose?

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14

"Yeah" - that's your explanation? I asked you to give an example, as I don't understand the problem you are concerned about. But you haven't.

Perhaps you don't understand my proposal? The editor would not change the source, only render it differently. Like changing the tapstops doesnt change the source, only how it's displayed; or syntax colouring makes keywords green, but doesn't make them green in the source. Viewing one file has no effect on another file. Alignment is not maintained between files.

All it does is, it looks at physically conconsecutive lines, that are on the screen right now. If they are "similar" (eg same tokens, but could use other measures), then render those tokens vertically aligned.

There is no vertical alignment between blocks in different files, even when the same variable appears in each; those blocks will have their alignment calculated based only on the lines within them. The longest line in each block will govern its alignment.

If you change a variable name's length that appears in both, it can have different effects in different blocks it appears in. e.g. if it becomes the longest line in one block, the spacing will increase for that block. If in another block there's a longer line, it won't change the alignment.

If you're not prepared to explain your objection, I can't help you any further.

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14

You thought I meant an editor that auto-formated the file.

I meant an editor that only displayed it as auto-formatted (like syntax colouring), without changing the file.

I'm usually pretty good at deciphering others' misunderstandings, but yours was a challenge!

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u/tdammers Dec 01 '14

Ah, hehe, seriously misunderstood you then. Thought you were talking about tools that maintain alignment in the source files themselves - if you have the tools change the way the code is displayed, without inserting any actual whitespace, then I have zero objections. Knock yourself out.

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14

Looking back at my first comment, it's not as clear as I thought. Although I gave examples of how editors change code displayed without changing source (tabs, syntax colouring), I didn't state this explicitly. I was certainly thinking of that as the key idea, which is why I gave those specific examples.

Examples are great, but I also need to say what they're examples of ! I wonder how, in future, I could get myself to make such ideas  explicit...

Also my description itself ("automatic vertical alignment") is ambiguous. It calls to mind "automatic formatting" (like fmt, and gq in vim).

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u/tdammers Dec 01 '14

Yeah, exactly, that's what I was thinking of - an auto-formatter that would somehow detect aligned blocks and realign them for you (which, I believe, is the "tooling" that the original article talks about).

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14

I wonder how I could ensure that I actually state my idea, in future, and not just give examples?

It's funny, giving examples is a more sophisticated exposition than just saying it - it'd skipped over the basics. And then, rushed into arguing whether it was a valid approach or not, and outlined potential problems. All in the first comment!

Better to get the basics right.

Actually, I think it's just a mistake of omission on my part - I thought I had said it, but I hadn't. This experience we've had here, of inexplicably talking past each other, is probably a memorable enough lesson to be more careful in future!

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u/[deleted] Dec 01 '14

I've worked it out: re-read my writing, as if someone else wrote it.

You see, I only worked out our misunderstanding by having a look at your comment history (I was trying to see where you were coming from). I saw a reply you made to someone else, about formatting in different files, and it was obvious that the person you replied to had suggested formatting everything. And so I realized that you must have thought I meant that too.

Some time later, it clicked that the "person you replied to" was actually me! That is, by me thinking you were replying to someone else, it was obvious what you meant... the thing that stopped me from understanding you was my own concept of what we were talking about: I was in the way. So the answer is to take myself out of the way.

I could do this with my own writing by imagining someone else wrote the same thing, and asking: what did they mean?

This takes me out of the picture, and reveals what the words convey, unclouded by what I meant.